register of charitable gifts to the corporation of Reading, that a
lottery was held in that town. “Whereas at a Lottery held within the
Borough of Reading, in the Year of our Ld. God 1619, Gabriel Barber
Gent. Agent in the sd. Lottery for the Councell & Company of Virginia of
his own good Will & Charity towarde poor Tradesmen ffreemen &
Inhabitants of the sd. Borough of Reading, & for the better enabling
such poor Tradesmen to support & bear their Charges in their several
Places & Callings in the sd. Corporation from time to time for ever
freely gave & delivered to the Mayor & Burgesses of this Corporation the
Sum of forty Pounds of lawfull Money of England Upon Special Trust &
Confidence, that the sd. Mayor & Burgesses & their Successors shall from
time to time for ever dispose & lend these 40_l._ to & amongst Six poor
Tradesmen after the rate of 06_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ to each Man for the Term
of five Years gratis And after those five Years ended to dispose & lend
the sd. 40_l._ by Such Soms to Six other poor Tradesmen for other five
Years & so from five years to five years Successively upon good Security
for ever Neverthelesse provided & upon Condition that none of those to
whom the sd. Summs of mony shall be lent during that Term of five years
shall keep either Inn or Tavern or dwell forth of the sd. Borough, but
there during that time and terme, shall as other Inhabitants of the sd.
Borough reside & dwell.
“Memorand. that the sd. Sum of 40_l._ came not into the hands & charge
of the Mayor & Burgesses until April 1626.”
This extract was communicated to the “Gentleman’s Magazine” in 1778, by
a correspondent, who, referring to this gift of “Gabriel Barber, gent.,
agent in the said lottery,” says, “If it be asked what is become of it
now? _gone_, it is supposed, _where the chickens went before_ during the
pious protectorship of Cromwell.”
* * * * *
In 1630, 6th Charles I., there was a project “for the conveying of
certain springs of water into London and Westminster, from within a mile
and a half of Hodsdon, in Hertfordshire, by the undertakers, Sir Edward
Stradling and John Lyde.” The author of this project was one Michael
Parker. “For defraying the expences whereof, king Charles grants them a
special license to erect and publish a lottery or lotteries;
_according_” says the record, “_to the course of other lotteries_
heretofore used or practised.” This is the first mention of lotteries
either in the _Fœdera_ or Statute-book. “And, for the sole privilege of
bringing the said waters in aqueducts to London, they were to pay four
thousand pounds per annum into the king’s exchequer: and, the better to
enable them to make the said large annual payment, the king grants them
leave to bring their aqueducts through any of his parks, chases, lands,
&c., and to dig up the same gratis.”[436]
* * * * *
In 1653, during the commonwealth, there was a lottery at Grocers’ Hall,
which appears to have escaped the observation of the inquirers
concerning this species of adventure. It is noticed in an old weekly
newspaper, called “Perfect Account of the Daily Intelligence 16-23
November 1653,” by the following
~Advertisement.~
_At the Committee for Claims for Lands in Ireland_,
Ordered, That a Lottery be at Grocers-Hall London, on Thursday 15
Decem. 1653, both for Provinces and Counties, to begin at 8 of the
clock in the forenoon of the same day; and all persons concerned
therein are to take notice thereof.
_W. Tibbs._
Under Charles II., the crown, with a view to reward its adherents who
resided within the bills of mortality, and had served it with fidelity
during the interregnum, granted “Plate Lotteries;” by which is to be
understood a gift of plate from the crown, to be disposed of in that
manner as prizes, with permission to sell tickets. According to the
Gazette, in April 1669, Charles II., the duke of York, (afterwards James
II.,) and many of the nobility were present “at the grand plate lottery,
which, by his majesty’s command, was then opened at the sign of the
Mermaid over against the mews.” This was the origin of endless schemes,
under the titles of “Royal Oak,” “Twelve-penny Lotteries,” &c., which
will be adverted to presently. They may be further understood by an
intimation, published soon after the drawing sanctioned by the royal
visitors, in these words, “This is to give notice, that any persons who
are desirous to farm any of the counties within the kingdom of England
or dominion of Wales, in order to the setting up of a plate lottery, or
any other lottery whatsoever, may repair to the lottery office, at Mr.
Philips’s house, in Mermaid-court over against the mews; where they may
contract with the trustees commissioned by his majesty’s letters patent
for the management of the said patent, on the behalf of the truly
loyal, indigent officers.”[437] In those times, the crown exceeded its
prerogative by issuing these patents, and the law was not put in motion
to question them.
_Book Lotteries._
During the reign of Charles II. lotteries were drawn at the theatres.
At Vere-street theatre, which stood in Bear-yard, to which there
is an entrance through a passage at the south-west corner of
Lincolns’-inn-fields, another from Vere-street, and a third from
Clare-market, Killigrew’s company performed during the seasons of 1661
and 1662, and part of 1663, when they removed to the new built theatre
in Drury-lane; and the Vere-street theatre was probably unoccupied until
Mr. Ogilby, the author of the now useless, though then useful
“Itinerarium Angliæ, or Book of Roads,” adopted it, as standing in a
popular neighbourhood, for the temporary purpose of drawing a lottery of
books, which took place in 1668.
Books were often the species of property held out as a lure to
adventurers, by way of lottery, for the benefit of the suffering
loyalists. Among these, Blome’s Recreations, and Gwillim’s Heraldry,
first edition, may be mentioned. In the Gazette of May 18, 1668, is the
following advertisement: “Mr. Ogilby’s lottery of books opens on Monday
the 25th instant, at the old Theatre between Lincoln’s-inn-fields and
Vere-street; where all persons concerned may repair on Monday, May 18,
and see the volumes, and put in their money.” On May 25th is announced,
“Mr. Ogilby’s lottery of books (adventurers coming in so fast that they
cannot in so short time be methodically registered) opens not till
Tuesday the 2d of June; then not failing to draw; at the old Theatre
between Lincoln’s-inn-fields and Vere-street.”
A correspondent, under the signature of “A Bibliographer,” communicates
to the “Gentleman’s Magazine,” from whence the notice respecting these
book lotteries is extracted, one of Ogilby’s Proposals as a curiosity,
in which light it is certainly to be regarded, and therefore it has a
place here, as follows:--
A SECOND PROPOSAL, by the author, for the better and more speedy
vendition of several volumes, (his own works,) by the way of a
standing _Lottery_, licensed by his royal highness the duke of York,
and assistants of the corporation of the royal fishing.
WHEREAS _John Ogilby_, esq., erected a standing lottery of books, and
completely furnished the same with very large, fair, and special
volumes, all of his own designment and composure, at vast expense,
labour, and study of twenty years; the like impressions never before
exhibited in the English tongue. Which, according to the appointed time,
on the 10th of May, 1665, opened; and to the general satisfaction of the
adventurers, with no less hopes of a clear despatch and fair advantage
to the author, was several days in drawing: when its proceedings were
stopt by the then growing sickness, and lay discontinued under the
arrest of that common calamity, till the next year’s more violent and
sudden visitation, the late dreadful and surprising conflagration,
swallowed the remainder, being two parts of three, to the value of three
thousand pounds and upward, in that unimaginable deluge. Therefore, to
repair in some manner his so much commiserated losses, by the advice of
many his patrons, friends, and especially by the incitations of his
former adventurers, he resolves, and hath already prepared, not only to
reprint all his own former editions, but others that are new, of equal
value, and like estimation by their embellishments, and never yet
published; with some remains of the first impressions, relics preserved
in several hands from the fire; to set up a second standing lottery,
where such the discrimination of fortune shall be, that few or none
shall return with a dissatisfying chance. The whole draught being of
greater advantage by much (to the adventurers) than the former. And
accordingly, after publication, the author opened his office, where they
might put in their first encouragements, (_viz._) twenty shillings, and
twenty more at the reception of their fortune, and also see those
several magnificent volumes, which their varied fortune (none being bad)
should present them.
