Paris.
I was greatly disappointed by your not coming to town, as you intended,
having been for some time impatient to inform you of what passed between
your young friend —— and me; I relied till the moment of our departure
on having an opportunity of doing this personally, and I seize the first
occasion of communicating the whole to you, in the only manner now in my
power.
You will remember the uneasiness you once expressed to me on account of
that gentleman’s propensity to gaming, and of the inconveniencies to
which he had been put by some recent losses; you will also remember the
resolutions which, in consequence of your request, he formed against
play; but you have yet to learn, that he resumed the dice before the
month was ended in which he had determined never to touch them more, and
concluded one unfortunate night, by throwing away a sum far exceeding any
of his former losses.
Ashamed of his weakness, he carefully concealed his misfortune from you,
and thereby has been subjected to some distresses of a more mortifying
nature than any he had formerly felt.
What shocked him most, was a circumstance which will not greatly astonish
you—the indifference which many who call themselves his friends, showed
at his situation, and the coldness with which they excused themselves
from making any attempts to relieve him from his difficulties. Several
to whom he had advanced considerable sums in the days of his good
fortune, declared a perfect inability of repaying any part of their debt;
they told some sad tale of an unforeseen accident, which had put that
entirely out of their power for the present; yet one of those unfortunate
gentlemen, the same evening that he refused to repay our friend, lost
double the sum, every farthing of which he actually paid in ready money.
Mr. ——’s expectations from those resources having in a great measure
failed, he applied to Mr. P—— in the City, who supplied him with money,
at legal interest, sufficient to clear all his debts, for which he has
granted him a mortgage on his estate.—While our young friend informed me
of all this, he declared, that the remorse he felt on the recollection
of his folly was infinitely greater than any pleasure he had ever
experienced from winning, or could enjoy from the utmost success. He
expressed, at the same time, a strong sense of obligation to you and to
me, for our endeavours to wean him from the habit of gaming, regretted
that they had not been sooner successful, but was happy to find, that he
still had enough left to enable him to live in a decent manner, agreeable
to a plan of œconomy which he has laid down, and to which he is resolved
to adhere till the mortgage is relieved. “I have now (added he in a
solemn manner) formed an ultimate resolution against gaming for the rest
of my life; if I ever deviate from this, you have a right to consider me
as devoid of manly firmness and truth, unworthy of your friendship, and
the weakest of mortals.”
Notwithstanding the young gentleman’s failure on a former occasion, yet
the just reflections he made on his past conduct, and the determined
manner in which he spoke, give me great hopes that he will keep his
present resolution.—To him I seemed fully persuaded of this, and ventured
to say, that I could scarcely regret his last run of bad luck, which had
operated so blessed an effect; for he who has the vigour to disentangle
himself from the snares of deep play, at the expence of half his
fortune, and with his character entire, may on the whole be esteemed a
fortunate man. I therefore insisted strongly on the wisdom of his plan,
which I contrasted with the usual determination of those who have been
unlucky at play. Without fortitude to retrench their expences, or bear
their first misfortunes, they can only bring themselves the length of
resolving to renounce gaming _as soon as they shall regain what they
have lost_; and imagining they have still a claim to the money which is
now in the pockets of others, because it was once in their own, they
throw away their whole fortune in search of an inconsiderable part,
and finish by being completely ruined, because they could not support
a small inconvenience. I pointed out, how infinitely more honourable
it was to depend for repairing his fortune on his own good sense and
perseverance, than on the revolutions of chance; which, even if they
should be favourable, could only re-establish him at the expence of
others, most probably of those who had no hand in occasioning his losses.
His inseparable companion —— —— entered while I was in the middle of
my harangue. Our friend, who had previously acquainted him with his
determination of renouncing gaming, endeavoured to prevail on that
gentleman to adopt the same measure, but in vain. —— —— laughed at his
proposal, said, “he was too easily terrified; that one tolerable run of
good fortune would retrieve his affairs; that my fears about ruin were
mere bugbears; that the word _ruin_, like cannon charged with powder, had
an alarming sound, but was attended with no danger; that if the worst
should happen, I could but be ruined; which was only being in the same
situation with some of the most fashionable people in the nation.”
He then enumerated many instances of those who lived as well as the
wealthiest men in England, and yet every body pronounced them ruined.
“There is Ch—— F——, added he, a man completely ruined; yet beloved by his
friends, and admired by his country as much as ever.”
To this fine reasoning I replied, “That if nobody had been influenced by
that gentleman’s example, except those who possessed his genius, his
turn for play would never have hurt one man in the kingdom; but that
those who owed their importance solely to their fortune, ought not to
risk it so wantonly as he might do, whose fortune had always been of
little importance, when compared with his abilities; and since they could
not imitate Mr. F—— in the things for which he was so justly applauded,
they ought not to follow his example in those for which he was as justly
condemned; for the same fire which burns a piece of wood to ashes, can
only melt a guinea, which still retains its intrinsic value, _though his
Majesty’s countenance no longer shines upon it_.”
—— —— did not seem to relish my argument, and soon after left us; but
our young friend seemed confirmed in his resolutions, and gave me fresh
assurances, the day on which I left London, that he never would vary.
Knowing the interest you take in his welfare, and the high esteem he has
for you, I have thought it right to give you this piece of information
which I know will afford you pleasure. His greatest difficulty in
adhering to the new adopted plan will be at first; in his present state
of mind, the soothings and support of friendship may be of the greatest
service.
When your affairs permit you to go to London, I dare say you will take
the earliest opportunity of throwing yourself in his way: You will find
no difficulty in persuading him to accompany you to the country. Removed
for some months from his present companions and usual lounging-places,
the influence of his old habits will gradually diminish; and, confirmed
by your conversation, small chance will remain of his being sucked into
the old system, and again whirled round in the vortex of dissipation and
gaming.