"Satire's my weapon, but =I'm= too discreet
To _run a muck_, and tilt at all I meet."
Johnson could not discover the derivation of the word _muck_. To "run a
muck" is an old phrase for attacking madly and indiscriminately; and has
since been ascertained to be a Malay word.
To discharge their gambling debts, the Siamese sell their possessions,
their families, and at length themselves. The Chinese play _night_ and
_day_, till they have lost all they are worth; and then they usually go
and hang themselves. Such is the propensity of the Javanese for high
play, that they were compelled to make a law, that "Whoever ventures his
money at play shall be put to death." In the newly-discovered islands of
the Pacific Ocean, they venture even their hatchets, which they hold as
invaluable acquisitions, on running-matches.--"We saw a man," says Cook,
"beating his breast and tearing his hair in the violence of rage, for
having lost three hatchets at one of these races, and which he had
purchased with nearly half his property."
The ancient nations were not less addicted to gaming: Persians,
Grecians, and Romans; the Goths, and Germans. To notice the modern ones
were a melancholy task: there is hardly a family in Europe which cannot
record, from their own domestic annals, the dreadful prevalence of this
passion.
_Gamester_ and _cheater_ were synonymous terms in the time of Shakspeare
and Jonson: they have hardly lost much of their double signification in
the present day.
The following is a curious picture of a gambling-house, from a
contemporary account, and appears to be an establishment more systematic
even than the "Hells" of the present day.
"A list of the officers established in the most notorious
gaming-houses," from the DAILY JOURNAL, Jan. 9th, 1731.
1st. A COMMISSIONER, always a proprietor, who looks in of a night; and
the week's account is audited by him and two other proprietors.
2nd. A DIRECTOR, who superintends the room.
3rd. An OPERATOR, who deals the cards at a cheating game, called Faro.
4th. Two CROWPEES, who watch the cards, and gather the money for the
hank.
5th. Two PUFFS, who have money given them to decoy others to play.
6th. A CLERK, who is a check upon the PUFFS, to see that they sink none
of the money given them to play with.
7th. A SQUIB is a puff of lower rank, who serves at half-pay salary
while he is learning to deal.
8th. A FLASHER, to swear how often the bank has been stript.
9th. A DUNNER, who goes about to recover money lost at play.
10th. A WAITER, to fill out wine, snuff candles, and attend the
gaming-room.
11th. An ATTORNEY, a Newgate solicitor.
12th. A CAPTAIN, who is to fight any gentleman who is peevish for losing
his money.
13th. An USHER, who lights gentlemen up and down stairs, and gives the
word to the porter.
14th. A PORTER, who is generally a soldier of the Foot Guards.
15th. An ORDERLY MAN, who walks up and down the outside of the door, to
give notice to the porter, and alarm the house at the approach of the
constable.
16th. A RUNNER, who is to get intelligence of the justices' meeting.
17th. LINK-BOYS, COACHMEN, CHAIRMEN, or others who bring intelligence of
the justices' meetings, or of the constables being out, at half-a-guinea
reward.
18th. COMMON-BAIL, AFFIDAVIT-MEN, RUFFIANS, BRAVOES, ASSASSINS, _cum
multis aliis_.
The "Memoirs of the most famous Gamesters from the reign of Charles II.
to Queen Anne, by T. Lucas, Esq., 1714," appears to be a bookseller's
job; but probably a few traditional stories are preserved.[58]