[438]But, the author now finding more difficulty than he expected, since
many of his promisers (who also received great store of tickets to
dispose of, towards promotion of his business) though seeming well
resolved and very willing, yet straining courtesy not to go foremost in
paying their monies, linger out, driving it off till near the time
appointed for drawing; which dilatoriness: (since despatch is the soul
and life to his proposal, his only advantage a speedy vendition:) and
also observing how that a money dearth, a silver famine, slackens and
cools the courage of adventurers; through which hazy humours magnifying
medium shillings loome like crowns, and each forty shillings a ten pound
heap. Therefore, according to the present humour now reigning, he
intends to adequate his design; and this seeming too large-roomed,
standing lottery, new modelled into many less and more likely to be
taken tenements, which shall not open only a larger prospect of pleasing
hopes, but more real advantage to the adventurer. Which are now to be
disposed of thus: the whole mass of books or volumes, being the same
without addition or diminution, amounting according to their known value
(being the prices they have been usually disposed at) to thirteen
thousand seven hundred pounds; so that the adventurers will have the
above said volumes (if all are drawn) for less than two thirds of what
they would yield in process of time, book by book. He now resolves to
attemper, or mingle each prize with four allaying blanks; so bringing
down, by this means, the market from double pounds to single crowns.
THE PROPOSITIONS.--First, whosoever will be pleased to put in five
shillings shall draw a lot, his fortune to receive the greatest or
meanest prize, or throw away his intended spending money on a blank.
Secondly, whoever will adventure deeper, putting in twenty-five
shillings, shall receive, if such his bad fortune be that he draws all
blanks, a prize presented to him by the author of more value than his
money (if offered to be sold) though proffered ware, &c. Thirdly, who
thinks fit to put in for eight lots forty shillings shall receive nine,
and the advantage of their free choice (if all blanks) of either of the
works complete, _viz._ Homer’s Iliads and Odysses, or Æsop the first and
second volumes, the China book, or Virgil. Of which,
The first and greatest Prize contains
1 Lot, Number 1.
An imperial Bible with Chorographical and an hundred historical
sculps, valued at 25_l._
Virgil translated, with sculps and annotations, val. 5_l._
Homer’s Iliads, adorned with sculps, val. 5_l._
Homer’s Odysses, adorned with sculps, val. 4_l._
Æsop’s Fables paraphrased and sculped, in folio, val. 3_l._
A second Collection of Æsopick Fables, adorned with sculps,
never * * * * * * * * * * * [_Imperfect._] * * *
His Majestie’s Entertainment passing through the city of London,
and Coronation.
These are one of each, of all the books contained in the Lottery,
the whole value 51_l._
The Second Prize contains
1 Lot, Num. 2.
One imperial Bible with all the sculps, val. 25_l._
Homer complete, in English, val. 9_l._
Virgil, val. 5_l._
Æsop complete, val. 6_l._
The Description of China, val. 4_l._
In all 49 Pound.
The Third Prize contains
1 Lot, Num. 3.
One royal Bible with all the sculps 10_l._
Homer’s Works in English, val. 9_l._
Virgil translated, with sculps and annotations, val. 5_l._
The first and second vol. of Æsop, val. 6_l._
The Description of China, val. 4_l._
Entertainment, val. 2_l._
In all 36 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 4.
One imperial Bible with all the sculps, val. 25_l._
Æsop’s Fables the first and second vol. val. 6_l._
In all 31 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 5.
One imperial Bible with all the sculps, val. 25_l._
Virgil translated, with sculps, val. 5_l._
In all 30 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 6.
One imperial Bible with all the sculps, val. 25_l._
And a Description of China, val. 4_l._
In all 29 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 7.
One imperial Bible with all the sculps, and a new Æsop, val. 28_l._
1 Lot, Num. 8.
One imperial Bible with all the sculps, val. 25_l._
1 Lot, Num. 9.
A royal Bible with all the sculps, val. 10_l._
A Description of China, val. 4_l._
And a Homer complete, val. 9_l._
In all 23 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 10.
A royal Bible with all the sculps, val. 10_l._
A Virgil complete, val. 5_l._
Æsop’s Fables the first and second vols. val. 6_l._
In all 21 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 11.
One royal Bible with all the sculps, val. 10_l._
And a Homer’s Works complete, val. 9_l._
In all 19 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 12.
One royal Bible with all the sculps, val. 10_l._
And both the Æsops, val. 6_l._
In all 16 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 13.
One royal Bible with all the sculps, val. 10_l._
A Virgil complete in English, val. 5_l._
In all 15 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 14.
One royal Bible with all the sculps, val. 10_l._
A Description of China, val. 4_l._
In all 14 Pound.
* * * * [_Imperfect._] * * *
1 Lot, Num. 16.
One royal Bible with all the sculps, val. 10_l._
The second volume of Æsop, val. 3_l._
In all 13 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 17.
One royal Bible with all the sculps, val. 10_l._
And an Entertainment, val. 2_l._
In all 12 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 18.
One royal Bible with all the sculps, val. 10_l._
1 Lot, Num. 19.
One royal Bible with Chorographical sculps, val. 5_l._
One Virgil complete, val. 5_l._
In all 10 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 20.
One royal Bible with Chorographical sculps, val. 5_l._
And a Homer’s Iliads, val. 5_l._
In all 10 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 21.
One royal Bible with Chorographical sculps, val. 5_l._
And a Homer’s Odysses, val. 4_l._
In all 9 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 22.
One royal Bible with Chorographical sculps, val. 5_l._
And a Description of China, val. 4_l._
In all 9 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 23.
One royal Bible with Chorographical sculps, val. 5_l._
And Æsop complete, val. 6_l._
In all 11 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 24.
A royal Bible with Chorographical sculps, val. 5_l._
And Æsop the first volume, val. 3_l._
In all 8 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 25.
A royal Bible with Chorographical sculps, val. 5_l._
And Æsop the second volume, val. 3_l._
In all 8 Pound.
1 Lot, Num. 26.
A royal Bible, ruled, with Chorographical sculps, val. 6_l._
1 Lot, Num. 27.
A royal Bible with Chorographical sculps, ruled, val. 6_l._
1 Lot, Num. 28.
One royal Bible with Chorographical sculps, val. 5_l._
10 Lot, Num. 29.
Each a Homer complete, val. 9_l._
10 Lot, Num. 30.
Each a double Æsop complete, val. 6_l._
520 Lot, Num. 31.
Each a Homer’s Iliads, val. 5_l._
520 Lot, Num. 32.
Each a Homer’s Odysses, val. 4_l._
570 Lot, Num. 33.
Each a Virgil complete, val. 5_l._
570 Lot, Num. 34.
Each a China Book, val. 4_l._
570 Lot, Num. 35.
Each the first volume of Æsop, val. 3_l._
570 Lot, Num. 36.
Each the second volume of Æsop, val. 3_l._
The whole number of the lots three thousand, three hundred, and
sixty-eight. The number of the blanks as above ordered; so that the
total received is but four thousand, one hundred, and ten pounds.
