APPENDIX I
Description of Newgate.

 Anciently, the City of London was encompassed by a wall, in which,
at proportionate distances, were several gates, with posterns,
resembling the gate which still remains, called Temple Bar. The
exact period of time when Newgate, or, as it was first called, the
New Gate was erected it is not easy to determine; but we find that
as early as the year 1211, its apartments were used for the
confinement of felons, as a county gaol for London and Middlesex.
This gaol was re-edified in 1422, by the executors of Sir Richard
Whittington, and afterwards rebuilt with greater strength and more
convenience for prisoners, and with a gate and postern for
passengers. The prison then crossed the west end of Newgate Street.
In 1780, Newgate was almost burnt down by the rioters. It has since
been restored, and now presents a fine uniform exterior to the west,
consisting of two wings, the debtors' and felons' side, with the
gaoler's house in the middle.

 The north side, appropriated to debtors, men and women, consists of
two court-yards, which are far too circumscribed for the
inhabitants; the men's court being only 49 feet by 31 feet; the
women's of the same length, and about half the width. They are
entirely surrounded by the wards, which rise three stories above the
pavement. The women debtors are separated from the men by a wall 15
feet in height.

 The four sides are called the master's side, the cabin, from the
cabin bedsteads in them, the common side, and the women's side. The
men's apartments are fourteen in number; all of which, except one
which occupies in length the whole side of the prison, are nearly of
the same dimensions, 23 feet by 15. The number of inhabitants in the
rooms is from 12 to 20 in each. The largest room is sometimes
inhabited by as many as thirty. The Debtors' side almost always
contains 200 and sometimes as many as 300. The painted-room, as it
is called -- having been painted by a prisoner -- has been occupied
by a debtor ever since the prison was repaired; This apartment also
serves the purpose of a room for case of conscience debtors. Two
very close rooms are inhabited by prisoners, one at the bottom of
the master's, and another of the common side, which serve the
purposes of chandlers' shops by day, and sleeping-rooms by night.
This side is always too full, indeed it is difficult to conceive how
the prisoners exist, crowded as they generally are, and breathing
the same polluted air; for even the windows only open towards the
prison court.

 Women debtors have two rooms, one on the whole side length of the
debtor's court, the other much smaller; in these the inhabitants are
generally not very numerous, though some times they are crowded.
Debtors on the poor and women's sides have eight stone of beef
weekly, without bone, sent in by the Sheriffs. Debtors on the
master's side pay thirteen shillings and sixpence, eighteen pence of
which is spent in beer; the remainder goes to the ward, and finds
coals, candles, wood, mops, brooms, and pails. Those who plead
poverty are to keep the rooms clean.

 On the south side which properly belongs to felons, not only
felons, but offenders against government, libellers, sellers of
libels, and persons for small offences, are confined. This court is
rather larger than the men debtors': the rooms are in general in
good condition, being often let as single rooms to prisoners who can
afford to pay for such an indulgence. There are also four other
small yards in which felons are lodged, the number of the whole
varying from 140 to 300.

 The chapel is plain and neat, with galleries on each side; three or
four pews are appropriated for the felons; that in the centre is
occupied by the condemned. Service is performed by the chaplain
twice every Sunday.

 Malefactors under sentence of death are secured in cells built
expressly for that purpose; there are five upon each of the three
floors, each vaulted, in height about nine feet to the crown of the
arch, and about nine feet in length, by six in width. In the upper
part of each cell is a small narrow window double-grated. The doors
are four inches thick. The strong wall is lined all round with
planks, studded with broad-headed nails. In each cell is a barrack
bedstead. It is observed, that prisoners who had affected an air of
boldness during their trial, and appeared quite unconcerned when
sentence was pronounced on them, were struck with horror, and shed
tears, when they were brought to these dark and solitary abodes.

 Condemned felons are executed in front of the prison, on a large
moveable scaffold, (called the New Drop,) which is kept in the Press
Yard for this occasion. The malefactors stand upon a false floor,
and when their devotions are finished, on a signal being given, the
floor suddenly drops, leaving the unhappy sufferers suspended in the
air.



APPENDIX II
The Origin of the Gibbet in England

 IT is well known that the gibbet, so often named, in this work, is
now used in England, for carrying into effect the final sentence of
the law upon murderers; that their bodies may hang a dreadful
warning to the passenger, not to stray from the path of honesty;
yet, perhaps, few have inquired into its origin.

 The gibbet we find of doubtful derivation. It is both an English
word and a French word, implying the same meaning, 'A post on which
malefactors are exposed.' We find this punishment recorded in Holy
Writ, Joshua chap. viii. ver. 28,29:

 'And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a
desolation unto this day. And the king of Ai he hanged upon a tree,
and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should
take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of
the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that
remaineth unto this day.'

 Searching farther back into ancient history, we find from
Martinius, the learned etymologist, that this mark of the grossest
infamy which can be inflicted on a criminal, was not unknown to the
Greeks. It is most probable, however, that we had the mode of
punishment of the gibbet from the French; the people of that nation
seldom taking any usage or custom from the English, at so early a
period as the thirteenth century, when it was used here, and known
by that name.

 In the year 1242, says the historian, Matthew Paris, William De
Marisco, a knight, was judicially condemned and ignominiously put to
death. He was brought from the Tower to that infernal machine,
vulgarly called the gibbet; and, after he had breathed his last, was
hung on one of the hooks, and being taken down after he was grown
stiff, was disembowelled: his bowels were burnt, and his body being
divided into four parts, the quarters were sent to four cities. This
evidently answers to our hanging, drawing, and quartering, and has
the intention of exhibiting a terrible spectacle to the people, just
as our hanging a dead body in irons is meant to do. But it varies
much, we observe, from gibbeting. The gibbet, in this case, serving
only as a common gallows.

 The same author, Matthew Paris, in speaking of the execution of two
men, says, 'Paratum est horribile patibulum Londini quod vulgus
gibitem appellat.'

 One of these criminals, after he was dead, was hung upon a gibbet,
and the other was gibbetted alive, to perish by pain and hunger.
These cases come fully up to the point in hand, as the body of the
first was put upon the gibbet when dead, in order to be a permanent
spectacle of terror; and the other was not to die, as probably being
the most guilty, by the mere simple act of suspension, but by a more
lingering kind of death.

 About the same period of which Paris gives a history, the king of
France ordered all clippers of the coin, patibulis laqueatos, vento
praesentari, that is, to be hanged, and then exposed to the wind;
which, though irons be not mentioned, appears to be the very thing
the English do now, and to have the same intention.

 The first gibbet used in England, whereon to expose criminals,
after death, by hanging, was in the reign of King Henry III. A.D.
1236.

 We have shown that the ancient writer above quoted, adduces an
instance of a criminal being gibbetted alive, and left to perish by
that miserable death; but the severing the hand from the body, and
placing it above the carcase of the criminal, when gibbetted, the
knife stuck through it with which the murder was committed, we
believe to be exclusively Scottish; for we have not found it
practised by any other nation.

 We should hardly believe that in a part of our habitable globe
individuals, worked into the frenzy of fanaticism, inflict upon
themselves a temporary and more painful gibbetting; as though their
torture would expiate their supposed sins. Yet true it is, and we
have just met an account of this frightful penance, which places its
truth beyond the shadow of doubt: after reading accounts of the
voluntary sacrifice of a widow of Malabar burning herself to ashes
upon her husband's funeral pile, we may give credit to the horrid
voluntary gibbetting of the same race of people.

 The following account of this shocking spectacle has been well
authenticated by several officers in the service of the East India
Company, who have witnessed this religious rite among the Gentoos.

 There were three voluntary victims. The first was attended by a
numerous procession, and preceded by music and dancers. According to
the custom of Indian festivals, they were adorned with flowers,
clothed in their best apparel, and attended by their relations.

 They marched, or rather ran, round the apparatus several times,
flowers being in the mean time strewed before them.

 The engine of torture used upon this occasion was a stout upright
post, thirty feet in height. At the bottom was a stage, and about
half way towards the top another on which two priests, or rather
executioners, were mounted with drawn sabres, in place of books of
religion in their hands. Across the top of the post, or pole, was
another, of about half the length and circumference, strongly lashed
thereto with ropes. At each extremity were hooks of iron, somewhat
resembling, but larger than those used by butchers in England, to
hang up their meat in the shambles.

 The sufferer was hoisted up to the executioners. They immediately
proceeded to strip their prey of his robes, and then fixed the hooks
into the fleshy part of his back, near the shoulder blades. The
ropes affixed to these hooks, and tied to the transverse beam.
Behind him two smaller ropes depended from the beam which received
his great toes in separate loops. Over the penitent's head was
suspended a kind of flat muslin canopy, with a narrow flounce, just
sufficient to shade his face from the sun, but not conceal him from
the view.

 Thus prepared he is slung into the air, by means of ropes tied at
the opposite end of the pole, and hanged round to give full views to
the surrounding crowd. The air was now rent with shouts of applause,
almost to adoration. The trumpets sounded, the drums beat, and
pateraroes fired. The traverse beam, turning upon a pivot, was
slowly moved round, over the beads of the multitude. Notwithstanding
the torture which the victims must feel, they supported it generally
with patient firmness. The writer of the account now quoted, says he
was an eye-witness to three persons submitting to this punishment on
one afternoon.

