being seized and hanged in public, murdered themselves in

private.
The capital prizes were so large that they excited the eagerness

of hope; but the sum secured by the government was small when
compared with the infinitemischief it occasioned. On opening

the budget of 1788, the minister observed in the House of
Commons, `that the bargain he had this year for the lottery was

so very good for the public, that it would produce a gain of
L270,000, from which he would deduct L12,000 for the

expenses of drawing, &c., and then there would remain a net
produce of L258,000.' This result, therefore, was deemed

extraordinary; but what was that to the extraordinarymischief
done to the community by the authorization of excessive gambling!

Some curious facts are on record relating to the lotteries.
Until the year 1800 the drawing of the lottery (which usually

consisted of 60,000 tickets for England alone) occupied forty-two
days in succession; it was, therefore, about forty-two to one

against any particular number being drawn the first day; if it
remained in the wheel, it was forty-one to one against its being

drawn on the second, &c.; the adventurer, therefore, who could
for eight-pence insure the return of a guinea, if a given number

came up the first day, would naturally be led, if he failed, to a
small increase of the deposit according to the decrease of the

chance against him, until his number was drawn, or the person who
took the insurance money would take it no longer.

In the inquiryrespecting the mendicity of London, in 1815, Mr
Wakefield declared his opinion that the lottery was a cause of

mendicity; and related an instance--the case of an
industrious man who applied to the Committee of Spitalfields Soup

Society for relief; and when, on being asked his profession, said
he was a `_Translator_'--which, when _TRANSLATED_, signifies, it

seems, the art of converting old boots and shoes into wearable
ones; `but the lottery is about to draw, and,' says he, `I have

no sale for boots or shoes during the time that the lottery
draws'--the money of his customers being spent in the purchase of

tickets, or the payment of `insurances.' The `translator' may
have been mistaken as to the cause of his trade falling off; but

there can be no doubt that the system of the lottery-drawing was
a very infatuating mode of gambling, as the passion was kept

alive from day to day; and though, perhaps, it did not create
mendicity, yet it mainly contributed, with the gin-shops, night-

cellars, obscure gambling houses, and places of amusement, to
fill the _PAWNBROKERS_' shops, and diminish the profits of the

worthy `translator of old shoes.'[150]
[150] This term is still in use. I recently asked one of

the craft if he called himself a translator. `Yes, sir, not of
languages, but old boots and shoes,' was the reply.

This reasoning, however, is very uncertain.
The sixteenth of a lottery ticket, which is the smallest

share that can be purchased, has not for many years been sold
under thirty shillings, a sum much too large for a person who

buys old shoes `translated,' and even for the `translator'
himself, to advance; we may thereforesafely conclude that the

purchase of tickets is not the mode of gambling by which
Crispin's customers are brought to distress.

A great number of foreign lotteries still exist in vigorous
operation. Some are supported by the state, and others are only

authorized; most of them are flourishing. In Germany,
especially, lotteries are abundant; immense properties are

disposed of by this method. The `bank' gains, of course,
enormously; and, also of course, a great deal of trickery and

swindling, or something like it, is perpetrated.
Foreign lottery tickets are now and then illegally offered in

England. A few years ago there appeared an advertisement in the
papers, offering a considerableincome for the payment of one or

two pounds. Upon inquiry it was found to be the agency of a
foreign lottery! These tempting offers of advertising

speculators are a cruel addition to the miseries of
misfortune.

The Hamburg lottery seems to afford the most favourable
representation of the system--as such--because in it all the

money raised by the sale of tickets is redistributed in the
drawing of the lots, with the exception of 10 per cent. deducted

in expenses and otherwise; but nothing can compensate for the
pernicious effects of the spirit of gambling which is fostered by

lotteries, however fairly conducted. They are an unmitigated
evil.

In the United States lotteries were established by Congress in
1776, but, save in the Southern States, heavy penalties are now

imposed on persons attempting to establish them.
I need scarcely say that lotteries, whether foreign or British,

are utterly forbidden by law, excepting those of Art Unions. The
operations of these associations were indeed suspended in 1811;

but in the following year an act indemnified those who embarked
in them for losses which they had incurred by the arrest of their

proceedings; and since that time they have been _TOLERATED_
under the eye of the law without any express statute being framed

for their exemption. It is thought, however, that they tend to
keep up the spirit of gambling, and therefore ought not to

be allowed even on the specious plea of favouring `art.'
_PRIVATE_ lotteries are now illegal at Common Law in Great

Britain and Ireland; and penalties are also incurred by the
advertisers of _FOREIGN_ lotteries. Some years ago it became

common in Scotland to dispose of merchandise by means of
lotteries; but this is specially condemned in the statute 42 Geo.

III. c. 119. An evasion of the law has been attempted by
affixing a prize to every ticket, so as to make the transaction

resemble a legal sale; but this has been punished as a fraud,
even where it could be proved that the prize equalled in value

the price of the ticket. The decision rested upon the plea that
in such a transaction there was no definite sale of a specific

article. Even the lotteries; for Twelfth Cakes, &c., are
illegal, and render their conductors liable to the penalties of

the law. Decisive action has been taken on this law, and the
usual Christmas lotteries have been this year (1870) rigorously

prohibited throughout the country. It is impossible to doubt the
soundness of the policy that strives to check the spirit of

gambling among the people; but still there may be some truth in
the following remarks which appeared on the subject, in a

leading journal:--
`We hear that the police have received directions to caution the

promoters of lotteries for the distribution of game, wine,
spirits, and other articles of this description, that these

schemes are illegal, and that the offenders will be prosecuted.
These attempts to enforcerigidly the provisions of the 10 and 11

William III., c. 17, 42 George III., c. 119, and to check the
spirit of speculation which pervades so many classes in this

country may possibly be successful, but as a mere question of
morality there can be no doubt that Derby lotteries, and, in

fact, all speculations on the turf or Stock Exchange, are open to
quite as much animadversion as the Christmas lotteries for a

little pig or an aged goose, which it appears are to be
suppressed in future. Is it not also questionablepolicy to

enforce every law merely because it is a law, unless its breach
is productive of serious evil to the community? If every old Act

of Parliament is rummaged out and brought to bear upon us, we
fear we shall find ourselves in rather an uncomfortable position.

We cannot say whether or not the harm produced by these humble
lotteries is sufficient to render their forcible suppression

a matter of necessity. They certainly do produce an amount of
indigestion which of itself must be no small penalty to pay for

those whose misfortune it is to win the luxuries raffled for, but
we never yet heard of any one being ruined by raffling for a pig

or goose; and if our Government is going to be paternal and look
after our pocket-money, we hope it will also be maternal and take

some little interest in our health. The sanitary laws require