The office where their monies are to be paid in, and they receive their
tickets, and where the several volumes or prizes may be daily seen, (by
which visual speculation understanding their real worth better than by
the ear or a printed paper,) is kept at the Black Boy, over against St.
Dunstan’s church, Fleet-street. The adventurers may also repair, for
their better convenience, to pay in their monies, to Mr. Peter Cleyton,
over against the Dutch church, in Austin-friars, and to Mr. Baker, near
Broad-street, entering the South-door of the Exchange, and to Mr.
Roycroft, in Bartholomew-close.
The certain day of drawing, the author promiseth (though but half full)
to be the twenty-third of May next. Therefore all persons that are
willing to adventure, are desired to bring or send in their monies with
their names, or what other inscription or motto they will, by which to
know their own, by the ninth of May next, it being Whitson-eve, that the
author may have time to put up the lots and inscriptions into their
respective boxes.
* * * * *
D. H., one of Mr. Urban’s contributors, mentions that he had seen an
undated “Address to the Learned: or, an advantageous lottery for Books
in quires; wherein each adventurer of a guinea is sure of a prize of two
pound value; and it is but four to one that he has a prize of three,
six, eight, twelve, or fifty pounds, as appears by the following
proposals:” one thousand five hundred lots, at 1_l._ 1_s._ each, to be
drawn with the lots out of two glasses, superintended by John Lilly and
Edward Darrel, esqrs., Mr. Deputy Collins, and Mr. William Proctor,
stationer, two lots of 50_l._, ten of 12_l._, twenty of 8_l._,
sixty-eight of 6_l._, two hundred of 3_l._, one thousand two hundred of
3_l._ The undertakers were: Thomas Leigh, and D. Midwinter, at the Rose
and Crown, in St. Paul’s Church-yard; Mr. Aylmer, at the Three Pigeons,
and Mr. Richard Parker, under the Piazza of the Royal Exchange; Mr.
Nicholson, in Little Britain; Mr. Took, at the Middle Temple gate,
Fleet-street; Mr. Brown, at the Black Swan, without Temple-bar; Mr.
Sare, at Gray’s-inn gate; Mr. Lownds, at the Savoy gate; Mr. Castle,
near Scotland-yard gate; and Mr. Gillyflower, in Westminster-hall,
booksellers.
* * * * *
Letters patent in behalf of the loyalists were from time to time
renewed, and, from the Gazette of October 11, 1675, it appears by those
dated June 19, and December 17, 1674, there were granted for thirteen
years to come, “all lotteries whatsoever, invented or to be invented, to
several truly loyal and indigent officers, in consideration of their
many faithful services and sufferings, with prohibition to all others to
use or set up the said lotteries,” unless deputations were obtained from
those officers.
A PENNY LOTTERY.
The most popular of all the schemes was that drawn at the Dorset-garden
theatre, near Salisbury-square, Fleet-street, with the capital prize of
a thousand pound for a penny. The drawing began October 19, 1698; and,
in the _Protestant Mercury_ of the following day, “its fairness (was
said) to give universal content to all that were concerned.” In the next
paper is found an inconsistent and frivolous story, as to the possessor
of the prize: “Some time since, a boy near Branford, going to school one
morning, met an old woman, who asked his charity; the boy replied, he
had nothing to give her but a piece of bread and butter, which she
accepted. Some time after, she met the boy again, and told him she had
good luck after his bread and butter, and therefore would give him a
penny, which, after some years’ keeping, would produce many pounds: he
accordingly kept it a great while; and at last, with some friend’s
advice, put it into the penny lottery, and we are informed that on
Tuesday last the said lot came up with 1000_l._ prize.” However absurd
this relation appears, it must be recollected those to whom it was
principally addressed had given proof of having sufficient credulity for
such a tale, in believing that two hundred and forty thousand shares
could be disposed of and appropriated to a single number, independent of
other prizes. The scheme of the “Penny Lottery” was assailed in a tract,
intituled “The Wheel of Fortune, or Nothing for a Penny; being remarks
on the drawing of the Penny Lottery at the Theatre Royal, in
Dorset-Garden,” 1698, 4to. Afterwards at this theatre there was a short
exhibition of prize-fighters; and the building was totally deserted in
1703.
In 1698-9, schemes were started, called “The Lucky Adventure; or,
Fortunate Chance, being 2000_l._ for a groat, or 3000_l._ for a
shilling:” and “Fortunatus, or another adventure of 1000_l._ for a
penny:” but purchasers were more wary, and the money returned in both
cases.--The patentees also advertised against the “Marble-board, alias
the Woollich-board lotteries; the Figure-board, alias the
Whimsey-board, and the Wyreboard lotteries.”[439]
* * * * *
These patents of the Restoration seem to have occasioned considerable
strife between the parties who worked under them. The following verses
from “The Post Boy, January 3, 1698,” afford some insight to their
estimation among sensible people:--
A DIALOGUE _betwixt the_ NEW LOTTERIES _and the_ ROYAL OAK.
_New Lott._ To you, the mother of our schools,
Where knaves by licence manage fools,
Finding fit juncture and occasion,
To pick the pockets of the nation;
We come to know how we must treat ’em,
And to their heart’s content may cheat ’em.
_Oak._ It cheers my aged heart to see
So numerous a progeny;
I find by you, that ’tis heaven’s will
That knavery should flourish still.
You have docility and wit,
And fools were never wanting yet.
Observe the crafty auctioneer,
His art to sell waste paper dear;
When he for salmon baits his hooks,
That cormorant of offal books,
Who bites, as sure as maggots breed,
Or carrion crows on horse-flesh feed;
Fair specious titles him deceive,
To sweep what Sl---- and T----n leave.
If greedy gulls you wou’d ensnare,
Make ’em proposals wondrous fair;
Tell him strange golden show’rs shall fall,
And promise mountains to ’em all.
_New Lott._ That craft we’ve already taught,
And by that trick have millions caught;
Books, bawbles, toys, all sorts of stuff,
Have gone off this way well enough.
Nay, music, too, invades our art,
And to some tune wou’d play her part.
I’ll show you now what we are doing,
For we have divers wheels agoing.
We now have found out richer lands
Than Asia’s hills, or Afric’s sands,
And to vast treasures must give birth,
Deep hid in bowels of the earth;
In fertile Wales, and God knows where,
Rich mines of gold and silver are,
From whence we drain prodigious store
Of silver coin’d, tho’ none in ore,
Which down our throats rich coxcombs pour,
In hopes to make us vomit more.
_Oak._ This project surely must be good,
Because not eas’ly understood:
Besides, it gives a mighty scope
To the fool’s argument--vain hope.
No eagle’s eye the cheat can see,
Thro’ hope thus back’d by mystery.
_New Lott._ We have, besides, a thousand more,
For great and small, for rich and poor,
From him that can his thousands spare,
Down to the penny customer.
_Oak._ The silly mob in crowds will run,
To be at easy rates undone.
A gimcrack-show draws in the rout,
Thousands their all by pence lay out.