 The first sufferer, continues the narrator, was a young man, about
twenty-four years of age. He got upon the scaffold with affected
indifference; but when launched into the air, I could distinctly
bear him send forth some agonising yells. Still he persevered, and
described the circle three times; he held a fan in one hand, and a
bundle of cajans (leaves of the palmira tree) in the other, which he
continued waving with seeming composure, until he made a signal, and
thereupon was let down.

 There was no difference in the mode of suspending the other two,
excepting that one beat a small taum taum (great drum) the whole
time; and that the second held a basket of flowers in one hand, and
scattered them with the other among the spectators, who eagerly
caught them. Either from the various accompanying noises, or from
the superior fortitude of the two latter, I could not distinguish
any expression of pain.

 When let down their backs were rubbed with turmeric; and they were
received by their friends with the highest marks of veneration and
joy.

 I was informed that these men were thenceforward esteemed the
particular favourites of Swamee (the Deity), and entitled to
particular privileges. I was also present at this ceremony, at
Madras, near the Black-Town. If I was to relate the many singular
customs of the disciples of Brama, of which I have frequently been a
spectator, I should only gain credit from Asiatic travellers, who
know from experience, the truth of Hamlet's observation, that 'there
are more things on earth, than are dreamt of in the philosophy of
the many.'



APPENDIX III
The Maiden, or Scottish Guillotine

 The Maiden seems to have been confined to the limits of the forest
of Hardwicke, or the eighteen towns and hamlets within its
precincts. The time when this custom took place is unknown; whether
Earl Warren, lord of this forest, might have established it among
the sanguinary laws then in use against the invaders of the hunting
rights, or whether it might not take place after the woollen 
manufactures at Halifax began to gain strength, is
uncertain. The last is very probable, for the wild country around
the town was inhabited by a lawless set, whose depredations on the
cloth-tenters might soon stifle the efforts of infant industry. For
the protection of trade and for the greater terror of offenders by
speedy execution this custom seems to have been established, so as
at last to receive the force of law, which was that "If a felon be
taken within the liberty of the forest of Hardwicke, with goods
stolen out or within the said precincts, either hand-habend, back-
berend or confessioned, to the value of thirteenpence halfpenny, he
shall, after three market-days, within the town of Halifax, next
after such his apprehension, and being condemned, be taken to the
gibbet, and there have his head cut from his body.'"

 The offender had always a fair trial, for as soon as he was taken
he was brought to the lord's bailiff at Halifax; he was then exposed
on the three markets, which here were held thrice in a week, placed
in the stocks with the goods stolen on his back, or if the theft was
of the cattle kind they were placed by him; and this was done both
to strike terror into others and to produce new informations against
him. The bailiff then summoned four freeholders of each town within
the forest to form a jury. The felon and prosecutors were brought
face to face, and the goods, the cow or horse, or whatsoever was
stolen, produced. If he was found guilty he was remanded to prison,
had a week's time allowed for preparation, and then was conveyed to
the spot where his head was struck off by this machine. I should
have premised that if the criminal, either after apprehension or on
the way to execution, could escape out of the limits of the forest
(part being close to the town), the bailiff had no further power
over him; but if he should be caught within the precincts at any
time after, he was immediately executed on his former sentence. 
This privilege was very freely used during the reign of Elizabeth;
the records before that time were lost. Twenty-five suffered in her
reign and at least twelve from 1623 to 1650; after which, I believe,
the privilege was no more exerted.  This machine of death is now
destroyed, but I saw one of the same kind in a room under the
Parliament House in Edinburgh, where it war, introduced by the
Regent Morton, who took a model of it as he passed through Halifax,
and at length suffered by it himself. It is in form of a painter's
easel and about ten feet high; at four feet from the bottom is a
cross bar, on which the felon lays his head, which is kept down by
another placed above. In the inner edges of the frame are grooves;
in these is placed a sharp axe, with a vast weight of lead,
supported at the very summit by a peg; to that peg is fastened a
cord, which the executioner cutting, the axe falls, and does the
affair effectually, without suffering the unhappy criminal to
undergo a repetition of strokes, as has been the case in the common
method. I must add that if the sufferer is condemned for stealing a
horse or a cow, the string is tied to the beast, which, on being
whipped, pulls out the peg and becomes the executioner.

 Thus we find, adds a commentator at the time, that the guillotine
of France is not an instrument of death of the invention of that
country. During the anarchy caused by a corrupt Court and the
oppression of the people this instrument, precisely on the model of
the Maiden, was in mercy applied to the King and Queen, their nobles
and the clergy, who it was calculated engrossed three-fourths of the
wealth of their nation. We say in mercy, because it produces a death
more instantaneous and consequently less painful than that inflicted
on criminals in Britain. A short period of time has brought about
wonderful revolutions and great changes in all European nations,
save our own islands, and we sincerely hope that a timely reform in
our internal affairs may render the return of the Maiden entirely
unnecessary.  Beheading was a military punishment among the Romans,
known by the name of decollatio. Among them the head was laid on a
cippus, or block, placed in a pit dug for the purpose; in the army,
without the vallum; in the city, without the walls, at a place near
the porta decumana. Preparatory to the stroke the criminal was tied
to a stake and whipped with rods. In the early ages the blow was
given with an axe, but in after-times with a sword, which was
thought the more reputable manner of dying. The execution was but
clumsily performed in the first times, but afterwards they grew more
expert, and took the head off clean with one circular stroke.  In
England, beheading was the punishment of nobles, being reputed not
to derogate from nobility, as hanging does. In France during the
revolutionary government, the practice of beheading by means of an
instrument called a guillotine (so denominated from the name of its
inventor) was exceedingly general. It resembles a kind of instrument
long since used for the same purpose in Scotland, and called a
"Maiden."  It is universally known that at the execution of King
Charles the First a man in a visor performed the office of
executioner. This circumstance has given rise to a variety of
conjectures and accounts, in some of which one William Walker is
said to be the executioner, in others it is supposed to be a Richard
Brandon, of whom a long account was published in an Exeter newspaper
of 1784. But William Lilly, in his History of my Life and Times, has
the following remarkable passage: "Many have curiously inquired who
it was that cut off his [the king's] head: I have no permission to
speak of such things; only thus much I say, he that did it is as
valiant and resolute a man as lives, and one of a competent
fortune." When examined before the Parliament of Charles II. he
states that "The next Sunday but one after Charles the First was
beheaded, Robert Spavin, secretary to Lieutenant-General Cromwell at
that time, invited himself to dine with me, and brought Anthony
Pierson and several others along with him to dinner. That their
principal discourse all dinner-time was only who it was that
beheaded the king. One said it was the common hangman; another, Hugh
Peters; others also were nominated, but none concluded. Robert
Spavin, so soon as dinner was done, took me by the hand and carried
me to the south window: saith he: "These are all mistaken; they have
not named the man that did the fact; it was Lieutenant Colonel
Joice. I was in the room when he fitted himself for the work; stood
behind him when he did it; when done, went in with him again. There
is no man knows this but my master [viz. Cromwell], Commissary
Ireton, and myself." "Doth not Mr Rushworth know it?" saith I. "No,
he doth not know it," saith Spavin. "The same thing Spavin hath
often related to me when we were alone."

Appendix IV.
The Newgate Bellman

IT was an ancient practice, on the night preceding the execution
of condemned criminals, for the bellman of the parish of St
Sepulchre to go under Newgate and, ringing his bell, to repeat
the following verses, as a piece of friendly advice to the
unhappy wretches under sentence of death:--

"You prisoners that are within, who for wickedness and sin, after
many mercies shown you, are now appointed to die tomorrow in the
forenoon, give ear and understand that in the morning the
greatest bell of St Sepulchre's shall toll for you in form and
manner of a passing bell, to the end that all godly people,
hearing that bell and knowing that it is for your going to your
deaths, may be stirred up heartily to pray to God to bestow His
grace upon you while you live. I beseech you for Jesus Christ's
sake to keep this night in watching and prayer for the salvation
of your own souls, while there is yet time for mercy, as knowing
tomorrow you must appear before the judgment seat of your
Creator, there to give an account of all things done in this life
and to suffer eternal torments for your sins committed against
Him, unless upon your hearty and unfeigned repentance you find
mercy through the merits, death and passion of your only Mediator
and Advocate, Jesus Christ, who now sits at the right hand of God
to make intercession for as many of you as penitently return to
Him."

