If we are to believe Pere Menestrier, the institution of Lotteries is to
be found in the Bible, in the words--'The _LOT_ causeth contentions to
cease, and parteth between the mighty,' Prov. xviii. 18. Be that as it
may, it is certain that lotteries were in use among the ancient Romans,
taking place during the _Saturnalia_, or festivities in honour of the
god Saturn, when those who took part in them received a numbered ticket,
which entitled the bearer to a prize. During the reign of Augustus the
thing became a means of gratifying the cupidity of his courtiers;
and Nero used it as the method of distributing his gifts to the
people,--granting as many as a thousand tickets a day, some of them
entitling the bearers to slaves, ships, houses, and lands. Domitian
compelled the senators and knights to participate in the lotteries, in
order to debase them; and Heliogabalus, in his fantastic festivities,
distributed tickets which entitled the bearers to camels, flies, and
other odd things suggested by his madness. In all this, however, the
distinctive character of modern lotteries was totally absent: the
tickets were always gratuitous; so that if the people did not win
anything, they never lost.
In the Middle Ages the same practice prevailed at the banquets of feudal
princes, who apportioned their presents economically, and without the
fear of exciting jealousy among the recipients, by granting lottery
tickets indiscriminately to their friends. The practice afterwards
descended to the merchants; and in Italy, during the 16th century, it
became a favourite mode of disposing of their wares.
The application of lotteries by paid tickets to the service of the state
is said to have originated at Florence, under the name of 'Lotto,' in
1530; others say at Genoa, under the following circumstances:--It had
long been customary in the latter city to choose annually, by ballot,
five members of the Senate (composed of 90 persons) in order to form a
particular council. Some persons took this opportunity of laying bets
that the lot would fall on such or such senators. The government, seeing
with what eagerness the people interested themselves in these bets,
conceived the idea of establishing a lottery on the same principle,
which was attended with such great success, that all the cities of Italy
wished to participate in it, and sent large sums of money to Genoa for
that purpose.
To increase the revenues of the Church, the Pope also was induced to
establish a lottery at Rome; the inhabitants of which place became so
fond of this species of gambling, that they often deprived themselves
and their families of the necessaries of life, that they might have
money to lay out in this speculation.
The French borrowed the idea from the Italians. In the year 1520,
under Francis I., lotteries were permitted by edict under the name of
_Blanques_, from the Italian _bianca carta_, 'white tickets,'-- because
all the losing tickets were considered _BLANKS;_--hence the introduction
of the word into common talk, with a similar meaning. From the year 1539
the state derived a revenue from the lotteries, although from 1563 to
1609 the French parliament repeatedly endeavoured to suppress them as
social evils. At the marriage of Louis XIV. a lottery was organized to
distribute the royal presents to the people--after the fashion of the
Roman emperor. Lotteries were multiplied during this reign and that of
Louis XV. In 1776 the Royal Lottery of France was established. This was
abolished in 1793, re-established at the commencement of the Republic;
but finally all lotteries were prohibited by law in 1836,--excepting
'for benevolent purposes.' One of the most remarkable of these lotteries
'for benevolent purposes' was the 'Lottery of the Gold Lingots,'
authorized in 1849, to favour emigration to California. In this lottery
the grand prize was a lingot of gold valued at about L1700.
The old French lottery consisted of 90 numbers, that is, from No. 1 to
No. 90, and the drawing was five numbers at a time. Five wheels were
established at Paris, Lyons, Strasbourg, Bordeaus, and Lille. A drawing
took place every ten days at each city. The exit of a single number was
called _extrait_, and it won 15 times the amount deposited, and 70 times
if the number was determined; the exit of two numbers was called the
_ambe_, winning 270 times the deposit, and 5100 times if the number was
determined;--the exit of three numbers was called the _terne_, winning
5500 times; the _quaterne_, or exit of four numbers, won 75,000 times
the deposit. In all this, however, the chances were greatly in favour
of the state banker;--in the _extrait_ the chances were 18 to 15 in
his favour, vastly increasing, of course, in the remainder; thus in the
_ambe_ it was 1602 against 270; and so on.
The first English lottery mentioned in history was drawn in the year
1569. It consisted of 400,000 lots, at 10_s_. each lot. The prizes were
plate; and the profits were to go towards repairing the havens or ports
of this kingdom. It was drawn at the west door of St Paul's Cathedral.