_New Lott._ We, by experience, find it true,
But we have methods wholly new,
Strange late-invented ways to thrive,
To make men pay for what they give,
To get the rents into our hands
Of their hereditary lands,
And out of what does thence arise,
To make ’em buy annuities.
We’ve mathematic combination,
To cheat folks by plain demonstration,
Which shall be fairly manag’d too,
The undertaker knows not how.
Besides ----
_Oak._ Pray, hold a little, here’s enough,
To beggar Europe of this stuff.
Go on, and prosper, and be great,
I am to you a puny cheat.[440]
* * * * *
The “Royal-Oak Lottery,” as the rival if not the parent of the various
other demoralizing schemes, obtained the largest share of public odium.
The evils it had created are popularly set forth in a remarkable tract,
entitled “The Arraignment, Trial, and Condemnation of _Squire Lottery_,
alias _Royal-Oak Lottery_, London, 1699,” 8vo. The charges against the
offender are arrayed under the forms imported by the title-page. The
following extracts are in some respects curious, as exemplifying the
manners of the times:--
_Die Lunæ vicesimo die Martii 1698/9. Anno Regni, &c._
At the Time and Place appointed, came on the Trial of _Squire Lottery_,
alias _Royal-Oak Lottery_, for abundance of intolerable Tricks, Cheats,
and high Misdemeanours, upon an Indictment lately found against him, in
order to a National Delivery.
About ten of the Clock, the day and year abovesaid, the Managers came
into the Court, where, in the presence of a vast confluence of People of
all Ranks, the Prisoner was ordered to the Bar.
Proclamation being made, and a Jury of good Cits which were to try the
Prisoner being sworn, the Indictment against _Squire Lottery_ alias
_Royal-Oak Lottery_, was read.
_The Jurors’ Names._
Mr. _Positive_, a Draper in _Covent Garden_.
Mr. _Squander_, an Oilman in _Fleet-street_.
Mr. _Pert_, a Tobacconist, _ditto_.
Mr. _Captious_, a Milliner in _Paternoster-Row_.
Mr. _Feeble_, a Coffeeman near the _Change_.
Mr. _Altrick_, a Merchant in _Gracechurch-street_.
Mr. _Haughty_, a Vintner by _Grays-Inn, Holborn_.
Mr. _Jealous_, a Cutler at _Charing-Cross_.
Mr. _Peevish_, a Bookseller in _St. Paul’s Church-yard_.
Mr. _Spilbook_, near _Fleet-bridge_.
Mr. _Noysie_, a Silkman upon _Ludgate-hill_.
Mr. _Finical_, a Barber in Cheapside.
_Cl. of Ma. Squire Lottery_, alias _Royal-Oak Lottery_, you stand
Indicted by the Name of _Squire Lottery_, alias _Royal-Oak Lottery_, for
that you the said _Squire Lottery_, not having the Fear of God in your
Heart; nor weighing the Regard and Duty you owe, and of right ought to
pay to the Interest, Safety, and Satisfaction of your Fellow-Subjects;
have from time to time, and at several times, and in several places,
contrary to the known Laws of this Kingdom, under the shadow and
coverture of a Royal Oak, propagated, continued, and carried on a most
unequal, intricate, and insinuating Game, to the utter ruin and
destruction of many thousand Families: And that you the said _Squire
Lottery_, alias _Royal-Oak Lottery_, as a common Enemy to all young
People, and an inveterate Hater of all good Conversation and Diversion,
have, for many years last past, and do still continue, by certain
cunning Tricks and Stratagems, insidiously, falsely, and impiously, to
trepan, deceive, cheat, decoy, and entice divers Ladies, Gentlemen,
Citizens, Apprentices, and others, to play away their Money at manifest
Odds and Disadvantage. And that you the said _Squire Lottery_, alias
_Royal-Oak Lottery_, the more secretly and effectually to carry on and
propagate your base, malicious, and covetous Designs and Practices, did,
and do still encourage several lewd and disorderly Persons, to meet,
propose, treat, consult, consent, and agree upon several unjust and
illegal Methods, how to ensnare and entangle People into your delusive
Game; by which means you have, for many years last past, utterly,
intirely, and irrecoverably, contrary to all manner of Justice,
Humanity, or good Nature, despoiled, depraved, and defrauded, an
incredible number of Persons of every Rank, Age, Sex, and Condition, of
all their Lands, Goods, and Effects; and from the Ruins of multitudes
built fine Houses, and purchased large Estates, to the great scandal and
reflection on the Wisdom of the Nation, for suffering such an
intolerable Impostor to pass so long unpunished. What say’st thou,
_Squire Lottery_, art thou guilty of the aforesaid Crimes, Cheats,
Tricks, and Misdemeanours thou standest Indicted of, or not Guilty?
_Lottery._ Not Guilty. But, before I proceed to make my Defence, I beg I
may be permitted the assistance of three or four learned Sharpers to
plead for me, in case any Matter of Law arise.
This being assented to, the Managers of the Prosecution made their
speeches in support of the Charge, and called Captain _Pasthope_.
_1st Man._ Sir, Do you know Squire _Lottery_, the Prisoner at the Bar?
_Pasthope._ Yes, I have known him intimately for near forty years; ever
since the Restoration of King _Charles_.
_1st Man._ Pray will you give the Bench and Jury an Account what you
know of him; how he came into _England_, and how he has behaved himself
ever since.
_Pasthope._ In order to make my Evidence more plain, I hope it will not
be judg’d much out of form, to premise two or three things.
_1st Man_. Mr. _Pasthope_, Take your own method to explain yourself; we
must not abridge or direct you in any respect.
_Pasthope._ In the years 60 and 61, among a great many poor Cavaliers,
’twas my hard fate to be driven to Court for a Subsistence, where I
continued in a neglected state, painfully waiting the moving of the
Waters for several months; when at last a Rumour was spread, that a
certain Stranger was landed in _England_, that in all probability, if we
could get him the Sanction of a Patent, would be a good Friend to us
all.
_Man._ You seem to intimate as if he was a Stranger; pray, do you know
what Countryman he was?
_Pasthope._ The report of his Country was very different; some would
have him a _Walloon_, some a _Dutchman_, some a _Venetian_, and others a
_Frenchman_; indeed by his Policy, cunning Design, Forethought, &c. I am
very well satisfied he could be no _Englishman_.
_Man._ What kind of Credentials did he bring with him to recommend him
with so much advantage?
_Pasthope._ Why, he cunningly took upon him the Character of a
_Royal-Oak Lottery_, and pretended a mighty Friendship to antiquated
Loyalists: but for all that, there were those at Court that knew he had
been banish’d out of several Countries for disorderly Practices, till at
last he pitch’d upon poor easy credulous _England_ for his Refuge.
_Man._ You say then, he was a Foreigner, that he came in with the
Restoration, usurp’d the Title of a _Royal Oak_, was establish’d in
Friendship to the Cavaliers, and that for disorderly Practices he had
been banish’d out of several Countries; till at last he was forc’d to
fix upon _England_ as the fittest _Asylum_. But pray, Sir, how came you
so intimately acquainted with him at first?
_Pasthope._ I was about to tell you. In order to manage his Affairs, it
was thought requisite he should be provided with several Coadjutors,
which were to be dignify’d with the Character of _Patentees_; amongst
which number, by the help of a friendly Courtier, I was admitted for
one.