The following extract from Stowe's Survey of London, p. 125 of
the quarto edition printed in 1618, will prove that the above
verses ought to have been repeated by a clergyman instead of a
bellman:--

"Robert Dow, Citizen and Merchant Taylor, of London, gave to the
parish church of St Sepulchre's, the sum of 50L. That after the
several sessions of London, when the prisoners remain in the
gaol, as condemned men to death, expecting execution on the
morning following; the clerk (that is, the parson) of the church
should come in the night time, and likewise early in the morning,
to the window of the prison where they lye, and there ringing
certain tolls with a hand-bell, appointed for the purpose, he
doth afterwards (in most Christian manner) put them in mind of
their present condition, and ensuing execution, desiring them to
be prepared therefor as they ought to be. When they are in the
cart, and brought before the wall of the church, there he
standeth ready with the same bell, and after certain tolls
rehearseth an appointed prayer, desiring all the people there
present to pray for them. The beadle also of Merchant Taylors
Hall hath an honest stipend allowed to see that this is duly
done."

APPENDIX V.
The punishment of whipping in England, Russia, and France

In Russia, this punishment is such as may well serve for the
sake of example. It is there very severe, while (through the
instrumentality of a guinea or so) it is often too leniently inflicted
in England.
 	The knout of Russia would be well applied to the shoulders
of an English swindler.. The instrument with which whipping is
inflicted in Russia is made of leather curiously twisted, and
brought to a fine end like whipcord: with this whip the
executioners dexterously carry off a slip of skin from the neck to
the bottom of the back, laid bare to the waist; and, repeating their
blows, in a little while rend away all the skin off the back in
parallel stripes. In the common knout, the criminal receives the
lashes suspended on the back of one of the executioners; but in the
great knout, which is generally used on the wheel in France, the
criminal is hoisted into the air by means of a pulley fixed to the
gallows, a cord fastened to the two wrists tied together, and
another, of a crucial form, under his breast. Sometimes his hands
are tied behind, over his back; and when he is pulled up in this
position, his shoulders are dislocated. The executioners make this
punishment more or less cruel; and it is said are so dexterous, that,
when a criminal is condemned to die, they can make him expire at
pleasure, either by one or several lashes.



APPENDIX VI.
Fleet Marriages

ONE of the most disgraceful customs observed in the Fleet
Prison in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was the
performance of the marriage ceremony by disreputable and
dissolute clergymen. These functionaries, mostly prisoners for
debt, insulted the dignity of their holy profession by marrying in
the precincts of the Fleet Prison at a minute's notice, any persons
who might present themselves for that purpose. No questions were
asked, no stipulations made, except as to the amount of the fee for
the service, or the quantity of liquor to be drunk on the occasion. It
not unfrequently happened, indeed, that the clergyman, the clerk,
the bridegroom and the bride were drunk at the very time the
ceremony was performed.

These disgraceful members of the sacred calling had their
"plyers," or "barkers," who, if they caught sight of a man and
woman walking together along the streets of the neighbourhood,
pestered them with solicitations, not easily to be shaken off, as to
whether they wanted a clergyman to marry them. Mr Burn, a
gentleman who published a curious work on the Fleet Registers,
had in his possession an engraving (published about 1747) of A
Fleet Wedding between a Brisk Young Sailor and Landlady's
Daughter at Rederiff. "The print," he wrote, "represents the old
Fleet market and prison, with the sailor, landlady and daughter just
stepping from a hackney-coach, while two Fleet parsons in
canonicals are contending for the job. The following verses were in
the margin:--
"Scarce had the coach discharg'd its trusty fare
But gaping crowds surround th'amorous pair;
The busy Plyers make a mighty stir,
And whisp'ring cry, 'D'ye want the Parson, sir?
Pray step this way -- just to the pen in hand,
The Doctor's ready there at your command':
'This way' (another cries), 'sir, I declare,
The true and ancient Register is here':

Th'alarmed Parsons quickly hear the din,
And haste with soothing words t'invite 'em in:
In this confusion jostled to and fro,
Th'enamour'd couple know not where to go,
Till, slow advancing from the coach's side,
Th'experienc'd matron came (an artful guide)
She led the way without regarding either,
And the first Parson splic'd 'em both together."

One of the most notorious of these scandalous officials was
a man of the name of George Keith, a Scottish minister, who,
being in desperate circumstances, set up a marriage office in
Mayfair, and subsequently in the FIeet, and carried on the same
trade which has since been practised in front of the blacksmith's
anvil at Gretna Green. This man's wedding business was so
extensive and so scandalous that the Bishop of London found it
necessary to excommunicate him. It was said of this person and
"his journeyman" that one morning, during the Whitsun holidays,
they united a greater number of couples than had been married at
any ten churches within the bills of mortality. Keith lived till he
was eighty-nine years of age, and died in 1735. The Rev. Dr
Gaynham, another infamous functionary, was familiarly called the
Bishop of Hell.

"Many of the early Fleet weddings," wrote Mr Burn, were
really performed at the chapel of the Fleet; but as the practice
extended, it was found more convenient to have other places,
within the Rules of the Fleet (added to which the Warden was
forbidden, by Act of Parliament, to suffer them), and thereupon
many of the Fleet parsons and tavern-keepers in the neighbourhood
fitted up a room in their respective lodgings or houses as a chapel!
The parsons took the fees, allowing a portion to the plyers, etc.;
and the tavern-keepers, besides sharing in the money paid, derived
a profit from the sale of liquors which the wedding-party drank. In
some instances the tavern-keepers kept a parson on the
establishment, at a weekly salary of twenty shillings! Most of the
taverns near the Fleet kept their own registers, in which (as well as
in their own books) the parsons entered the weddings." Some of
these scandalous members of the highest of all professions were in
the habit of hanging signs out of their windows with the words
"WEDDINGS PERFORMED CHEAP HERE."

Keith, of whom we have already spoken, seems to have
been a barefaced profligate; but there is something exceedingly
affecting in the stings of conscience and forlorn compunction of
one Walter Wyatt, a Fleet parson, in one of whose pocket-books of
1716 are the following secret (as he intended them to be)
outpourings of remorse:--

"Give to every man his due, and learn ye the way of truth."

"This advice cannot be taken by those that are concerned in
ye Fleet marriages; not so much as ye Priest can do ye thing yt it is
just and right there, unless he designs to starve. For by lying,
bullying, and swearing, to extort money from the silly and unwary
people, you advance your business and get ye pelf, which always
wastes like snow in sunshiney day."

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The
marrying in the Fleet is the beginning of eternal woe."

"If a clerk or plyer tells a lye, you must vouch it to be as
true as ye Gospel, and if disputed, you must affirm with an oath to
ye truth of a downright damnable falsehood, Virtus laudatur &
algetur."

"May God forgive me what is past, and give me grace to
forsake such a wicked place, where truth and virtue can't take place
unless you are resolved to starve."

But this very man, whose sense of his own disgrace was so
deep and apparently so contrite, was one of the most notorious,
active and money-making of all the Fleet parsons. His practice was
chiefly in taverns, and he was known to earn nearly sixty pounds in
less than a month.

With such facilities for marriage, and such unprincipled
ministers, it may easily be imagined that iniquitous schemes of all
sorts were perpetrated under the narne of Fleet weddings. The
parsons were ready, for a bribe, to make false entries in their
registers, to antedate weddings, to give fictitious certificates, and to
marry persons who would declare only the initials of their names.
We read in a a journal of the time the following case:--

"On Saturday last a Fleet parson was convicted before Sir
Ric. Brocas of forty-three oaths (on the information of a plyer for
weddings there), for which a warrant was granted to levy L4, 6s.
on the goods of the said parson but, upon application to his
Worship, he was pleased to remit 1s. per oath upon which the plyer
swore he would swear no more against any man upon the like
occasion, finding he could get nothing by it." -- Grub Street
Journal, 20th July, 1732.

Thus if a spinster or widow in debt desired to cheat her
creditors, by pretending to have been married before the debt was
contracted, she had only to present herself at one of the marriage-
houses in the Fleet and, upon payment of a small additional fee to
the clergyman, a man could instantly be found on the spot to act as
bridegroom for a few shillings, and the worthless chaplain could
find a blank place in his register for any year desired, so that there
was no difficulty in making the necessary record. They would also,
for a consideration, obliterate any given entry. The sham
bridegrooms, under different names, were married over and over
again, with the full knowledge of the clerical practitioners. If, in
other instances, a libertine desired to possess himself of any young
and unsuspecting woman who would not yield without being
married, nothing was easier than to get the service performed at the
Fleet, without even the specification of names; so that the poor girl
might with impunity be shaken off at pleasure. Or if a parent found
it necessary to legitimatise his natural children, a Fleet parson
could be procured to give a marriage certificate at any required
date. In fact, all manner of people presented themselves for
marriage at the unholy dens in the Fleet taverns -- runaway sons
and daughters of peers; Irish adventurers and foolish rich widows;
clodhoppers and ladies from St Giles's; footmen and decayed
beauties; soldiers and servant-girls; boys in their teens and old
women of seventy; discarded mistresses "given away" by their
former admirers to pitiable and sordid bridegrooms; night-
wanderers and intoxicated apprentices; men and women having
already wives and husbands; young heiresses conveyed thither by
force and compelled, in terrorem, to be brides, and common
labourers and female paupers dragged by parish officers to the
profane altar, stained by the relics of drunken orgies and reeking
with the fumes of liquor and tobacco! Nay, it sometimes happened
that the "contracting parties" would send from houses of vile
repute for a Fleet parson, who could readily be found to attend
even in such places and under such circumstances, and there unite
the couple in matrimony!

