The Lottery Wheel, 1826.
The Lottery Wheel, 1826.
Thisengravingis slipped on here for the sake of readers who are fond ofcuts, rather than as an illustration of any thing immediately preceding. Anexplanationof it will occur in the ensuing sheet, with several amusing prints relating to the present subject.
Drawing Prizes.
Drawing Prizes.
In “TheExaminerâ€[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 hisEvery-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, entitledLes 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 therepresentationon 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 aview of “Exchange-alley,†with its frequenters, in high business. The middle compartment, above it, is the drawing of the lottery in theviewnow 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.â€
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.
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 30,000l.prize, by the misconduct of those engaged in conducting the drawing. She stated, that she chose the ticket No. 17,092.
TheLord Mayor.—You had some particular reason, then, for selecting that number?
TheComplainantreplied, 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 30,000l.prizes, and with her own eyes she distinctly saw the officer stamp it. Nevertheless, another ticket had been returned as the prize.
TheLord Mayordoubted, 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.
TheComplainant.—“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 ownsenses.â€
TheLord Mayorobserved, 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?
TheComplainantassured 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.
TheLord Mayorsaid, 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 satisfyher.[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 andEasy.â€
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 hisBritannia, had a lottery of books atGarraway’s Coffee-house, in ‘Change-alley.â€
Mr. Smeeton has the following threeparagraphs:—
Lotteries of various kinds seem to have been very general about this period; indeed so much so, that government, issued a notice in theLondon 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, andhave 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 theking himselfguaranteed 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 theLondon 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 8,000l., and none less than 100l.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 theGazette, for the drawing thereof, which will be done in his majesty’s presence, who is pleased to declare, thathe 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.â€â€”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.â€â€”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 theGreenwich 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 fairnessof the drawing, it not being possible there should be any deceit in it,as it has been suspected in others.â€â€”Likewise there was Mr. Sydenham’sLand 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, themany errors in them, and thegreat quantity of prizes.â€â€”TheTwelve-penny, orNonsuch, and theFortunatuslotteries, also flourished at the commencement of the eighteenthcentury.[448]
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 oflottery, 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 beoffered.[449]
In 1723, the resentment of the house of commons was directed against thescheme 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 thehouse.[450]
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 tentickets.â€[451]
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 acuriosity:—
“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 Gracebehaves herself, she shall sit down with me. To bed abouttwelve.â€[452]
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-officekeeper—
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 FundWill never lose Ground,While Fools are so rife in the Nation.[Knocking without.Enter1 Buyer.1 Buy.Is not this a House where People buyLottery 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[1449, 1450]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 10,000l.got!—What an abundance of imaginary rich men will one month reduce to their former Poverty. [Knocking without.] Come in.Enter2 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 inFortune’sway, 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 10,000l.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.EnterLady.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 40,000l.Lady.Please to look at those Jewels, Sir—they cost my Lord upwards of 6000l.—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.]EnterStocks.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 10,000l.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 theCharitable Corporation.Chloe.TheCharitable 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.
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 FundWill never lose Ground,While Fools are so rife in the Nation.
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 FundWill never lose Ground,While Fools are so rife in the Nation.
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 FundWill never lose Ground,While Fools are so rife in the Nation.
[Knocking without.
Enter1 Buyer.
1 Buy.Is not this a House where People buyLottery 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[1449, 1450]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 10,000l.got!—What an abundance of imaginary rich men will one month reduce to their former Poverty. [Knocking without.] Come in.
Enter2 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 inFortune’sway, 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 10,000l.
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.
EnterLady.
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 40,000l.
Lady.Please to look at those Jewels, Sir—they cost my Lord upwards of 6000l.—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.]
EnterStocks.
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 10,000l.
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 theCharitable Corporation.
Chloe.TheCharitable 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.
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 andThompson, 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 theireffects.[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 CharitableCorporation;â€[454]and in 1734 “it was distributed among them, amounting to nine shillings and ninepence in the pound on theirloss.â€[455]
The “London Journal†of October 30, 1731, observing on the general disposition to adventuresays:—
Thenatural lifeof man islabour or business; riches is anunnaturalstate; and therefore generally astate of misery. Life, which is a drug in the hands ofidle 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 thembeyond industry; for that is too often putting thembeyond happiness. Theheaping up richesfor posterity is, generally speaking,heaping up destruction; and entailing oflarge estates, entailingvice and misery.