_Man._ Oh! then I find you was a Patentee. Pray, how long did you
continue in your Patentee’s Post? and what were the Reasons that urg’d
you to quit it at last?
_Pasthope._ I kept my Patentee’s Station nine years, in which time I had
clear’d 4000_l._, and then, upon some Uneasiness and Dislike, I sold it
for 700_l._
_Man._ Pray, Captain, tell the Court more fully what was the Reason that
prevail’d with you to relinquish such a profitable place.
_Pasthope._ I had two very strong Reasons for quitting my Post; _viz._
Remorse of Conscience, and Apprehension of consequent Danger. To tell
you the truth, I saw so many bad Practices encourag’d and supported, and
so many persons of both Sexes ruin’d; I saw so much Villany perfected
and projected, and so many other intolerable Mischiefs within the
compass of every day’s Proceeding, that partly through the stings of my
Mind and the apprehensions I was under of the Mob, with a great deal of
Reluctancy I quitted my Post.
_Man._ Captain, I find you’re nicely qualify’d for an Evidence, pray,
therefore, give the Court an Account what Methods the Prisoner us’d to
take to advance his business.
_Pasthope._ The way in my time, and I suppose ’tis the same still, was
to send out Sharpers and Setters into all parts of the Town, and to give
’em direction to magnify the Advantage, Equality, and Justice of his
Game, in order to decoy Women and Fools to come and play away their
Money.
_Man._ Well, but sure he had no Women or Fools of Quality, Rank, or
Reputation, that came to him? According to the common Report that passes
upon him, there’s none but the very Scoundrels and Rabble, the very
Dregs and Refuse of Fools, will think him worth their Conversation.
_Pasthope._ Truly, he had ’em of all sorts, as well Lord-fools and
Lady-fools, Knight-fools and Esquire-fools, or any other sort of Fools:
and, indeed, he made no difference between ’em neither; a Cobler-fool
had as much respect as a Lord-fool, in proportion to the money he had in
his Pocket; and _pro hac vice_ had as extensive a Qualification to
command, domineer, and hector, as the best Fool of ’em all.
_Man._ Did you never observe any of these Fools to get any money of him?
I can’t imagine what it could be that could influence ’em to embark with
him, if there was nothing to be got.
_Pasthope._ There was never any body that ever got any thing of him in
the main: now and then one by chance might carry off a small matter; and
so ’twas necessary they should, for otherwise his Constitution must
dissolve in course.
_Man._ ’Tis a great mystery to me, that so many People should pursue a
Game where every body’s a Loser at last; but pray, Captain, then, what
are the odds the Prisoner is reputed to have against those that play
with him?
_Pasthope._ No body can tell you their Advantage; ’tis a cunning
intricate _Contexture_, and truly I very much question whether the
original Projector himself had a perfect Idea of the Odds: at a full
Table and deep Play, I have seen him clear 600_l._ in less than an hour.
_Man._ What are the Odds he owns himself?
_Pasthope._ Only 32 Figures against 27, which indeed is Odds enough to
insure all the money at length. But this, it seems, was an Advantage
that was allow’d him, that he might be able to keep a good House,
relieve the Poor, and pay an annual Pension to the Crown or the
Courtiers.
_Man._ You say, by his original Agreement he’s to keep a good House:
pray after all, what sort of House is it he does keep?
_Past._ Why, he dines at the Tavern, where any body that has 40 or
50_l._ to play away with him the Afternoon, may be admitted into his
Company.
_Man._ What, does he entertain none but those that have 40 or 50_l._ to
lose?
_Past._ He never converses with any Person that has no money: if they
have no money, their Company’s burdensom and ungrateful, and the Waiters
have Directions to keep ’em out.
_Man._ Does he do this to the very Persons he has ruin’d, and won all
they have? That, methinks, is a pitch of Barbarity beyond the common
degree: I hardly ever read or heard of any thing so exaltedly cruel and
brutish, in all the Accounts of my Life.
_Past._ I have seen abundance of Examples of this nature, one, in
particular, which I shall never forget; a poor Lady, that had lost
350_l._ _per annum_ to him, beside two or three thousand pounds in ready
money, basely and inhumanly hal’d out of doors, but for asking for a
glass of Sack.
_Man._ You were mentioning his Charity to the Poor too; is there any
thing of reality in that?
_Past._ For my part, I never heard of one good Act he has done in the
whole course of his Life: secret Charity is the most meritorious, ’tis
true; and perhaps it may be that way he may communicate his, for indeed
I never heard of any he did in publick.
_Man._ You were mentioning too an annual Pension to the Crown; what is
it he pays to the Crown?
_Past._ Indeed I cannot be positive in that: to the best of my
remembrance ’tis four thousand pounds _per annum_: in compensation for
which, beside the general liberty he has to cheat and abuse the World,
he has the sole Privilege of Licensing all other Cheats and Impostors,
commonly known by the Name of Lotteries.
_2d Man._ You were speaking something, Captain _Pasthope_, just now, as
if the Prisoner was intrusted with these Advantages for the benefit of
some poor Cavaliers, which were to be the Patentees, as you call ’em.
Pray tell the Jury what kind of Cavaliers these Patentees were.
_Past._ That was all but a Blind, a pure Trick to deceive the World: the
Patentees, in the main, were either Sharpers or broken Tradesman, or
some such sort or Vermin, that had cunningly twisted themselves into
the business under the shadow of Cavaliers.
_Man._ Pray, what Opinion had the World of the Prisoner when he first
came to be known in _England_?
_Pasthope._ The same that it has of him now: all wise men look’d upon
him as a Cheat, and a dangerous Spark to be let loose in publick among
our English Youth: and indeed I have heard a great many sober men pass
very sharp Censures upon the Wisdom of the Court for intrusting him with
a Royal Authority.
_Man._ What kind of Censures were they that they past? do you remember
any of them particularly?
_Past._ Yes, I remember several things that I am almost ashamed to
mention. I have heard ’em often reflecting what an intolerable Shame and
Scandal it was, that a whole Kingdom should be sacrificed to the
Interest of two or three Courtiers, and three or four scurvy mercenary
Patentees; that so many thousand Families should be ruin’d, and no
notice taken of it; that so many Wives should be seduc’d to rob and
betray their Husbands, so many Children and Servants their Parents and
Masters, and so many horrid Mischiefs transacted daily under the shadow
of this pretended _Royal-Oak Lottery_, and no manner of means used to
suppress it.
_2d Man._ But, Captain, did you never hear of any Person that got money
of the Prisoner in the main?
_Past._ Not one. I defy him to produce one single person that’s a
Gainer, against a hundred thousand he has ruin’d. I’m confident I have a
Catalogue by me of several thousands that have been utterly undone by
him, within the compass of my own Experience.
_Man._ What does the Town in general say of him?
_Past._ The town, here-a-late, is grown so inveterate and incens’d
against him, that I am very well assur’d that if he had not been call’d
to account in the very nick, the Mob would have speedily taken him into
their correction.
_Man._ Well, Sir, you hear what the Witness has said against you; will
you ask him any Questions?
_Lottery._ Only one; and leave the rest till I come to make my general
Defence. Sir, I desire to know whether you was not one that was turn’d
out upon the last Renewal of the Patent?
