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The Gaming Table-Vol. 1-Part33_Andrew Steinmetz(1816-1877)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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Goosetree's.'

SIR PHILIP FRANCIS.



Sir Philip Francis, the eminentpolitician and supposed author of

the celebrated `Letters of Junius,' was a gambler, and the



convivial companion of Fox. During the short administration of

that statesman he was made a Knight of the Bath. One evening,



Roger Wilbraham came up to the Whist table, at Brookes', where

Sir Philip, who for the first time wore the ribbon of the Order,



was engaged in a rubber, and thus accosted him. Laying hold

of the ribbon, and examining it for some time, he said:--`So,



this is the way they have rewarded you at last; they have given

you a little bit of red ribbon for your services, Sir Philip,



have they? A pretty bit of red ribbon to hang about your neck;

and that satisfies you, does it? Now, I wonder what I shall



have. What do you think they will give me, Sir Philip?' The

newly-made knight, who had twenty-five guineas depending on the



rubber, and who was not very well pleased at the interruption,

suddenly turned round, and looking at him fiercely, exclaimed, `A



halter, and be,' &c.

THE REV. CALEB C. COLTON.



Unquestionably this reverend gentleman was one of the most lucky

of gamesters--having died in full possession of the gifts



vouchsafed to him by the goddess of fortune.

He was educated at Eton, graduated at King's College, Cambridge,



as Bachelor of Arts in 1801, and Master of Arts in 1804, and

obtained a fellowship, having also a curacy at Tiverton, held



conjointly. Some six years after he appeared in print as a

denouncer of a `ghost story,' and in 1812, as the author of



`Hypocrisy,' a satirical poem, and `Napoleon,' a poem. In 1818

he was presented by his college to the vicarage of Kew with



Petersham, in Surrey. Two years after he established a literary

reputation--lasting to the present time--by the publication of a



volume of aphorisms or maxims, under the title of `LACON; or,

Many Things in Few Words.' This work is very far from original,



being founded mainly on Lord Bacon's celebrated Essays, and

Burdon's `Materials for Thinking,' La Bruyiere, and De la



Rochefoucault; still it is highly creditable to the abilities of

the writer. It has passed through several editions; and even at



the present time its only rival is, `The Guesses at Truth,'

although we have numerous collections of apothegmatic extracts



from authors, a class of works which is not without its

fascination, if readers are inclined to _THINK._[129]



[129] The first work I published was of this kind, and

entitled, `Gems of Genius; or, Words of the Wise, with extracts



from the Diary of a Young Man,' in 1838.

Two years after he returned to his `Napoleon,' which he



republished, with extensive additions, under the new title of

`The Conflagration of Moscow.



It would appear that Colton at this period gave in to the

fashionable gaming of the day; at any rate, he dabbled deeply in



Spanish bonds, became involved in pecuniary difficulties, and,

without investigating his affairs closely--which might have been



easily arranged--he absconded.

He subsequently made appearance, in order to retain his living;



but in 1828 he lost it, a successor being appointed by his

college. He then went to the United States of America; what he



did there is not on record; but he subsequently returned to

Europe, went to Paris, took up his abode in the Palais Royal,



and--devoted his talents to the mysteries of the gaming table, by

which he was so successful that in the course of a year or two he



won L25,000!

Oddly enough, one of his `maxims' in his Lacon runs as follows:



`The gamester, if he die a martyr to his profession, is doubly

ruined. He adds his soul to every other loss, and, by the act of



suicide, renounces earth, to forfeit heaven.'

It has been suggested that this was writing his own epitaph, and



it would appear so from the notices of the man in most of the

biographies; but nothing could be further from the fact. Caleb



Colton managed to _KEEP_ his gambling fortune, and what is

more, devoted it to a worthy purpose. Part of his wealth he






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