The drawing began on the 10th of January, 1569, and continued
incessantly, _DAY AND NIGHT_, till the 6th of May following.(146)
Another lottery was held at the same place in 1612, King James having
permitted it in favour of 'the plantation of English colonies in
Virginia.' One Thomas Sharplys, a tailor of London, won the chief prize,
which was '4000 crowns in fair plate.'
(146) The printed scheme of this lottery is still in the possession of
the Antiquarian Society of London.
In 1680, a lottery was granted to supply London with water. At the end
of the 17th century, the government being in want of money to carry on
the war, resorted to a lottery, and L1,200,000 was set apart or _NAMED_
for the purpose. The tickets were all disposed of in less than six
months, friends and enemies joining in the speculation. It was a great
success; and when right-minded people murmured at the impropriety of
the thing, they were told to hold their tongues, and assured that this
lottery was the very queen of lotteries, and that it had just taken
Namur!(147)
(147) This town was captured in 1695, by William III.
At the same time the Dutch gave in to the infatuation with the utmost
enthusiasm; lotteries were established all over Holland; and learned
professors and ministers of the gospel spoke of nothing else but the
lottery to their pupils and hearers.
From this time forward the spirit of gambling increased so rapidly
and grew so strong in England, that in the reign of Queen Anne private
lotteries had to be suppressed as public nuisances.
The first _parliamentary_ lottery was instituted in 1709, and from this
period till 1824 the passing of a lottery bill was in the programme
of every session. Up to the close of the 18th century the prizes were
generally paid in the form of terminable, and sometimes of perpetual,
annuities. Loans were also raised by granting a bonus of lottery tickets
to all who subscribed a certain amount.
This gambling of annuities, despite the restrictions of an act passed in
1793, soon led to an appalling amount of vice and misery; and in 1808, a
committee of the House of Commons urged the suppression of this ruinous
mode of filling the national exchequer. The last public lottery in Great
Britain was drawn in October, 1826.
The lotteries exerted a most baneful influence on trade, by relaxing the
sinews of industry and fostering the destructive spirit of gaming
among all orders of men. Nor was that all. The stream of this evil was
immensely swelled and polluted, in open defiance of the law, by a set of
artful and designing men, who were ever on the watch to allure and
draw in the ignorant and unwary by the various modes and artifices of
'_insurance_,' which were all most flagrant and gross impositions on the
public, as well as a direct violation of the law. One of the most common
and notorious of these schemes was the insuring of numbers for the next
day's drawing, at a _premium_ which (if legal) was much greater than
adequate to the risk. Thus, in 1778, when the just premium of the
lottery was only 7_s_. 6_d_., the office-keepers charged 9_s_., which
was a certain gain of nearly 30 per cent.; and they aggravated the fraud
as the drawing advanced.
On the sixteenth day of drawing the just premium was not quite 20_s_.,
whereas the office-keepers charged L1 4_s_. 6_d_., which clearly
shows the great disadvantage that every person laboured under who was
imprudent enough to be concerned in the insurance of numbers.(148)
(148) Public Ledger, Dec. 3, 1778.
In every country where lotteries were in operation numbers were ruined
at the close of each drawing, and of these not a few sought an oblivion
of their folly ill self-murder--by the rope, the razor, or the river.
A more than usual number of adventurers were said to have been ruined in
the lottery of 1788, owing to the several prizes continuing long in the
wheel (which gave occasion to much gambling), and also to the desperate
state of certain branches of trade, caused by numerous and important
bankruptcies. The suicides increased in proportion. Among them one
person made herself remarkable by a thoughtful provision to prevent
disappointment. A woman, who had scraped everything together to put into
the lottery, and who found herself ruined at its close, fixed a rope to
a beam of sufficient strength; but lest there should be any accidental
failure in the beam or rope, she placed a large tub of water underneath,
that she might drop into it; and near her also were two razors on a
table ready to be used, if hanging or drowning should prove ineffectual.
A writer of the time gives the following account of the excitement that
prevailed during the drawing of the lottery:--'Indeed, whoever wishes to
know what are the "blessings" of a lottery, should often visit Guildhall
during the time of its drawing,--when he will see thousands of workmen,
servants, clerks, apprentices, passing and repassing, with looks full of
suspense and anxiety, and who are stealing at least from their master's
time, if they have not many of them also robbed him of his property, in
order to enable them to become adventurers. In the next place, at the
end of the drawing, let our observer direct his steps to the shops of
the pawnbrokers, and view, as he may, the stock, furniture, and clothes
of many hundred poor families, servants, and others, who have been
ruined by the lottery. If he wish for further satisfaction, let him
attend at the next Old Bailey Sessions, and hear the death-warrant of
many a luckless gambler in lotteries, who has been guilty of subsequent
theft and forgery; or if he seek more proof, let him attend to the
numerous and horrid scenes of self-murder, which are known to accompany
the closing of the wheels of fortune each year:(149) and then let him
determine on "the wisdom and policy" of lotteries in a commercial city.'