_Past._ No, Sir, I was not. You might have remember’d that I told you I
saw so much of your Falshood and Tricks, and so many innocent People
daily sacrific’d, to support a Society of lewd, debauch’d, impertinent,
and withal imperious Cannibals, that I thought it my best way to quit
your Fraternity, and pack off with that little I had got, and leave you
to manage your mathematical Balls, &c. by your self.
_Man._ I suppose, Sir, you will ask him no more Questions, and so we’ll
call another Witness.
_Lottery._ No, Sir, I have done with him.
_Man._ Call Squire _Frivolous_, the Counsellor: Sir, do you know _Squire
Lottery_, the Prisoner?
_Frivolous._ I have been acquainted with him several years, to my great
Cost and Damage. The first time I had the misfortune to know him, was at
an Act at _Oxford_ about twenty years ago; where among abundance of
other young Fools that he entic’d to sell their Books for Money to play
with him, &c. I was one.
_Man._ What, I hope, he was not so barbarous as to decoy the poor young
Gentlemen out of their Books?
_Frivolous._ Yes, out of every thing they had, and out of the College to
boot: For my own part I have reason to curse him, I’m sure; He flatter’d
me up with so many Shams and false Pretences, and deluded me with so
many chimerical Notions and cunning Assurances, and urg’d me so long
from one deceitful Project to another, till at last he had trickt me out
of all I had in the world, and then turn’d me over to the scorn and
laughter of my Friends and Acquaintance.
_Man._ Can you give the Bench any particular Names of Persons he has
ruin’d?
_Frivolous._ I have a Collection of Names in my Pocket, which I’m sure
he can’t object against, that have lost fourteen or fifteen thousand
Pound _per Annum_, within my own Knowledg and Acquaintance.
_Man._ That’s a round Sum: But, pray, Mr. _Frivolous_, for the
satisfaction of the Jury, mention a few of their Names.
_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]
[Illustration: ~The Lottery Wheel, 1826.~]
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.
[Illustration: ~Drawing Prizes.~]
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]
* * * * *
On the 11th of the next month, November, the drawing of the State
Lottery began, when, notwithstanding the united efforts of several
societies and public-spirited gentlemen to check the exorbitancy of the
ticket-mongers, the price rose to sixteen guineas just before drawing.
All means were tried to cure this infatuation by writing and
advertising; particularly on the first day of drawing, it was publicly
averred, that near eight thousand tickets were in the South Sea House,
and upwards of thirty thousand pawned at bankers, &c. that nine out of
ten of the ticket-holders were not able to go into the wheel; and that
not one of them durst stand the drawing above six days. It was also
demonstrated in the clearest manner, that to have an even chance for any
prize a person must have seven tickets; that with only one ticket it was
six to one; and ninety-nine to one that the prize, if it came, would not
be above fifty pounds, and no less than thirty-five thousand to one that
the owner of a single ticket would not obtain one of the greatest
prizes.--Yet, notwithstanding these and other precautions, people still
suffered themselves to be deluded, and the monied men arrogantly
triumphed.[464]
A LOTTERY JOB IN IRELAND.
In August, 1752, a lottery was set on foot at Dublin, under the pretext
of raising 13,700_l._ for rebuilding Essex-bridge, and other public and
charitable uses. There were to be 100,000 tickets, at a guinea each.
The lords justices of Ireland issued an order to suppress this lottery.
The measure occasioned a great uproar in Dublin; for it appears, that
the tickets bore a premium, and that though the original subscribers
were to have their money returned, the buyers at the advanced price
would lose the advance. Every purchaser of a single ticket in this
illegal lottery incurred a penalty of 50_l._ for each offence, and the
seller 500_l._, one third of which went to the informer, a third to the
king, and the other third to the poor of the parish; besides which, the
offenders were subject to a year’s close imprisonment in the county
gaol.[465]
LEHEUP’S FRAUD.
To prevent the monopoly of tickets in the State Lottery, it had been
enacted, that persons charged with the delivery of tickets should not
sell more than twenty to one person. This provision was evaded by
pretended lists, which defeated the object of parliament and injured
public credit, insomuch that, in 1754, more tickets were subscribed for
than the holders of the lists had cash to purchase, and there was a
deficiency in the first payment. The mischief and notoriety of these
practices occasioned the house of commons to prosecute an inquiry into
the circumstances, which, though opposed by a scandalous cabal, who
endeavoured to screen the delinquents, ended in a report by the
committee, that Peter Leheup, esq. had privately disposed of a great
number of tickets before the office was opened to which the public were
directed by an advertisement to apply; that he also delivered great
numbers to particular persons, upon lists of names which he knew to be
fictitious; and that, in particular, Sampson Gideon became proprietor of
more than six thousand, which he sold at a premium. Upon report of these
and other illegal acts, the house resolved that Leheup was guilty of a
violation of the act, and a breach of trust, and presented an address to
his majesty, praying that he would direct the attorney-general to
prosecute him in the most effectual manner for his offences.
An information was accordingly filed, and, on a trial at bar in the
court of king’s bench, Leheup, as one of the receivers of the last
lottery of 300,000_l._, was found guilty: 1. Of receiving subscriptions
before the day and hour advertised; 2. Of permitting the subscribers to
use different names to cover an excess of twenty tickets; and 3. Of
disposing of the tickets which had been bespoke and not claimed, or were
double charged, instead of returning them to the managers. In Trinity
term, Leheup was brought up for judgment, and fined 1000_l._, which he
paid in court. As he had amassed forty times that sum by his frauds, the
lenity of the sentence was the subject of severe remark.[466]
LOTTERY INSANITY.
November 5, 1757, Mr. Keys, late clerk to Cotton and Co., who had
absented himself ever since the 7th of October, the day the 10,000_l._
was drawn in the lottery, (supposed to be his property,) was found in
the streets raving mad, having been robbed of his pocket-book and
ticket.[467]
* * * * *
The subjoined verses appeared in 1761:[468]--
_A few Thoughts on Lotteries._
A Lottery, like a magic spell,
All ranks of men bewitches,
Whose beating bosoms vainly swell
With hopes of sudden riches:
With hope to gain TEN THOUSAND POUND
How many post to ruin,
And for an empty, airy sound
Contrive their own undoing!
Those on whom wealth her stores had shed,
May firmly bear their crosses;
But they who earn their daily bread,
Oft sink beneath their losses.
’Tis strange, so many fools we find,
By tickets thus deluded,
And, by a trifling turn of mind,
From life’s blest bliss excluded.
For life’s best blessing, calm content,
Attends no more his slumbers,
Who dreams of profit, cent. per cent.
And sets his heart on numbers.
Thro’ all life’s various stages, care
Our peace will oft disquiet;
Like a free-gift it comes, we ne’er
Need be in haste to buy it.
He who, intent on shadowy schemes,
By them is deeply bubbled,
Deserves to wake from golden dreams,
With disappointment doubled.
Unmoved by Fortune’s fickle wheel,
The wise man chance despises;
And Prudence courts with fervent zeal--
She gives the highest prizes.
LARGE DIVISION OF TICKETS.
