`How many infamous villains have amassed immense estates, by

taking advantage of unfortunate young men, who have been first
seduced and then ruined by the Gambling Clubs!

`It is well known that the old members of those gambling
societies exert every nerve to enlist young men of fortune; and

if we take a view of the principal estates on this island, we
shall find many infamous _CHRISTIAN_ brokers who are now living

luxuriously and in splendour on the wrecks of such unhappy
victims.

`At present, when a boy has learned a little from his father's
example, he is sent to school, to be _INITIATED_. In the course

of a few years he acquires a profound knowledge of the science of
gambling, and before he leaves the University he is perfectly

fitted for a member of the _GAMING CLUBS_, into which he is
elected before he takes his seat in either House of Parliament.

There is no necessity for his being of age, as the sooner he is
ballotted for, the more advantageous his admission will

prove to the _OLD_ members.
`Scarcely is the hopeful youth enrolled among these _HONOURABLE_

associates, than he is introduced to Jews, to annuity-brokers,
and to the long train of money-lenders. They take care to answer

his pecuniary calls, and the greater part of the night and
morning is consumed at the _CLUB_. To his creditors and

tradesmen, instead of paying his bills, he offers a _BOND_ or
_ANNUITY_. He rises just time enough to ride to Kensington

Gardens; returns to dress; dines late; and then attends the party
of gamblers, as he had done the night before, unless he allows

himself to be detained for a few moments by the newspaper, or
some political publication.

`Such do we find the present fashionable style of life, from
"his Grace" to the "Ensign" in the Guards. Will this mode of

education rear up heroes, to lead forth our armies, or to conduct
our fleets to victory? Review the conduct of your generals

abroad, and of your statesmen at home, during the late
unfortunate war, and these questions are answered.[65]

[65] Of course this is an allusion to the American War of
Independence and the political events at home, from 1774 to 1784.

`At present, tradesmen must themselves be gamblers before
they give credit to a member of these clubs; but if a reform

succeeds they will be placed in a state of security. At present
they must make _REGULAR_ families pay an enormous price for

their goods, to enable them to run the risk of never receiving a
single shilling from their gambling customers.'

Such is the picture of the times in question, drawn by a
contemporary; and it may be said that private reckless and

unscrupulous political machinations were the springs and
fountains of all the calamities that subsequently overflowed, as

it were, the `opening of the seals' of doom upon the nation.
Notwithstanding the purity of morals enjoined by the court of

George III., the early part of his reign presents a picture of
dissolute manners as well as of furious party spirit. The most

fashionable of our ladies of rank were immersed in play, or
devoted to politics: the same spirit carried them into both. The

Sabbath was disregarded, spent often in cards, or desecrated by
the meetings of partisans of both factions; moral duties were

neglected and decorum outraged. The fact was, that a minor
court had become the centre of all the bad passions and

reprehensible pursuits in vogue. Carlton House, in Pall Mall,
which even the oldest of us can barely remember, with its elegant

open screen, the pillars in front, its low exterior, its many
small rooms, its decorations in vulgar taste, and, to crown the

whole, its associations of a corrupting revelry,--Carlton House
was, in the days of good King George, almost as great a scandal

to the country as Whitehall in the time of improper King Charles
II.[66] The influence which the example of a young prince, of

manners eminently popular, produced upon the young nobility of
the realm was most disastrous in every way and ruinous to public

morality.
[66] Wharton, `The Queens of Society.' Mem. of

_Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire._
After that period, the vast license given to those abominable

engines of fraud, the E.O. tables,[67] and the great length of
time which elapsed before they met with any check from the

police, afforded a number of dissolute and abandoned characters
an opportunity of acquiring property. This they afterwards

increased in the low gaming houses, and by following up the same
system at Newmarket and the other fashionable places of resort,

and finally by means of the lottery, that mode of insensate
gambling; till at length they acquired a sum of money nothing

short of _ONE MILLION STERLING_.
[67] So called from the letters E and O, the turning up of

which decided the bet. They were otherwise called _Roulette_ and
_Roly Poly_, from the balls used in them. They seem to have been

introduced in England about the year 1739. The first was set up
at Tunbridge and proved extremelyprofitable to the proprietors.

This enormouswealth was then used as an efficient capital in
carrying on various illegalestablishments, particularly gaming

houses, the expenses of a first-rate house being L7000 per
annum, which were again employed as the means of increasing these

ill-gotten riches.
The system was progressive but steady in its development.

Several of these conspicuous members of the world of fashion,
rolling in their gaudy carriages and associating with men of high

rank and influence, might be found on the registers of the Old
Bailey, or had been formerly occupied in turning, with their own

hands, E.O. tables in the public streets.
The following _Queries_, which are extracted from the _Morning

Post_ of July the 5th, 1797, throw considerable light upon this
curious subject, and show how seriously the matter was regarded

when so public a denunciation was deemed necessary and
ventured upon:--

`Is Mr Ogden (now the Newmarket oracle) the same person who,
five-and-twenty years since, was an annualpedestrian to Ascot,

covered with dust, amusing himself with "_PRICKING in the_
belt," "_HUSTLING_ in the hat," &c., among the lowest class

of rustics, at the inferior booths of the fair?
'Is D-k-y B--n who now has his snug farm, the same person who,

some years since, _DROVE A POST CHAISE_ for T--y, of Bagshot,
could neither read nor write, and was introduced to _THE FAMILY_

only by his pre-eminence at cribbage?
`Is Mr Twycross (with his phaeton) the same person who some years

since became a bankrupt in Tavistock Street, immediately
commenced the Man of Fashion at Bath, kept running horses, &c.,

_secundum artem?_
`Is Mr Phillips (who has now his town and country house, in the

most fashionable style) the same who was originally a linen-
draper and bankrupt at Salisbury, and who made his first _family

entre_ in the metropolis, by his superiority at _Billiards_
(with Captain Wallace, Orrell, &c.) at Cropley's, in Bow Street?

`Was poor carbuncled P--e (so many years the favourite decoy
duck of _THE FAMILY_) the very barber of Oxford, who, in the

midst of the operation upon a gentleman's face, laid down his
razor, swearing that he would never shave another man so long as

he lived, and immediately became the hero of the card table, the
_bones_, the _box_, and the _Cockpit?_'

Capital was not the only qualification for admission into the
Confederacy of Gambling. Some of the members were taken into

partnership on account of their dexterity in `securing' dice or
`dealing' cards. One is said to have been actually a sharer in

every `Hell' at the West-End of the Town, because he was feared
as much as he was detested by the firms, who had reason to know

that he would `peach' if not kept quiet. Informers against the
illegal and iniquitous associations were arrested and imprisoned

upon writs, obtained by perjury--to deter others from similar
attacks; witnesses were suborned; officers of justice bribed;