Of what were called the "Parish Weddings" it is impossible
to speak in terms of sufficient reprobation. Many of the
churchwardens and overseers of that day were in the frequent
practice of "getting up" marriages in order to throw their paupers
on neighbouring parishes. For example, in The Daily Post of the
4th of July, 1741, is the following paragraph:--

"On Saturday last the churchwardens for a certain parish in
the City, in order to remove a load from their own shoulders, gave
forty shillings, and paid the expense of a Fleet marriage, to a
miserable blind youth, known by the name of Ambrose Tally, who
plays on the violin in Moorfields, in order to make a settlement on
the wife and future family in Shoreditch parish. To secure their
point they sent a parish officer to see the ceremony performed. One
cannot but admire the ungenerous proceeding of this City parish,
as well as their unjustifiable abetting and encouraging an
irregularity so much and so justly complained of as these Fleet
matches. Invited and uninvited were a great number of poor
wretches, in order to spend the bride's parish fortune."

In the Grub Street Journal for 1735 is the following letter,
faithfully describing, says Mr Burn, the treachery and low habits of
the Fleet parsons:--

SIR, -- There is a very great evil in this town, and of
dangerous consequence to our sex, that has never been suppressed,
to the great prejudice and ruin of many hundreds of young people
every year, which I beg some of your learned heads to consider of,
and consult of proper ways and means to prevent for the future. I
mean the ruinous marriages that are practised in the liberty of the
Fleet and thereabouts, by a set of drunken, swearing parsons, with
their myrmidons, that wear black coats, and pretend to be clerks
and registers to the Fleet. These ministers of wickedness ply about
Ludgate Hill, pulling and forcing people to some pedling ale-house
or a brandy-shop to be married, even on a Sunday stopping them as
they go to church and almost tearing their clothes off their backs.
To confirm the truth of these facts I will give you a case or two
which lately happened.

Since Midsummer last a young lady of birth and fortune
was deluded and forced from her friends, and, by the assistance of
a wrynecked, swearing parson, married to an atheistical wretch,
whose life is a continued practice of all manner of vice and
debauchery. And since the ruin of my relation, another lady of my
acquaintance had like to have been trepanned in the following
manner. This lady had appointed to meet a gentlewoman at the Old
Playhouse, in Drury Lane, but extraordinary business prevented
her coming. Being alone when the play was done, she bade a boy
call a coach for the city. One dressed like a gentleman helps her
into it and jumps in after her. "Madam," says he, "this coach was
called for me, and since the weather is so bad, and there is no
other, I beg leave to bear you company. I am going into the City,
and will set you down wherever you please." The lady begged to
be excused; but he bade the coachman drive on. Being come to
Ludgate Hill, he told her his sister, who waited his coming but five
doors up the court, would go with her in two minutes. He went,
and returned with his pretended sister, who asked her to step in one
minute, and she would wait upon her in the coach. Deluded with
the assurance of having his sister's company, the poor lady
foolishly followed her into the house, when instantly the sister
vanished and a tawny fellow in a black coat and black wig
appeared. "Madam, you are come in good time; the Doctor was
just a-going." "The Doctor!" says she, horribly frightened, fearing
it was a madhouse; "what has the Doctor to do with me?" "To
marry you to that gentleman. The Doctor has waited for you these
three hours, and will be paid by you or that gentleman before you
go!" "That gentleman," says she, recovering herself, "is worthy a
better fortune than mine," and begged hard to be gone. But Doctor
Wryneck swore she should be married, or if she would not, he
would still have his fee, and register the marriage from that night.
The lady, finding she could not escape without money or a pledge,
told them she liked the gentleman so well she would certainly meet
him to-morrow night, and gave them a ring as a pledge, which,
says she, it was my mother's gift on her death-bed, enjoining that if
ever I married it should be my wedding-ring." By which cunning
contrivance she was delivered from the black doctor and his tawny
crew. Some time after this I went with this lady and her brother in
a coach to Ludgate Hill, in the daytime, to see the manner of their
picking up people to be married. As soon as our coach stopped
near Fleet Bridge, up comes one of the myrmidons. "Madam," says
he, "you want a parson?" "Who are you?" says I. "I am the clerk
and register of the Fleet." "Show me the chapel." At which comes a
second, desiring me to go along with him. Says he: "That fellow
will carry you to a pedling ale-house." Says a third: "Go with me;
he will carry you to a brandy-shop." In the interim comes the
Doctor. "Madam," says he, "I'll do your job for you presently!"
"Well, gentlemen," says I, "since you can't agree, and I can't be
married quietly, I'll put it off until another time," and so drove
away. Learned sirs, I wrote this in regard to the honour and safety
of my own sex; and if for our sakes you will be so good as to
publish it, correcting the errors of a woman's pen, you will oblige
our whole sex, and none more than, Sir, your constant reader and
admirer,

VIRTUOUS.

Such were but a few of the iniquities practised by the
ministers of the Fleet. Similar transactions were carried on at the
Chapel in Mayfair, the Mint in the Borough, the Savoy, and other
places about London; until the public scandal became so great,
especially in consequence of the marriage at the Fleet of the Hon.
Henry Fox with Georgiana Caroline, eldest daughter of the Duke
of Richmond, that at length -- not, however, without much and
zealous opposition -- a Marriage Bill was passed, enacting that any
person solemnising matrimony in any other than a church or public
chapel, without banns or licence, should, on conviction, be
adjudged guilty of felony, and be transported for fourteen years,
and that all such marriages should be void. This Act was to take
effect from the 25th of March, 1754.

Upon the passing of this law, Keith, the parson who has
already been alluded to, published a pamphlet entitled,
Observations on the Act for Preventing Clandestine Marriages. To
this he prefixed his portrait. The following passages are highly
characteristic of the man:--

"'Happy is the wooing that is not long a-doing' is an old
proverb, and a very true one; but we shall have no occasion for it
after the 25th day of March next, when we are commanded to read
it backwards, and from that period (fatal indeed to Old England!)
we must date the declension of the numbers of the inhabitants of
England."

"As I have married many thousands, and consequently have
on those occasions seen the humour of the lower class of people, I
have often asked the married pair how long they had been
acquainted; they would reply, some more, some less, but the
generality did not exceed the acquaintance of a week, some only of
a day, half-a-day, etc."

"Another inconvenience which will arise from this Act will
be, that the expense of being married will be so great, that few of
the lower class of people can afford; for I have often heard a Fleet
parson say that many have come to be married when they have but
had half-a-crown in their pockets, and sixpence to buy a pot of
beer, and for which they have pawned some of their clothes."

"I remember once on a time, I was at a public-house at
Ratcliffe, which then was full of sailors and their girls; there was
fiddling, piping, jigging and eating; at length, one of the tars starts
up and says: 'D-n ye, Jack, I'll be married just now; I will have my
partner, and . . .' The joke took, and in less than two hours ten
couples set out for the Fleet; I stayed their return. They returned in
coaches, five women in each coach, the tars, some running before,
others riding on the coach-box, and others behind. The cavalcade
being over, the couples went up into an upper room, where they
concluded the evening with great jollity. The next time I went that
way I called on my landlord and asked him concerning this
marriage adventure. He at first stared at me, but recollecting, he
said those things were so frequent that he hardly took any notice of
them; for, added he, it is a common thing, when a fleet comes in, to
have two or three hundred marriages in a week's time, among the
sailors."

He humorously concludes: "If the present Act in the form it
now stands should (which I am sure is impossible) be of service to
my country, I shall then have the satisfaction of having been the
occasion of it, because the compilers thereof have done it with a
pure design of suppressing my Chapel, which makes me the most
celebrated man in this kingdom, though not the greatest."

In a letter to George Montagu, Esq., from Horace Walpole,
is the following notice of Keith:--

STRAWBERRY HILL, 11th June, 1753,

I shall only tell you a bon mot of Keith's, the marriage-
broker, and conclude; 'G-d d-n the Bishops!' said he (I beg Miss
Montagu's pardon), so they will hinder my marrying. Well, let 'em,
but I'll be revenged: I'll buy two or three acres of ground, and by
G-d I'll under-bury them all.'

The passing of the Marriage Act put a stop to the marriages
at Mayfair; but the day before the Act came into operation (Lady
Day, 17541) sixty-one couples were married there. In a letter to
George Montagu, Esq., dated 7th July, 1753, Horace Walpole says:
"Lady Anne Paulett's daughter is eloped with a country clergyman.
The Duchess of Argyle harangues against the Marriage Bill not
taking place immediately, and is persuaded that all the girls will go
off before next Lady Day."