In some of the old lotteries tickets were divided into a much greater
number of shares than of late years. There is an example of this in the
following
_Advertisement, November, 1766._
DAME FORTUNE presents her respects to the public, and assures them that
she has fixed her residence for the present at CORBETT’S, State
Lottery-office, opposite St. Dunstan’s-church, Fleet-street; and, to
enable many families to partake of her favours, she has ordered not only
the tickets to be sold at the lowest prices, but also that they be
_divided into shares at the following low rates_, viz:--
£ _s._ _d._
A sixty-fourth 0 4 0
Thirty-second 0 7 6
Sixteenth 0 15 0
An eighth 1 10 0
A Fourth 3 0 0
A half 6 0 0
By which may be gained from upwards of one hundred and fifty to upwards
of five thousand guineas, at her said office No. 30.
A NUMBER TWICE SOLD.
The lottery of 1766 was unfortunate to a lottery-office keeper. The
ticket No. 20,99 was purchased in the alley for Pagen Hale, esq. of
Hertfordshire; and the same number was also divided into shares at a
lottery-office near Charing-cross, and some of the shares actually sold.
The number purchased in the alley was the real number, but that divided
by the office-keeper was done by mistake, for which he paid a
proportionable sum.
* * * * *
During the lottery of 1767, the stockbrokers fell among thieves. Mr.
Hugnes, a stock-broker, had his pocket picked in Jonathan’s coffee-house
of fifty lottery tickets, the value of which (at the price then sold)
was 800_l._ The same evening three other brokers had their pockets
picked of their purses, one containing sixty-two guineas, another seven,
and the third five. One of the pick-pockets was afterwards apprehended,
on whom thirty-five of the tickets were found, and recovered; the other
fifteen he said were carried to Holland by his accomplices.
* * * * *
The preceding anecdotes are in the newspapers of the time, together with
the following, which strongly marks the perversion of a weak mind. “A
gentlewoman in Holborn, whose husband had presented her with a ticket,
put up prayers in the church, the day before drawing, in the following
manner: _The prayers of the congregation are desired for the success of
a person engaged in a new undertaking_.”
A FRAUDULENT INSURER.
In January, 1768, an insurer of tickets was summoned before a
magistrate, for refusing to pay thirty guineas to an adventurer, upon
the coming up of a certain number a blank, for which he had paid a
premium of three guineas. The insurer was ordered immediately to pay
thirty guineas, which he was obliged to comply with to prevent worse
consequences.[469] In other words, the magistrate was too weak to exert
the power he was armed with, by law, against both the insurer and the
insured.
LOVE TICKETS.
Mr. Charles Holland, the actor, who died on the 7th of December, 1769,
received many letters of passionate admiration from a lady who fell in
love with him from his appearance on the stage; and she accompanied one
of her declarations of attachment by four lottery tickets as a
present.[470]
GOOD AND ILL LUCK.
In the lottery of 1770, the holder of the ticket entitled to the capital
prize or 20,000_l._ was captain Towry of Isleworth. A very remarkable
circumstance put it in his possession: Mr. Barnes, a grocer in
Cheapside, purchased four following numbers, one of which this was; but
thinking the chance not so great in so many following ones, he carried
this very ticket back to the office, and changed it for another.
A LITTLE GO.
October 14, 1770, a case was determined at the general quarter session
of the peace for the county of Wilts, held at Marlborough. A quack
doctor had been convicted before Thomas Johnson, esq. of Bradford, in
the penalty of 200_l._ for disposing of plate, &c. by means of a device
or lottery; and by a second information convicted of the same offence
before Joseph Mortimer, esq. of Trowbridge. To both these convictions he
appealed to the justices at the general quarter session of the peace,
when, after a trial of near ten hours, the bench unanimously confirmed
the conviction on both informations, by which the appellant was
subjected to the penalties of 200_l._ on each, and costs.[471]
INSURANCE CAUSE.
On the 1st of March, 1773, a cause of great public concern came on to be
tried before lord Mansfield, at Guildhall, wherein the lord mayor was
plaintiff, and Messrs. Barnes and Golightly were defendants, in order to
determine the legality of insuring lottery tickets; but on account of an
error in the declaration the plaintiff was nonsuited.
On the 17th of the same month, “Mr. Sheriff Lewes presented a petition
from the city of London, against the frequent toleration of lotteries in
the time of peace; but the petition was ordered to lie upon the
table.--No government can long subsist, that is reduced to the necessity
of supporting itself by fraudulent gaming.”[472]
TRICKS OF AN INSURER.
June 26, 1775, a cause came on in the court of common pleas, Guildhall,
between a gentleman, plaintiff, and a lottery-office keeper of this
city, defendant; the cause of this action was as follows: the gentleman,
passing by the lottery-office, observed a woman and boy crying, on which
he asked the reason of their tears; they informed him, that they had
insured a number in the lottery on the over night, and, upon inquiry at
another office, found it to have been drawn five days before, and
therefore wanted their money returned; the gentleman, taking their part,
was assaulted and beat by the office-keeper, for which the jury gave a
verdict in favour of the gentleman with five pounds damages.[473]
PROCEEDINGS RESPECTING A BLUE-COAT BOY.
In 1775, some of the boys of Christ’s Hospital, appointed to draw
numbers and chances from the wheel, were tampered with, for the purpose
of inducing them to commit a fraud. These attempts were successful in
one instance, and led to certain regulations, which will presently be
stated.
On the 1st of June, a man was carried before the lord mayor for
attempting to bribe the two blue-coat boys who drew the Museum Lottery
at Guildhall to conceal a ticket, and to bring it to him, promising that
he would next day return it to them. His intention was to insure it in
all the offices, with a view to defraud the office-keepers. The boys
were honest, gave notice of the intended fraud, and pointed out the
delinquent, who, however, was discharged, as there existed no law to
punish the offence.
On the 5th of December, one of the blue-coat boys who drew the numbers
in the State Lottery at Guildhall was examined before sir Charles
Asgill, relative to a number that had been drawn out the Friday before,
on which an insurance had been made in almost every office in London.
The boy confessed, that he was prevailed upon to conceal the ticket No.
21,481, by a man who gave him money for so doing; that the man copied
the number; and that the next day he followed the man’s instructions,
and put his hand into the wheel as usual, with the ticket in it, and
then pretended to draw it out. The instigator of the offence had
actually received 400_l._ of the insurance-office keepers; had all of
them paid him, the whole sum would have amounted to 3000_l._ but some of
them suspected a fraud had been committed, and caused the inquiry, which
obtained the boy’s confession.
On the following day, the person who insured the ticket was examined. He
was clerk to a hop-factor in Goodman’s-fields, but not being the person
who seduced the boy to secrete the ticket, and no evidence appearing to
prove his connection with the person who did, the prisoner was
discharged, though it was ascertained that he had insured the number
already mentioned ninety-one times in one day.[474]
In consequence of the circumstances discovered by this examination, the
lords of the treasury inquired further, and deliberated on the means of
preventing similar practices; the result of their conferences was the
following “Orders,” which are extracted from the original minutes of the
proceedings, and are now for the first time published.
COPY, No. I.
ORDER _of December 12, 1775_.
A DISCOVERY having been made, that WILLIAM TRAMPLET, one of the boys
employed in drawing the lottery, had, at the instigation of one CHARLES
LOWNDES, (since absconded,) at different times, in former rolls _taken
out of the number wheel_ THREE _numbered tickets, which were at_ THREE
_several times returned by him into the said wheel, and drawn without
his parting with them_, so as to give them the appearance of being
fairly drawn, _to answer the purpose of defrauding by insurance_:
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, for preventing the like wicked practices in
future, that every boy before he is suffered to put his hand into either
wheel, be brought by the proclaimer to the managers on duty, for them to
see that _the bosoms and sleeves of his coat be closely buttoned_, _his
pockets sewed up_, _and his hands examined_; and that during the time of
his being on duty, _he shall keep his left hand in his girdle behind
him, and his right hand open, with his fingers extended_; and the
proclaimer is not to suffer him at any time to leave the wheel without
being first examined by the manager nearest him.
