[1023] And in Greek σύμβολα.
[1024] Many have written at considerable length on the _congiaria_,
yet the difference between the _missilia_ and _tesseræ_ has not been
sufficiently explained. The first, or at least the best account, is in
Turnebi Adversaria, xxix. 9, p. 637. In a passage in the Life of Nero
by Suetonius, xi. 11, p. 21, the articles which were thrown among the
people are called _missilia_; but in regard to corn, the term _tesseræ_
is expressly named.
The passages where a description is given of the manner in which the
_tesseræ_ were thrown out, are to be found in Dio Cassius. The wooden
balls, like those of the Lotto, appear to have been hollow, and to have
contained the ticket or written order. Those desirous of knowing how
these _tesseræ_ were formed, and of what they were made, may consult
Hugo de Prima Scribendi Origine, Traj. 1738, 8vo, cap. 15, p. 229.
[1025] Juven. Sat. vii. 174.
[1026] This abuse of lotteries was mentioned by the states of
Wirtemberg, in the year 1764, among the public grievances; and in 1770
the duke promised that it should be abolished. I must here mention,
to the honour of our prince and government (the author alludes to
Hanover), that since lotteries were found necessary in this country,
not a farthing of the profit has gone to the treasury of the prince,
but the whole has been employed for pious or charitable purposes.
[1027] Recherches de la France. Paris, 1665, fol. viii. 49, p. 729.
[1028] This word is still used in Germany by the writers on Tontines;
such, for example, as Michelsen.
[1029] Both the orders may be found in Traité de la Police, par De la
Mare, Paris 1722, fol. i. pp. 502, 504.
[1030] The whole establishment is particularly described in Sauval,
Histoire et Recherches des Antiquités de Paris, 1724, fol.
[1031] Sauval, pp. 71, 73, 76.
[1032] Dictionnaire de Commerce, par Savary. Art. _Lotterie_.
[1033] All the orders here quoted may be found in De la Mare. Those
desirous of being fully acquainted with the nature of the first
Parisian lotteries, and the method of drawing them, may consult
Histoire de la Ville de Paris, par Felibien. Paris, 1725, fol. ii. p.
1462.
[1034] Christ. Longolii Epistolarum libri iv. Basiliæ, 1570, 8vo, iii.
33, p. 239. The letter is addressed to Octavius Grimoaldo, who lived, I
think, at Venice, and had written, it seems, to Longolius, that he was
unwilling to venture his money in the lottery. That Longolius had in
his hands money belonging to Grimoaldo is proved by the letters iii. 3,
iii. 7, 20. “That new kind of gambling is truly ours, and is called by
us _Loteria_, as it were, a table-vessel (_vasculia_); doubtless from
an arrangement of silver vessels appended to the gaming-table, which
are distributed amongst those whose names are in the lottery, in such
a manner that one vessel is assigned to each. But as you signify your
disapproval of that kind of gaming, and do not think fit to expose my
money to so much hazard, I acknowledge your prudence and kindness to
me.” This derivation of the word _Loteria_ is undoubtedly false, as
Menage has already remarked, in his dictionary, art. _Lot_. He there
says, “Je n’ay point lu ailleurs que _lot_ signifiast _de la vaiselle_.
Et je croy Longueuil s’est mal expliqué, et qu’il a voulu dire qu’on
appelloit _Loterie_ la vaiselle d’argent d’un buffet, parceque de son
tems on mettoit ordinairement à la loterie la vaiselle d’argent d’un
buffet.”
[1035] Dier. Canicul. 1691, fol. tom. ii. colloq. 2.
[1036] See Du Cange, art. _Lot_. Muratori, Antiquit. Ital. Medii
Ævi, ii. p. 1240. Among the oldest German words in Lipsii Epistolæ
ad Belgas, Cent. 3, 44, p. 49, stands _Los_, sors. The _t_ is often
changed into _s_. Thus _nut_ in the English and Low German, _noot_ in
the Dutch, and _nöt_ in the Swedish, are the same as the German _nuss_.
[1037] The convenient machine and apparatus, by which the drawing is
much forwarded at present, were not then known. A description of them
may be found in Savary’s Diction. de Commerce.
[1038] Gent. Mag. xlviii. an. 1778, p. 470, from which I shall also
transcribe the whole title of the scheme:--“A proposal for a very
rich lottery general, without blanks, contayning a great number of
good prizes, as well as of redy money as of plate, and certain sorts
of merchandises, having been valued and prized by the commandment of
the queen’s most excellent majesties order, to the intent that such
commodities as may chance to arise thereof, after the charges borne,
may be converted towards the reperations of the havens and strength
of the realme, and towards such other public good workes. The number
of lotts shall be foure hundred thousand, and no more; and every lott
shall be the sum of tenne shillings sterling, and no more. To be
filled by the feast of St. Bartholomew. The show of prises are to be
seen in Cheapside, at the sign of the Queene’s Armes, the house of Mr.
Dericke, goldsmith, servant to the queene, 1567, 8vo. Printed by Hen.
Bynneman.” See also Maitland’s History of London, 1756, fol. i. p.
257.--Northouck’s History of London. Lond. 1773, 4to, p. 257.
[1039] Hist. of Commerce.
[1040] Commelin’s Amsterdam, i. p. 440. In the year 1561 the profit
on a lottery was employed for enlarging the Orphan House. See Pontani
Rerum Amst. Hist. 1611, fol. lib. ii. c. 2.
[1041] [Lotto does not consist, like the lottery, of a fixed number of
tickets and a certain number of specified prizes, but is, in fact, a
mere game of chance, at which the stakes are indefinite, and is thus
played. A given quantity of numbers are placed together, of which a
few are only to be drawn: the adventurers then select any one or more,
on which they bet any sum they think proper; and, should they prove
successful, they draw so much more than their stake, in a settled
proportion, according as their risk was increased by the quantity of
numbers which they named together. Thus the usual quantity is ninety
numbers, from one upwards, and five only of these are drawn: if the
adventurer chooses but _one_ number out of the 90, and that it be
one of those drawn, his stake is returned fifteen fold; if _two_, he
receives, if they be drawn, 270 times the stake; if _three_, 5500
times; if _four_, 75,000 times; and should he name the _entire five,
in the exact order in which they happen to be drawn_, he is entitled
to 1,000,000 times more than the stake he ventured. These chances are
all calculated largely in favour of the banker or holder of the lotto,
and there is no instance upon public record of any person having named
the five numbers in regular succession; but three have been frequently
fixed upon, and even four have been sometimes, though rarely, attained:
by the latter chance, the lotto established in 1774 at Neufchatel was
ruined.]