It would exceed the limits of this brief sketch were we to
give the official history of the different scandalous ministers who
thus disgraced themselves, and impiously trifled with one of our
most sacred institutions. That some of these wretched adventurers
merely pretended to be clergymen is certain; but it cannot be
denied that many of them were actually in Holy Orders. Of this
latter class were Grierson and Wilkinson, the subjects of our
present notice; and, notwithstanding the heavy penalties imposed
by the statute, they were not to be deterred from continuing the
dangerous and unlawful traffic in which they had been engaged.
Wilkinson, who was the brother of a celebrated comedian of the
day, it would appear, was the owner of a chapel in the Savoy, and
Grierson was his assistant; and, their proceedings having at length
become too notorious to be passed over, proceedings were
instituted against them. Grierson was first apprehended, and his
employer sought safety in flight; but supposing that he could not
be deemed guilty of any offence, as he had not actually performed
the marriage ceremony -- a duty which he left to his journeyman --
he returned to his former haunts.

It was not long before he was secured however, and, having
been convicted with Grierson, they were shipped off as convicts
together to the colonies, in the year 1757.



APPENDIX VII.
An account of the various modes of punishment for adultery, in
distant nations.

WE consider it a part of our duty to give our readers
occasionally an account of the various modes of punishment, for
the commission of crimes, in distant nations.

No guilt is more frequent than adultery, and none, in its
progress, more tending to fatal consequences, involving whole
families in ruin, and driving others to seek revenge in the blood of
the spoilers of their honour.

That adultery is a crime which has been detested by all
wise and good people, as scandalous in its nature, pernicious to
society, and destructive of religion, appears by the various severe
laws and punishments by which legislators and magistrates have
endeavoured to restrain it.

The histories of the ancient heathens tell us that they
thought it a crime so very black and abominable, that they have
compared it to sacrilege, or to robbing of temples; and their
philosophers judged it to be worse than perjury. The old Ethiopians
ranked it with treason, as a crime of the like nature and guilt; and
the Egyptians had a law that the man guilty of it should have a
thousand stripes, and that a woman should lose her nose, as a mark
of perpetual infamy.

The ancient Athenians punished all adulterers with death,
and even those who were only suspected with some less penalty. It
was the custom of the Persians to throw the adulteress down
headlong into a deep well; for, as adultery was, at one time, a
common crime among the nobility and gentry in the court of
ancient Persia, it became the frequent cause of rebellions, murders,
and other dreadful calamities, in that empire.

The tragedy of Mejistes and his whole family, occasioned
by the adultery of his wife with Xerxes the emperor, is most
horrible to relate; and the punishment of Appodines the physician,
for debauching Amytis, the widow of Megabyzus, is also most
shocking and terrible.

The old lawgivers of Greece punished this crime with
death. Among the Lybians it was the custom to treat married
women guilty of adultery in the most severe manner, without
mercy and without pardon.

In a certain city of Crete, when an adulterer was caught in
the fact, and judicially convicted, he was first adjudged to be
covered with a crown of wool, in derision of his soft and
effeminate nature, signified by that material and the animal from
whence it was taken, then publicly to pay a heavy fine, and to be
rendered incapable of bearing any office in the government.

The King of the Tenideans made a law that the adulterer
should be beheaded with an axe; and commanded his own son,
found guilty of this fact, to be put to death in that manner.

The Lepreans made a law that the men should be led round
the city for three days together, and then burnt in the face with a
brand of indelible infamy; and that the women should stand in the
market-place for eleven successive days, clothed only with a thin
transparent garment, which should hang loose and untied, in order
to expose them more to public shame, contempt, and laughter.

Hippomines, one of the kings of Athens, having caught an
adulterer with his daughter Limona, ordered him to be tied to the
wheel of a chariot, and her to one of the horses, and to be dragged
about the streets till they died; a shameful and horrid spectacle to
the whole city, but a public example of the most severe and
impartial justice.

Dio the consul, the first King of the Romans, made a law
that the faulty wife should be put to death after what manner her
husband or relations thought fit; which law was afterwards
confirmed, and continued in force for many years. But the rigidly
virtuous Cato allowed the husband to dispatch his wife
immediately on finding her guilty, without staying for the forms of
justice. Many also of the Roman emperors punished this crime
with present death; though it must be confessed, indeed, that many
others of them, with their empresses and daughters, and ladies of
the highest quality, when Rome was declining, were notoriously
guilty.

We read of many Julias and Messalinas in the reign of the
twelve Caesars, and so downwards, for a great length of time.

This vice soon became very common among them in the
days of their conquests, national influence, and prosperity; and yet,
such diligence and labour had there been used to bring offenders to
condign punishment, that Tacitus says, when he was a chief officer
of Rome, he found in the public records the names of three
thousand who had been put to death for committing adultery. Even
the heathen Romans always punished malefactors convicted of this
crime by banishment, and, in cases of the highest degree, with
death.

The Hungarians, in those days when virtue was in more
esteem than at present, made death the punishment, with dreadful
infliction. The father was compelled to conduct and force his own
daughter to the place of execution, the husband his wife, and the
brother his sister.

In Old Saxony a woman convicted of this crime was
punished precisely as the English law punished the murderer of her
husband -- strangled, and then burnt to ashes. The adulterer was
then hung up over her grave; or else the chaste matrons of the town
where the fact was committed had liberty to scourge him with
whips and rods, from one village to another, until he died.

The Turks adopted the Levitical law, and stoned such
offenders to death; though, before the law of Moses, the adulteress,
when condemned, was burnt alive.

In holy writ, the prophet Jeremiah intimates that the King
of Babylon was more cruel than any other monarch, for he roasted
to death Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, and Ahad, the son of
Kolaiah, because they had committed adultery with their
neighbours' wives.

At this day, in Turkey, adulteries are often punished by
drowning the guilty woman, and castrating the man.

The Spaniards and the Italians, by nature jealous and
severe, wherever they suspect a man guilty with their wives, wait
an opportunity of plunging a dagger secretly in his heart.

In France, five hundred years ago, two gentlemen of
Normandy, who were brothers, were flayed alive, and hung upon
gibbets, for adultery.

Modern writers have stigmatized this crime with the name
it deserves -- a most execrable villainy. Some of the old fathers of
the Church have declared their minds with such sharpness and
vehemence, as to pronounce it, in many cases, unpardonable.

If we look into the old books of the civil and canon laws we
shall find that the several punishments made and ordained by them
were either death by the sword or the loss of their noses, or some
singular brand of infamy, or some large pecuniary mulct, or
banishment; as we find by the old statutes of the Belgians and
Hollanders. If a father caught his daughter in the fact, he might kill
her and her gallant upon the spot; but a husband was empowered,
in the like cases, to put the latter only to death, but the wife was
reserved to the judgment of the law.

Adultery, from being more immediately an offence against
the Church, has been generally excepted out of the acts of pardon
and indemnity, as an evil in itself, or of that nature which kings
themselves cannot or will not pardon.

It would be endless to recount the many kingdoms and
republics, with all their different laws and customs, where this
abominable crime hath been, and still is, chastised and exposed
with very signal, infamous, painful, and terrible punishments. In
England, we are sorry to say, its commission now too often goes
unpunished, whether in the prince or the pickpocket.

Let, however, this short extract from eminent authors,
contrasted with its barefaced commission in our own country, give
the immoral and incontinent a specimen of the opinion of the wise
and sober part of mankind; and let them dread the examples of the
downfall of mighty empires from profligacy, lest its general
adoption hurl their country into the like fate.



APPENDIX VIII
The Jail Fever

THIS malignant distemper was fatal and frequent in old
Newgate and other county jails in different parts of England.

The assize held at Oxford in the year 1577, called the
"Black Assize," was a dreadful instance of the deadly effects of the
jail fever. The judges, jury, witnesses, nay, in fact every person,
except the prisoners, women and chiLdren, in court were killed by
a foul air, which at first was thought to have arisen out of the
bowels of the earth; but that great philosopher, Lord Bacon, proved
it to have come from the prisoners taken out of a noisome jail and
brought into court to take their trials; and they alone, inhaling foul
air, were not injured by it.

Baker's Chronicle, a work of the highest authenticity, thus
speaks of the Black Assize:

"The Court were surprised with a pestilent savour, whether
arising from the noisome smell of the prisoners, or from the damp
of the ground, is uncertain; but all that were present, within forty
hours died, except the prisoners, and the women and children; and
the contagion went no farther. There died Robert Bell, Lord Chief
Baron, Robert De Olie, Sir William Babington, the High Sheriff of
Oxfordshire, some of the most eminent Lawyers, the Jurors, and
three hundred others, more or less."

In the year 1730 the Lord Chief Baron Pengelly, with
several of his officers and servants; Sir James Sheppard, Serjeant-
at-Law; John Pigot, Esq., High Sheriff for Somersetshire, died at
Blandford, on the Western Circuit of the Lent Assize, from the
infected stench brought with the prisoners from Ilchester Jail to
their trials at Taunton, in which town the infection afterwards
spread and carried off some hundred persons.

In 1754 and 1755 this distemper prevailed in Newgate to a
degree which carried off more than one-fifth of the prisoners.