These thoughts were occasioned by the presentstate lottery; which plainly discovers that the people would run into the excesses of theSouth Seayear, had they the same opportunities. The spring and source of thisunreasonable passion, is theluxury of the age.Tradesmencommence gentlemen andmen of pleasure, when they should bemen of business; andbeginwhere they shouldend. This sets them a madding afterlotteries; business is neglected, and poverty, vice, and misery spread among the people. It is hoped that theParliamentwill never come into anotherlottery. All other gaming should be also discouraged. Who but laments that unfortunate young lady at theBath, who was ruined by gaming, and rather than submit to amean dependance, thought it best to resign herlife?[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.
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 thepublic:—
LOTTERY 1736,for raising 100000l. for building a Bridge atWestminster,consisting of 125000 Tickets, at 5l. each.
The Prizes to be paid at the Bank in 40 Days after Drawing, without Deduction.N.B.There is little more than ThreeBlanksto aPrize.[457]
Parliament granted successive lotteries for the building and completion of Westminster-bridge.
In 1737, Horace Walpole (Lord Orford) says, “I am now in pursuit ofgetting 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 aLottery, and all the royal family chose to have a great many tickets, rather than to buy it, the price being I think 1000l., 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.â€
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 15per cent. was to be deductedout 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 givengratis.[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 giveFifteen per centto play.A sage, with his accustomed grin,Replies, I’ll stake my doom,That if but half the fools come inThe wise will find noroom.[459]
Epigram.
This lottery can never thrive,Was broker heard to say,For who but fools will ever giveFifteen per centto play.A sage, with his accustomed grin,Replies, I’ll stake my doom,That if but half the fools come inThe wise will find noroom.[459]
This lottery can never thrive,Was broker heard to say,For who but fools will ever giveFifteen per centto play.
A sage, with his accustomed grin,Replies, I’ll stake my doom,That if but half the fools come inThe wise will find noroom.[459]
On the 23d of November, 1741, “the drawing of the Bridge Lottery began atStationers’ Hall.—The Craftsmanof the 28th says, that every 100,000l.laid out in a lottery puts a stop to the circulation of at least 300,000l., and occasions almost a total suppression oftrade.â€[460]
In June, 1743, “the price of lottery tickets having risen from 10l.to 11l.10s.some persons, who probably wanted to purchase, published a hint to theunwaryadventurers, that they gamed at 50per cent.loss; paying, at that price, 2s.6d.to play for 5s.; the money played for being only three pound, besides discount anddeductions.â€[461]
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 1000l., and was so printed in the paper of benefits by order of the commissioners. It was besides a prize of 100l.But after the wheels were carried back to Whitehall and there opened, the ticket No. 72,248 was foundsticking in a creviceof the wheel. And, being the next drawn ticket after all the prizes were drawn, was advertised by the commissioners’ order as entitled to the 1000l., as thelast drawnticket: “which affair made a great deal ofnoise.â€[462]
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 falseintelligence, 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 ofAustria, by raffling for apples.â€
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.â€
In the next month, August, the “London Magazine†exhibited the following computation.
IN THE LOTTERY 1751, IT IS
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 degreesuccessful—
A New SongFrom ‘Change-alley, occasioned by a stagnationof 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]
A New SongFrom ‘Change-alley, occasioned by a stagnationof 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]
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 arrogantlytriumphed.[464]
In August, 1752, a lottery was set on foot at Dublin, under the pretext of raising 13,700l.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 50l.for each offence, and the seller 500l., 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 countygaol.[465]
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 300,000l., was foundguilty: 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 1000l., 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 severeremark.[466]
November 5, 1757, Mr. Keys, late clerk to Cotton and Co., who had absented himself ever since the 7th of October, the day the 10,000l.was drawn in the lottery, (supposed to be his property,) was found in the streets raving mad, having been robbed of his pocket-book andticket.[467]
The subjoined verses appeared in1761:[468]—