fretful mandate to the mayor of London, and the justices of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, and Hampshire, because, 'contrary to her highness' expectation,' there were many lots untaken, either of their negligence, or by some sinister disswasions of some not well-disposed persons.' She appoints one John Johnson, gentleman, to look after her interests in the matter, and to procure the people as much as maybe to lay in their monies into the lots,' and orders that he 'bring report of the former doings of the principal men of every parish, and in whom any default is, that this matter hath not been so well advanced as it was looked for;' so that 'there shall not one parish escape, but they shall bring in some money into the lots.' This characteristic specimen of royal dragooning for national gambling in opposition to general desire, is a very striking commencement for a history of lottery-fraud.

In the year following, a lottery for marvellous rich and beautiful armour,' was conducted for three days at the same place. In 1612, King James I., in special favor for the plantation of the English colonies in Virginia, granted a lottery to be held at the west end of St Paul's; wherof one Thomas Sharplys, a tailor of London, had the chief prize, which was 4000 crowns in fair plate.' In 1619, another lottery was held ostensibly for the same purpose. Charles I. projected one in 1630, to defray the expenses of conveying water to London, after the fashion of the New River. During the Commonwealth, one was held in Grocer's Hall by the committee for lands in Ireland. It was not, however, until some years after the Restoration that lotteries became popular. They were then started under pretence of aiding the poor adherents of the crown, who had suffered in the civil wars. Gifts of plate were supposed to be made by the crown, and thus disposed of 'on the behalf of the truly loyal indigent officers.' Like other things, this speedily became a patent monopoly, was farmed by various speculators, and the lotteries were drawn in the theatres. Booksellers adopted this mode to get rid of unsaleable stock at a fancy value, and all kinds of sharping were resorted to. The Royal Oak Lottery' was that which came forth greatest éclat, and was continued to the end of the century; it met, however, with animadversion from the sensible part of the community, and formed frequently, as well as the patentees who managed it, a subject for the satirists of the day. In 1699, a lottery was proposed with a capital prize of a thousand pounds, which sum was to be won at the risk of one penny; for that was to be the price of each share, and only one share to win. for speculation which characterised the people of England, in the early part of the last century, and which culminated in the South-sea was favourable to all kinds of lottery specu

with

The

rage

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number; because, he says, it is the number of the beast.' Guildhall was a scene of great excitement during the time of the drawing of the prizes there, and, it is a fact, that poor medical practitioners used constantly to attend, to be ready to let blood in cases when the sudden proclaiming of the fate of tickets had an overpowering effect.

On the foregoing page, we have copied a very curious representation of a lottery, originally designed for a fan-mount.

Lotteries were not confined to money-prizes, but embraced all kinds of articles. Plate and jewels were favourites; books were far from uncommon; but the strangest was a lottery for deer in Sion Park. Henry Fielding, the novelist, ridiculed the public madness in a farce produced at Drury Lane Theatre in 1731, the scene being laid in a lotteryoffice, and the action of the drama descriptive of the wiles of office-keepers, and the credulity of their victims. A whimsical pamphlet was also published about the same time, purporting to be a prospectus of a lottery for ladies; by which they were to obtain, as chief prize, a husband and coachand-six, for five pounds; such being the price of each share. Husbands of inferior grade, in purse and person, were put forth as second, third, or fourth rate prizes, and a lottery for wives was soon advertised on a similar plan. This was legitimate satire, as so large a variety of lotteries were started, and in spite of reason or ridicule, continued to be patronised by a gullible public. Sometimes they were turned to purposes of public utility. Thus in 1736, an act was passed for building a bridge at Westminster by lottery, consisting of 125,000 tickets at £5 each. London Bridge at that time was the only means of communication, by permanent roadway between the City and Southwark. This lottery was so far successful, that parliament sanctioned others in succession until Westminster Bridge was completed. In 1774, the brothers Adam, builders of the Adelphi Terrace and surrounding streets in the Strand, disposed of these and other premises in a lottery containing 110 prizes; the first-drawn ticket entitling the holder to a prize of the value of £5000; the last-drawn, to one of £25,000.