Others attributed the cause of this sudden mortality at
Oxford to witchcraft, the people in those times being very
superstitious. In Webster's Display of Witchcraft we find the
following account of the Black Assize:--

"The 4th and 5th days of July, 1559, were holden the
assizes at Oxford, where was arraigned and condemned, one
Rowland Jenkes, for his seditious tongue, at which time there arose
such a damp, that almost all were smothered. Very few escaped
that were not thken at that instant. The jurors died presently --
shortly after died Sir Robert Bell, Lord Chief Baron, Sir Robert De
Olie, Sir Wm. Babington, Mr Weneman, Mr De Olie, High Sheriff,
Mr Davers, Mr Harcourt, Mr Kirle, Mr Pheteplace, Mr
Greenwood, Mr Foster, Serjeant Baram, Mr Stevens, etc. There
died in Oxford 300 persons, and sickened there, but died in other
places, 200 and odd, from the 6th of July to the 12th of August,
after which day died not one of that sickness, for one of them
infected not another, nor any one woman or child died thereof.
This is the punctual relation, according to our English annals
which relate nothing of what should be the cause of the arising of
such a damp. Just at the conjuncture of time when Jenkes was
condemned, there being none before, and so it could not be a
prison infection; for that would have manifested itself by smell, or
operating sooner. But to take away all scruple, and to assign the
true cause, it was thus: It fortuned that a manuscript fell into my
hands, collected by an ancient gentleman of York, who was a great
observer and gatherer of strange things and facts, who lived about
the time of this accident happening at Oxford, wherein it is related
thus: 'That Rowland Jenkes, being imprisoned for treasonable
words, spoken against the queen, and being a popish recusant, had,
notwithstanding, during the time of his restraint, liberty some time
to walk abroad with a keeper; and that one day he came to an
apothecary, and showed him a receipt which he desired him to
make up; but the apothecary, upon view of it, told him, that it was
a strong and dangerous receipt, and required some time to prepare
it; but also asked him to what use he would apply it. He answered,
to kill the rats, that, since his imprisonment, spoiled his books; so
being satisfied, he promised to make it ready. After a certain time
he cometh to know if it were ready; but the apothecary said, the
ingredients were so hard to procure, that he had not done it, and so
gave him the receipt again, of which he had taken a copy, which
mine author had there precisely written down, but did seem so
horribly poisonous, that I cut it forth, lest it might fall into the
hands of wicked persons. But after, it seems, he had it prepared,
and, against the day of his trial, had made a wick of it (for so is the
word, that is, so fitted, that like a candle it might be fired) which,
as soon as ever he was condemned, he lighted, having provided
himself a tinder-box, and steel to strike fire. And whosoever should
know the ingredients of that wick, or candle, and the manner of the
composition, will easily be persuaded of the virulency and
venomous effect of it.'"

Sir Stephen Theodore Jansen, one of the most philanthropic
magistrates of the City of London, took great interest on behalf of
the regulation of prisons, and the amelioration of the miseries of
unfortunate prisoners.

When Chamberlain of London, in the year 1767, he
published a pamphlet addressed to the Lord Mayor, in the cause of
jail fevers. He was Sheriff of London in the year 1750, when the
putrid fever, the consequence of filth and foul air, made such
dreadful havoc in the Old Bailey Sessions.

Sir Theodore strongly recommended a plan similar to that
of York Castle, which, he said, covered no less than two acres and
a rood of ground, with great plenty of water and other
conveniences.

He warmly remonstrated against the spot then proposed for
the reboilding of Newgate. He said it did not occupy more than
three-quarters of an acre, and that the number of convicts in that
prison was more than treble those of York Castle.

In the year 1772 the assizes for the Summer Circuit were
adjourned for Hampshire from the 17th of July to the 2nd of
September, on account of an infectious distemper in Winchester
Jail.

An expositor on this subject, who wrote under the signature
of "A Philanthropist," during that rage of the jail fever, says:

"The public may be rather concerned than surprised, at the
deplorable consequences of gaol distempers, and at the fatal
instances of their contagion. Several judges, sheriffs, magistrates,
juries, and whole courts of judicature, have been infected by those
contagious diseases, which caused the loss of many valuable lives,
particularly at the Old Bailey, and formerly at the assizes at
Oxford, all owing to the horrid neglect of gaolers, and even of the
sheriffs and magistrates, whose office it is to compel the gaolers, to
the most rigorous repeated orders and attention to their duty,
without the least indulgence or remission; as the gaolers are (some
excepted) frequently low bred, mercenary and oppressive
barbarous fellows, who think of nothing but enriching themselves
by the most cruel extortion; and who have less regard for the life of
a poor prisoner than for the life of a brute.

"The felons of this kingdom lie worse than dogs or swine,
and are kept much more uncleanly than those animals are in
kennels and sties, according to all accounts from clergymen, who
are obliged to go to the gaols. From them I have been assured, that
the stench and nastiness are so nauseous, that the very atmosphere
is pestiferous, and that no persons enter therein, without the risque
of their health or lives, which prevents even many clergymen and
physicians from going there, and assisting their sick and dying
fellow-creatures; so that they live and die like brutes, even worse
than many beasts, to the disgrace of human nature.

"Every person endowed with the least principle of real
humanity, and of true policy, must be affected with such
barbarities, neglects, uncleanliness, and dangers. A contagion of
that kind may spread over a whole country and kingdom; the
greatest precaution ought therefore to be taken in time.

"The gaolers ought to be forced to have all the rooms
sprinkled and fumigated with vinegar every day: as should all the
felons, before their appearance in a court of judicature; for some
hundred prisoners, particularly criminals, are early killed by a sort
of pestilence and vermin among them, occasioned by filth and
nastiness, and a corrupted air.

"All hospitals, prisons, and workhouses, should have
bathing-places, for the sake of cleanliness and health, as in Asia."



APPENDIX IX
Torture

 IN former times such prisoners as contumaciously refused to plead 
to their indictments underwent torture until they complied with the 
law as it then regarded their case. This punishment is, however, no 
longer deemed compatible with freedom; and it was therefore 
abrogated in the year 1772. Yet, as the inhuman practice still 
prevails in some of the English settlements abroad, and as many 
nations continue to torture criminals, we shall offer some 
observations thereon.

In order to extort confession, torture is not peculiar to Roman 
Catholic countries, but is even a custom in China. The instrument 
of barbarity called the rack is composed of a thick strong plank, 
having a contrivance at one end to secure the hands, and at the 
other a sort of double wooden vice. The vice is formed of three 
stout uprights, two of which are moveable, but steadied by a block 
that is fastened on each side. The ankles of the culprit being placed 
in the machine, a cord is passed round the uprights, and held fast 
by two men. The chief tormentor then gradually introduces a 
wedge into the intervals, alternately changing sides. The method of 
forcing an expansion at the upper part causes the lower ends to 
draw towards the central upright, which is fixed unto the plank, 
and thereby compresses the ankles of the wretched sufferer; who, 
provided he be fortified by innocence or resolution, endures the 
advances of the wedge, until his bones are reduced to a jelly.

Stedman, in his account of Surinam, relates the following horrid 
scene, to which he was an eye-witness:

'There was a negro whose name was Neptune, no slave, but his 
own master, and a carpenter by trade: he was young and 
handsome, but, having killed the overseer of the estate of Altona, 
in the Para Creek, in consequence of some dispute, he justly 
forfeited his life. The particulars, however, are worth relating:

'This man having stolen a sheep to entertain a favourite young 
woman, the overseer, who burned with jealousy, had determined to 
see him hanged; to prevent which, the negro shot him dead among 
the sugar-canes. For these offences, of course, he was sentenced to 
be broken alive upon the rack, without the benefit of the coup de 
grace, or mercy- stroke. Informed of the dreadful sentence, he 
composedly laid himself down upon his back on a strong cross, on 
which, with his arms and legs extended, he was fastened by ropes. 
The executioner, also a black man, having now with a hatchet 
chopped off his left hand, next took up a heavy iron bar, with 
which, by repeated blows, he broke his bones to shivers, till the 
marrow, blood, and splinters, flew about the field; but the prisoner 
never uttered a groan nor a sigh! The ropes being next unlashed, I 
imagined him dead, and felt happy; till the magistrates stirring to 
depart, he writhed himself from the cross, when he fell on the 
grass, and damned them all as a set of barbarous rascals. At the 
same time, removing his right hand by the help of his teeth, he 
rested his head on part of the timber, and asked the by-standers for 
a pipe of tobacco, which was infamously answered by kicking and 
spitting on him, till I, with some American seamen, thought proper 
to prevent it. He then begged his head might be chopped off; but to 
no purpose. At last, seeing no end to his misery, he declared, "that 
though he had deserved death, he had not expected to die so many 
deaths; however, (said he,) you Christians have missed your aim at 
last, and I now care not were I to remain thus one month longer." 
After which he sung two extempore songs with a clear voice; the 
subjects of which were to bid adieu to his living friends, and to 
acquaint his deceased relations that in a very little time be should 
be with them, to enjoy their company for ever in a better place. 
This done, he calmly entered into conversation with some 
gentlemen concerning his trial, relating every particular with 
uncommon tranquillity. "But (said he abruptly), by the sun it must 
be eight o'clock, and by any longer discourse I should be sorry to 
be the cause of your losing your breakfast." Then, casting his eyes 
on a Jew, whose name was De Vries, "Apropos, Sir (said he), 
won't you please to pay me the ten shillings you owe me?" "For 
what to do?" "To buy meat and drink, to be sure -- don't you 
perceive I'm to be kept alive?" Which speech, on seeing the Jew 
stare like a fool, this mangled wretch accompanied with a loud and 
hearty laugh. Next observing the soldier that stood sentinel over 
him biting occasionally a piece of dry bread, he asked him how it 
came to pass that be, a white man, should have no meat to eat 
along with it? " Because I am not so rich," answered the soldier, 
"Then I will make you a present, Sir (said the negro). First pick my 
hand that was chopped off, clean to the bones; next begin to 
devour my body till you are glutted; when you will have both 
bread and meat, as best becomes you:" which piece of humour was 
followed by a second laugh. And thus he continued until I left him, 
which was about three hours after the dreadful execution.