The observance of the foregoing order is recommended by the managers on
this roll to those on the succeeding rolls, till the matter shall be
more fully discussed at a general meeting.
COPY, No. II.
ORDER _at_ GENERAL MEETING.
A PLAN OF RULES AND REGULATIONS to be observed, in order _to prevent
the boys committing frauds_, &c., in the drawing of the lottery,
agreeable to _directions_ received by Mr. JOHNSON, on Tuesday the 16th
of January, 1776, from the LORDS OF THE TREASURY.
THAT ten managers be always on the roll at Guildhall, two of whom are to
be conveniently placed opposite the two boys at the wheels, in order to
observe that they strictly conform themselves to the rules and orders
directed by the committee at Guildhall, on Tuesday, December 12, 1775.
_THAT it be requested of the TREASURER OF CHRIST’S HOSPITAL not to make
known who are the twelve boys nominated for drawing the lottery till the
morning the drawing begins; which said boys are all to attend every day,
and the two who are to go on duty at the wheels are to be taken
promiscuously from amongst the whole number_ by either of the
secretaries, _without observing any regular course or order; so that no
boy shall know when it will be his turn to go to either wheel_.
THIS METHOD, though attended with considerable additional expense, by
the extra attendance of two managers and six boys, will, it is presumed,
effectually prevent any attempt being made to corrupt or bribe any of
the boys to commit the fraud practised in the last lottery.
* * * * *
It is imagined, that to future inquirers concerning lotteries, with a
view to its history, the publication of the preceding documents may be
acceptable. So long a time has elapsed since the fraud they relate to
was perpetrated, that any motive which existed for keeping them private
has ceased. The blue-coat boy who secretly abstracted the tickets from
the wheel, and afterwards appeared to draw them fairly and openly, will
be regarded as having been pitiably exposed to seductions, which might
have been prevented if these regulations had been adopted on the
complaint of the lad who was tampered with in June. Perhaps it was
prudent, though not “quite correct,” to conceal that _three_ tickets had
been improperly taken from the wheel: until now, it has not been
publicly made known that there was more than _one_; and though, if the
point had been tried, that _one_ might have been sufficient to have
vitiated the legality of the drawing of the lottery of 1775 altogether,
it was not enough, in a popular view, to raise a hue-and-cry among the
unfortunate holders against the disturbance of their chances. The
concealment of _three_ might have congregated the unsuccessful
adventurers of the three kingdoms into an uproar, “one and indivisible,”
which, with the law on their side, would have exceedingly puzzled the
then lords of the treasury to subdue, without ordering the lottery to
have been drawn over again, and raising a fresh clamour among the
holders of tickets that had been declared prizes.
LOTTERY SUICIDE.
On the 10th of January, 1777, “a young man, clerk to a merchant in the
city, was found in the river below bridge drowned: he had been dabbling
in the lottery with his master’s money, and chose this way of settling
his accounts.”[475]
A BLANK MADE A PRIZE.
In January, 1777, Joseph Arones and Samuel Noah, two jews, were examined
at Guildhall before the lord mayor, charged with counterfeiting the
lottery ticket No. 25,590, a prize of 2000_l._, with intent to defraud
Mr. Keyser, an office-keeper, knowing the same to have been false and
counterfeit. Mr. Keyser had examined the ticket carefully, and had taken
it into the Stock-exchange to sell, when Mr. Shewell came into the same
box, and desired to look at the ticket, having, as he recollected,
purchased one of the same number a day or two before. This fortunate
discovery laid open the fraud, and the two jews were committed to take
their trial for their ingenuity. It was so artfully altered from 23,590,
that not the least erasure could be discerned. Arones was but just come
to England, and Noah was thought to be a man of property.
In February following, Arones and Noah were tried at the Old Bailey for
the forgery and fraud. Their defence was, that the prisoner Arones found
it, and persons were brought to swear it; on which they were acquitted.
The figure altered was so totally obliterated by a certain liquid, that
not the least trace of it could be perceived.
At the same sessions, Daniel Denny was tried for forging,
counterfeiting, and altering a lottery ticket, with intent to defraud;
and, being found guilty, was condemned.[476]
INSURING.
In July, 1778, came on to be tried at Guildhall, before lord Mansfield,
a cause, wherein a merchant was plaintiff and a lottery-office keeper
defendant. The action was brought for suffering a young man, the
plaintiff’s apprentice, to insure with the defendant during the drawing
of the last lottery, contrary to the statute; whereby the youth lost a
considerable sum, the property of the merchant. The jury without
going out of court gave a verdict for the plaintiff, thereby
subjecting the defendant to pay 500_l._ penalty, and to three months’
imprisonment.[477]
During the same year, parliament having discussed the evil of insuring,
and the mischievous subdivision of the shares of tickets, passed an act
“for the regulation of Lottery offices,” in which the principal clauses
were as follows--
“To oblige every lottery-office keeper to take out a licence, at the
expense of 50_l._, and give security not to infringe any part of the
act.
“That no person shall dispose of any part of a ticket in any smaller
share or proportion than a sixteenth, on 50_l._ penalty.
“That any person selling goods, wares, or other merchandise, or who
shall offer any sum or sums of money, upon any chance or event
whatsoever, relating to the drawing of any ticket, shall be liable to a
penalty of 20_l._
“To enable the commissioners of his majesty’s treasury to establish an
office;--all shares to be stamped at that office;--the original tickets
from which such shares are to be taken, to be kept at that office till a
certain time after drawing;--books of entry to be regularly
kept;--persons carrying shares to be stamped to pay a small sum
specified in the act;--penalties for persons selling shares not stamped;
and a clause for punishing persons who shall forge the stamp of any
ticket.”
In 1779, the drawing of the lottery and the conduct of lottery-office
keepers was further regulated by act of parliament.[478]
EVASIONS OF THE INSURERS.
The provisions of parliament against the ruinous practice of insurance
were evaded by the dexterity of the lottery-office keepers. In 1781, the
following proposals were issued by the cunning, and greedily accepted
by the credulous.
I.
_November 7, 1781_
MODE OF INSURANCE,
Which continues the whole time of drawing the lottery, at CARRICK’S
STATE LOTTERY OFFICE, King’s Arms, 72, Threadneedle-street. _At one
guinea each_ NUMBERS _are taken_, to return three twenty pound prizes,
value sixty pounds, for every given number that shall be drawn any prize
whatever above twenty pounds during the whole drawing.
⁂ _Numbers at half a guinea to receive half the above._
II.
J. Cook respectfully solicits the public will favour the following
_incomparably advantageous plan_ with attention, by which _upwards of
thirty-two thousand chances for obtaining a prize (out of the
forty-eight thousand tickets) are given in one policy_.
POLICIES OF FIVE GUINEAS _with three numbers_, with the first number
will gain
20000 if a prize of £20000
10000 £10000
5000 £ 5000
_with the second number_ will gain