(149) A case is mentioned of two servants who, having lost their all in
lotteries, robbed their master; and in order to prevent being seized and
hanged in public, murdered themselves in private.
The capital prizes were so large that they excited the eagerness of
hope; but the sum secured by the government was small when compared with
the infinite mischief it occasioned. On opening the budget of 1788, the
minister observed in the House of Commons, 'that the bargain he had
this year for the lottery was so very good for the public, that it would
produce a gain of L270,000, from which he would deduct L12,000 for the
expenses of drawing, &c., and then there would remain a net produce of
L258,000.' This result, therefore, was deemed extraordinary; but what
was that to the extraordinary mischief done to the community by the
authorization of excessive gambling!
Some curious facts are on record relating to the lotteries.
Until the year 1800 the drawing of the lottery (which usually consisted
of 60,000 tickets for England alone) occupied forty-two days in
succession; it was, therefore, about forty-two to one against any
particular number being drawn the first day; if it remained in the
wheel, it was forty-one to one against its being drawn on the second,
&;c.; the adventurer, therefore, who could for eight-pence insure the
return of a guinea, if a given number came up the first day, would
naturally be led, if he failed, to a small increase of the deposit
according to the decrease of the chance against him, until his number
was drawn, or the person who took the insurance money would take it no
longer.
In the inquiry respecting the mendicity of London, in 1815, Mr Wakefield
declared his opinion that the lottery was a cause of mendicity; and
related an instance--the case of an industrious man who applied to the
Committee of Spitalfields Soup Society for relief; and when, on
being asked his profession, said he was a '_Translator_'--which, when
_TRANSLATED_, signifies, it seems, the art of converting old boots and
shoes into wearable ones; 'but the lottery is about to draw, and,' says
he, 'I have no sale for boots or shoes during the time that the lottery
draws'--the money of his customers being spent in the purchase of
tickets, or the payment of 'insurances.' The 'translator' may have been
mistaken as to the cause of his trade falling off; but there can be no
doubt that the system of the lottery-drawing was a very infatuating mode
of gambling, as the passion was kept alive from day to day; and though,
perhaps, it did not create mendicity, yet it mainly contributed, with
the gin-shops, night-cellars, obscure gambling houses, and places of
amusement, to fill the _PAWNBROKERS_' shops, and diminish the profits of
the worthy 'translator of old shoes.'(150)
(150) This term is still in use. I recently asked one of the craft if he
called himself a translator. 'Yes, sir, not of languages, but old boots
and shoes,' was the reply.
This reasoning, however, is very uncertain.
The sixteenth of a lottery ticket, which is the smallest share that can
be purchased, has not for many years been sold under thirty shillings,
a sum much too large for a person who buys old shoes 'translated,' and
even for the 'translator' himself, to advance; we may therefore safely
conclude that the purchase of tickets is not the mode of gambling by
which Crispin's customers are brought to distress.
A great number of foreign lotteries still exist in vigorous operation.
Some are supported by the state, and others are only authorized; most
of them are flourishing. In Germany, especially, lotteries are abundant;
immense properties are disposed of by this method. The 'bank' gains, of
course, enormously; and, also of course, a great deal of trickery and
swindling, or something like it, is perpetrated.
Foreign lottery tickets are now and then illegally offered in England. A
few years ago there appeared an advertisement in the papers, offering a
considerable income for the payment of one or two pounds. Upon inquiry
it was found to be the agency of a foreign lottery! These tempting
offers of advertising speculators are a cruel addition to the miseries
of misfortune.
The Hamburg lottery seems to afford the most favourable representation
of the system--as such--because in it all the money raised by the
sale of tickets is redistributed in the drawing of the lots, with
the exception of 10 per cent. deducted in expenses and otherwise; but
nothing can compensate for the pernicious effects of the spirit of
gambling which is fostered by lotteries, however fairly conducted. They
are an unmitigated evil.