'Wonderful it is, indeed, that human nature should be able to 
endure so much torture! which assuredly could only he supported 
by a mixture of rage, contempt, pride, and the glory of braving his 
tormentors, from whom he was so soon to escape.

'I never recall to my remembrance without the most painful 
sensation this horrid scene, which must revolt the feelings of all 
who have one spark of humanity. If the reader, however, should be 
offended with my dwelling so long on this unpleasant subject, let it 
be some relief to his reflection to consider this punishment not 
inflicted as a wanton and unprovoked act of cruelty, hut as the 
extreme severity of the Surinam laws on a desperate wretch, 
suffering, as an example to others, for complicated crimes; while, 
at the same time, it cannot but give me, and I hope many others, 
some consolation to reflect that the above barbarous mode of 
punishment was hitherto never put in practice in the British 
colonies. I must now relate an incident which, as it had a 
momentary effect on my imagination, might have had a lasting one 
on some who had not investigated the real cause of it, and which it 
gave me no small satisfaction to discover.

'About three in the afternoon, walking towards the place of 
execution, with my thoughts full of the affecting scene, and the 
image of the sufferer fresh in my mind, the first object I saw was 
his head, at some distance, placed on a stake, nodding to me 
backwards and forwards, as if he had been really alive, I instantly 
stopped short, and, seeing no person in the Savannah, nor a breath 
of wind sufficient to move a leaf or a feather, I acknowledge that I 
was rivetted to the ground where I stood, without having the 
resolution of advancing one step for some time; till, reflecting that 
I must be weak indeed not to approach this dead skull, and find out 
the wonderful phenomenon if possible, I boldly walked up, and 
instantly discovered the natural case, by the return of a vulture to 
the gallows, who perched upon it as if he meant to dispute with me 
this feast of carrion; which bird, having already picked out one of 
the eyes, had fled at my first approach, and, striking the skull with 
his talons, as be took his sudden flight, occasioned the motion 
already described. I shall now only add, that this poor wretch, after 
living more than six hours, had been knocked on the head by the 
commiserating sentinel, the marks of whose musket were perfectly 
visible by a large open fracture in the skull.'

The torture of a criminal during the course of his trial is a cruelty 
consecrated by custom in most nations. It is used with an intent 
either to make him confess his crime, or explain some 
contradictions into which he had been led during his examination; 
or to discover his accomplices; or for some kind of metaphysical 
and incomprehensible purgation of infamy; or, finally, in order to 
discover other crimes, of which he is not accused, but of which he 
may be guilty.

No man can be judged a criminal until he be found guilty; nor can 
society take from him the public protection until it have been 
proved that he has violated the conditions on which it was granted. 
What right, then, but that of power, can authorize the punishment 
of a citizen, so long as there remains any doubt of his guilt? This 
dilemma is frequent. Either he is guilty or not guilty. If guilty, he 
should only suffer the  punishment ordained by the laws, and 
torture becomes useless, as his confession is unnecessary. If he be 
not guilty, you torture the innocent; for, in the eye of the law, every 
man is innocent whose crime has not been proved. Besides, it is 
confounding all relations to expect that a man should be both the 
accuser and the accused; and that pain should be the test of truth, 
as if truth resided in the muscles and fibres of a wretch in torture. 
By this method the robust will escape and the feeble be 
condemned. These are the inconveniences of this pretended test of 
truth, worthy only of a cannibal, and which the Romans, in many 
respects barbarous, and whose savage virtue has been too much 
admired, reserved for the slaves alone.

What is the political intention of punishments? -- To terrify, and be 
an example to others. Is this intention answered by thus privately 
torturing the guilty and the innocent? It is doubtless of importance 
that no crime should remain unpunished: but it is useless to make a 
public example of the author of a crime bid in darkness. A crime 
already committed, and for which there can be no remedy, can 
only be punished by a political society with an intention that no 
hopes of impunity should induce others to commit the same. If it 
be true that the number of those who from fear or virtue respect the 
laws is greater than of those by whom they are violated, the risk of 
torturing an Innocent person is greater, as there is a greater 
probability that, ceteris paribus, an individual hath observed than 
he hath infringed the laws.

There is another ridiculous motive for torture -- namely, to purge a 
man from infamy. Ought such an abuse to be tolerated in the 
nineteenth century? Can pain, which is a sensation, have any 
connexion with a moral sentiment, a matter of opinion? Perhaps 
the rack may be considered as the refiner's furnace.

It is not difficult to trace this senseless law to its origin; for an 
absurdity adopted by a whole nation must have some affinity with 
other ideas established and respected by the same nation. This 
custom seems to be the offspring of religion, by which mankind, in 
all nations, and in all ages, are so generally influenced. We are 
taught by our infallible Church that those stains of sin contracted 
through human frailty, and which have not deserved the eternal 
anger of the Almighty, are to be purged away in another life by an 
incomprehensible fire. Now infamy is a stain; and, if the 
punishments and fire of purgatory can take away all spiritual 
stains, why should not the pain of torture take away those of a civil 
nature? I imagine that the confession of a criminal, which in some 
tribunals is required as being essential to his condemnation, has a 
similar origin, and has been taken from the mysterious tribunal of 
penitence, where the confession of sins is a necessary part of the 
sacrament. Thus have men abused the unerring light of revelation; 
and, in the times of tractable ignorance, having no other, they 
naturally had recourse to it on every occasion, making the most 
remote and absurd applications. Moreover, infamy is a sentiment 
regulated neither by the laws nor by reason, but entirely by 
opinion; but torture renders the victim infamous, and therefore 
cannot take infamy away.

Another intention of torture is to oblige the supposed criminal to 
reconcile the contradictions into which he may have fallen during 
his examinations; as if the dread of punishment, the uncertainty of 
his fate, the solemnity of the Court, the majesty of the judge, and 
the ignorance of the accused, were not abundantly sufficient to 
account for contradictions, which are so common to men even in a 
state of tranquillity, and which must necessarily be multiplied by 
the perturbation of the mind of a man entirely engaged in the 
thoughts of saving himself from imminent danger.

This infamous test of truth is a remaining monument of that 
ancient and savage legislation in which trials by fire, by boiling 
water, or the uncertainty of combats, were called judgments of 
God; as if the links of that eternal chain whose beginning is in the 
breast of the First Cause of all things could ever be disunited by 
the institutions of men. The only difference between torture and 
trials by fire and boiling water is, that the event of the first depends 
on the will of the accused, and of the second on a fact entirely 
physical and external; but this difference is apparent only, not real. 
A man on the rack, in the convulsions of torture, has it as little in 
his power to declare the truth as, in former times, to prevent, 
without fraud, the effects of fire or boiling water.

Every act of the will is invariably in proportion to the force of the 
impression on our senses. The impression of pain, then, may 
increase to such a degree, that, occupying the mind entirely, it will 
compel the sufferer to use the shortest method of  freeing himself 
from torment. His answer, therefore, will be an effect as necessary 
as that of fire or boiling water, and he will accuse himself of 
crimes of which he is innocent; so that the very means employed to 
distinguish the innocent from the guilty will most effectually 
destroy all difference between them.

It would be superfluous to confirm these reflections by examples 
of innocent persons who, from the agony of torture, have confessed 
themselves guilty: innumerable instances may be found in all 
nations and in every age. How amazing that mankind have always 
neglected to draw the natural conclusion! Lives there a man who, if 
he has carried his thoughts ever so little beyond the necessities of 
life, when he reflects on such cruelty, is not tempted to fly from 
society, and return to his natural state of independence?

The result of torture, then, is a matter of calculation, and depends 
on the constitution, which differs in every individual, and is in 
proportion to his strength and sensibility; so that to discover truth 
by this method is a problem which may be better resolved by a 
mathematician than a judge, and may be thus stated. The force of 
the muscles and the sensibility of the nerves of an innocent person 
being given, it is required to find the degree of pain necessary to 
make him confess himself guilty of a given crime.

The examination of the accused is intended to find out the truth; 
but if this be discovered with so much difficulty in the air, gesture, 
and countenance of a man at ease, how can it appear in a 
countenance distorted by the convulsions of torture? Every violent 
action destroys those small alterations in the features which 
sometimes disclose the sentiments of the heart.