Lotteries, at the close of the last century, had become established by successive acts of parlia ment; and, being considered as means for increas

way of advertisement and puffing, was resorted to by lottery-office keepers. About 1815, they began to disseminate hand-bills, with poetic, or rather rhyming, appeals to the public; and about 1820, enlisted the services of wood-engravers, to make their advertisements more attractive. The subjects chosen were generally of a humorous kind, and were frequently very cleverly treated by Cruikshank and the best men of the day. They appealed, for the most part, to minds of small calibre, by depicting people of all grades expressing confidence

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in the lottery, a determination to try their chances, and a full reliance on the lucky office' which issued the hand-bill. Hone, in his Every-Day Book, vol. ii., has engraved several specimens of these 'fly-leaves,' now very rare, and only to be seen among the collections of the curious. We add three more examples, selected from a large assemblage, and forming curious specimens of the variety of design occasionally adopted. It is seldom any sentimental or serious subject was attempted, but our first specimen comes in that category. This lottery was drawn on Valentine's Day; Cupid is,

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therefore, shewn angling for hearts, each inscribed with their value, £21,000; they float toward him in a stream descending from the temple of Fortune, on a hill in the background; and beneath is inscribed: Great chance! small risk! A whole

ticket for only eighteen shillings!-a sixteenth for only two shillings! in the lottery to be drawn on Valentine's Day; on which day, three of £2000 will be drawn in the first five minutes, which the public are sure to get for nothing!!'

A whimsical notion of depicting figures of all kinds by simple dots and lines, having originated abroad, was adopted by the keepers of British lottery-offices. The following is a specimen sent out by a large contractor named Sivewright.

When possess'd of sufficient

We sit at our ease; Can go where we like,

And enjoy what we please.

But when pockets are empty,
If forced to apply
To some friend for assistance,
They 're apt to deny.

Not so with friends Sivewright,
They never say nay,
But lead us to Fortune
The readiest way.

They gallop on gaily;

The fault is your own If you don't get a good share Before they 're all gone.

Though a dab, I'm not scaly-I like a good plaice,

And I hope that good-luck will soon smile in my face;

On the 14th of June, when Prizes in shoals,
Will cheer up the cockles of all sorts of soals.'

The English government at last felt the degra dation of obtaining revenues by means of the lottery, and the last act which gave it a legal existence received the royal assent on the 9th of July 1823, and soon after the last' was drawn in England, as described already.

The

Hamburg we occasionally get a prospectus of some Lotteries linger still upon the continent; from chateau and park thus to be disposed of, or some lucky scheme to be drawn; but Rome may be fairly considered as the city where they flourish best and most publicly. At certain times, the adventurers. All persons speculate, and a large Corso is gay with lottery-offices, and busy with clergy. The writer was present at the drawing of number are found among the lower grades of the the lottery which took place in November 1856, in the great square termed Piazza Navona. whole of that immense area was crammed with people, every window crowded, the houses hung with tapestries and coloured cloths, and a showy canopied stage erected at one end of the Piazza, upon which the business of drawing was conducted. As the space was so large, and the mob all eager to know fortune's behests, smaller stages were erected midway on both sides of the square, and the numbers drawn were exhibited in frames erected upon them. Bands of military music were stationed near; the pope's guard, doing duty as mounted police. The last was by no means an unnecessary precaution, for a sham quarrel was got up in the densest part of the crowd for the purpose of plunder, and some mischief done in the turmoil. Of the thousands assembled, many were priests; and all held their numbers in their hands, anxiously hoping for good-fortune. It was a singular sight, and certainly not the most moral, to see people and clergy all eagerly engaged on the Sunday in gambling.