In the United States lotteries were established by Congress in 1776,
but, save in the Southern States, heavy penalties are now imposed on
persons attempting to establish them.
I need scarcely say that lotteries, whether foreign or British, are
utterly forbidden by law, excepting those of Art Unions. The operations
of these associations were indeed suspended in 1811; but in the
following year an act indemnified those who embarked in them for losses
which they had incurred by the arrest of their proceedings; and since
that time they have been _TOLERATED_ under the eye of the law without
any express statute being framed for their exemption. It is thought,
however, that they tend to keep up the spirit of gambling, and therefore
ought not to be allowed even on the specious plea of favouring 'art.'
_PRIVATE_ lotteries are now illegal at Common Law in Great Britain and
Ireland; and penalties are also incurred by the advertisers of _FOREIGN_
lotteries. Some years ago it became common in Scotland to dispose of
merchandise by means of lotteries; but this is specially condemned
in the statute 42 Geo. III. c. 119. An evasion of the law has been
attempted by affixing a prize to every ticket, so as to make the
transaction resemble a legal sale; but this has been punished as a
fraud, even where it could be proved that the prize equalled in value
the price of the ticket. The decision rested upon the plea that in such
a transaction there was no definite sale of a specific article. Even
the lotteries; for Twelfth Cakes, &c., are illegal, and render their
conductors liable to the penalties of the law. Decisive action has been
taken on this law, and the usual Christmas lotteries have been this year
(1870) rigorously prohibited throughout the country. It is impossible
to doubt the soundness of the policy that strives to check the spirit
of gambling among the people; but still there may be some truth in the
following remarks which appeared on the subject, in a leading journal:--
'We hear that the police have received directions to caution the
promoters of lotteries for the distribution of game, wine, spirits, and
other articles of this description, that these schemes are illegal, and
that the offenders will be prosecuted. These attempts to enforce rigidly
the provisions of the 10 and 11 William III., c. 17, 42 George III.,
c. 119, and to check the spirit of speculation which pervades so many
classes in this country may possibly be successful, but as a mere
question of morality there can be no doubt that Derby lotteries, and, in
fact, all speculations on the turf or Stock Exchange, are open to quite
as much animadversion as the Christmas lotteries for a little pig or an
aged goose, which it appears are to be suppressed in future. Is it not
also questionable policy to enforce every law merely because it is a
law, unless its breach is productive of serious evil to the community?
If every old Act of Parliament is rummaged out and brought to bear upon
us, we fear we shall find ourselves in rather an uncomfortable position.
We cannot say whether or not the harm produced by these humble
lotteries is sufficient to render their forcible suppression a matter of
necessity. They certainly do produce an amount of indigestion which of
itself must be no small penalty to pay for those whose misfortune it is
to win the luxuries raffled for, but we never yet heard of any one being
ruined by raffling for a pig or goose; and if our Government is going
to be paternal and look after our pocket-money, we hope it will also be
maternal and take some little interest in our health. The sanitary
laws require putting into operation quite as much as the laws against
public-house lotteries and skittles.'
No 'extenuating circumstances,' however, can be admitted respecting the
notorious racing lotteries, in spite of the small figure of the tickets;
nay this rather aggravates the danger, being a temptation to the
thoughtless multitude. One of these lotteries, called the Deptford
Spec., was not long ago suppressed by the strong arm of the law; but
others still exist under different names. In one of these the law is
thought to be evaded by the sale of a number of photographs; in another,
a chance of winning on a horse is secured by the purchase of certain
numbers of a newspaper struggling into existence; but the following is,
perhaps, the drollest phase of the evasion as yet attempted:
'Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding _count the number of
the beast_.'--Rev., chap. xiii.
'NICKOLAS REX.--"LUCKY" BANQUETS.
'HIS SATANIC MAJESTY purposes holding a series of Banquets, Levees, and
DRAWING ROOMS at Pandemonium during the ensuing autumn, to each of which
about 10,000 of his faithful disciples will be invited. H. S. M. will,
at those drawing-rooms and receptions, _NUMBER_ a lot of beasts, and
distribute a series of REWARDS, varying in value from L100 to 10_s_. of
her Britannic Majesty's money.
'Tickets One Shilling each, application for which must be made _BY
LETTER_ to His S. Majesty's Chamberlain, &c. &c. The LAST _DRAWING-ROOM_
of this season will be held a few days before the Feast of the CROYDON
STEEPLECHASES, &c. &c.