These truths were known to the Roman legislators, amongst whom 
slaves only, who were not considered as citizens, were tortured. 
They are known to the English, a nation in which the progress of 
science,  superiority in commerce, riches, and power, its natural 
consequences, together with the numerous examples of virtue and 
courage, leave no doubt of the excellence of its laws. They have 
been acknowledged in Sweden, where torture has been abolished. 
They are known to one of the wisest monarchs in Europe, who, 
having seated philosophy on the throne, by his beneficent 
legislation has made his subjects free, though dependent on the 
laws; the only freedom that reasonable men can desire in the 
present state of things. In short, torture has not been thought 
necessary in the laws of armies, composed chiefly of the dregs of 
mankind, where its use should seem most necessary. Strange 
phenomenon, that a set of men, hardened by slaughter and familiar 
with blood, should teach humanity to the sons of peace!

A very strange but necessary consequence of the use of torture is, 
that the case of the innocent is worse than that of the guilty. With 
regard to the first, either he confesses the crime which he has not 
committed, and is condemned; or he is acquitted, and has suffered 
a punishment he did not deserve. On the contrary, the person who 
is really guilty has the most favourable side of the question; for, if 
he supports the torture with firmness and resolution, be is 
acquitted, and has gained, having exchanged a greater punishment 
for a less.

The law by which torture is authorized says -- 'Men, be insensible 
to pain. Nature has indeed given you an irresistible self-love, and 
an unalienable right of self- preservation; hut I create in you a 
contrary sentiment, an heroical hatred of yourselves. I command 
you to accuse yourselves, amid to declare the truth, amidst the 
tearing of your flesh and the dislocation of your bones.'

Torture is used to discover whether the criminal be guilty of other 
crimes besides those of which he is accused, which is equivalent to 
the following reasoning -- 'Thou art guilty of one crime, therefore 
it is possible that thou mayest have committed a thousand others; 
but the affair being doubtful, I must try it by my criterion of truth. 
The laws order thee to be tormented because thou art guilty, 
because thou mayest be guilty, and because I choose thou 
shouldest be guilty.'

Torture is used to make the criminal discover his accomplices; but, 
if it has demonstrated that it is not a proper means of discovering 
truth, how can it serve to discover the accomplices, which is one of 
the truths required? Will not the man who accuses himself yet 
more readily accuse others? Besides, is it just to torment one man 
for the crime of another? May not the accomplices be found out by 
the examination of the witnesses, or of the criminal -- from the 
evidence, or from the nature of the crime itself -- in short, by all 
the means that have been used to prove the guilt of the prisoner? 
The accomplices commonly fly when their comrade is taken.

All man kind, being exposed to the attempts of violence or perfidy, 
detest the crimes of which they may possibly be the victims; all 
desire that the principal offender and his accomplices may be 
punished; nevertheless, there is a natural compassion in the human 
heart, which makes all men detest the cruelty of torturing the 
accused, in order to extort confession. The law has not condemned 
them; and yet, though uncertain of their crime, you inflict a 
punishment more horrible than that which they are to suffer when 
their guilt is confirmed. 'Possibly thou mayest be innocent; but I 
will torture thee that I may be satisfied: not that I intend to make 
thee any recompense for the thousand deaths which I have made 
thee suffer, in lieu of that which is preparing for thee.' Who does 
not shudder at the idea? St. Augustin opposed such cruelty; the 
Romans tortured their slaves only; and Quintilian, recollecting that 
they were men, reproved the Romans for such want of humanity.

If there were but one nation in the world which had abolished the 
use of torture -- if in that nation crimes were no more frequent than 
in others -- and if that nation be more enlightened and more 
flourishing since the abolition -- its example surely were sufficient 
for the rest of the world. England alone might instruct all other 
nations in this particular, hut England is not the only nation. 
Torture hath been abolished in other countries, and with success; 
the question, therefore, is decided. Shall not a people who pique 
themselves on their politeness pride themselves also on their 
humanity? shall they obstinately persist in their inhumanity, 
merely because it is an ancient custom? Reserve, at least, such 
cruelty for the punishment of those hardened wretches who shall 
have assassinated the father of a family, or the father of his 
country; but that a young person who commits a fault which leaves 
no traces behind it should suffer equally with a parricide, is not this 
an useless piece of barbarity?



APPENDIX X
Swindling


THOUGH our descriptions of the variety of thieves constantly
prowling, like the beasts of the forest, for plunder, have been
numerous, and, unless we had accompanied them with proof,
would almost exceed the belief of our country readers, yet have we
still to add other species of robbery. Among the finished villains of
London are a gang who extort money from gentlemen, charging
them with pretended crimes. These fellows are generally well
dressed, and accost elegant young men, demanding money; and, on
refusal, threaten to reveal a pretended abominable intercourse.
Others there are who have debauched innocent girls, and, when the
effects of the illicit commerce is evident, further seduce the
unhappy creatures to swear some wealthy married man as the
seducer, and, in case of his resisting the false accusations, to swear
that he is the father, thus at once rendering a numerous family
unhappy.

Other profligate wretches, as indeed we have already shown, swear
robberies against innocent men, in order to obtain the reward for
the apprehension of felons. Other frauds are practised, which we
shall hereafter notice, of dropping counterfeit gold articles and
diamonds, and picking the parcel up in the presence of some
innocent unsuspicious countryman, whom they acknowledge to be
entitled to one half of the pretended prize, and thus cheat him out
of whatever property he may have about him, on depositing the
spurious article with him, to be valued hereafter.

Instances of some of these artful villainies we have already
adduced; but the following has, on perusing the case, drawn from
us these additional observations. In truth, they cannot be too often
repeated, to guard countrymen against the numerous deceptions
practised in the metropolis.

Mr William Hird, of the village of Leyburne, in the North Riding
of the county of York, about forty years ago, came on business to
London. One day the countryman was caught in a heavy shower of
rain, and sought shelter under a gateway on Holborn Hill, where
others were for the same reason assembled. There he was accosted
by a well-dressed man, who observed that the storm was not likely
to abate, and proposed to the innocent countryman to retire to an
adjoining public house, and wait for fair weather over a pot of
porter. The invitation was readily accepted, and they went to the
house, where they found three or four more, who declared that they
came on the same errand.

The porter being drank, a bowl of punch was proposed; and the
countryman, on such an occasion, determined not to be outdone in
acts of courtesy, assented. While the intoxicating liquor passed
quickly round, one of the strangers observed that, as the rain
increased, a game at cards would pass the heavy time unnoticed;
and cards were immediately placed upon the table.

Mr Hird was, in his village club-room, thought to be expert at this
amusement; and, confident of his abilities, he scrupled not to take a
hand. But what are the best players, who play fairly, among
London sharpers? -- Mere dupes.

The game began, when Mr Hird and his partner were for some
time successful. The bets, at first small, were doubled, until the
stakes became high, when the poor countryman not only lost his
gainings, but all his cash soon followed.

This failure being evident, a kind friend in the company advanced
him money on his watch, then upon his silver buckles, and in fact
every valuable article about him was thus pawned. Entirely
stripped, one of the company went out to observe the weather,
another disappeared on another pretence, until the countryman was
left alone. Then came in the landlord, with his demand for the
liquor drank, and payment for the fatal cards.

In vain did poor Mr Hird plead his misfortune; the host insisted on
being paid, alleging that the company were all strangers to him,
and he must look to the last. References for payment were refused,
and the poor countryman was obliged to part with his coat and hat, 
and, the rain still continuing, to return to his inn, wet to the skin.

Swindling has of late years become so common a practice in the
metropolis that writers for diurnal papers frequently amuse
themselves in relating adroit performances of this nature in
burlesque, pun and hyperbole. One of these scribbling wits thus
made merry with a silly tradesman on being fiddled out of his
money:

"SWINDLING SET TO MUSIC."

A country-looking man lately called at a haberdasher's shop with a
fiddle under his arm, and after purchasing and paying for some
trifling articles, which he pretended to want, asked to be allowed to
leave his purchase and his fiddle till He did some other business
through the town. He had scarcely gone out when in comes an
accomplice (as it turned out), who, observing the fiddle, takes it up
and tries it, and is quite charmed with it. 'This is the most charming
fiddle I have ever met with; is it for sale? -- I'd give fifty guineas
for that fiddle.' He was told it was not for sale, but belonged to a
countryman who had just left it there till he should make some
other calls. 'When he comes back for it, try and buy it from him --
make the best bargain with him you can for yourself; but whatever
you buy it at, I promise to give you fifty guineas for it, and I will
call again by and by.' By and by back comes the countryman for
his fiddle. ' Will you part with that fiddle?' says the haberdasher; 'I
have taken a fancy for it.' The man answered he had no intention of
parting with his fiddle, for he knew it to be a very good one, and
did not know if he could get such another. 'I'll give you fifty
shillings for it,' said the haberdasher. 'No, no.' 'Five guineas for it,'
said the haberdasher. 'I'll not take twenty,' said the countryman. In
short, after a great deal of chapmanship, the haberdasher got the
fiddle at forty guineas; and a happy man was he, thinking he had
made ten guineas by the bargain. But he has been allowed to keep
the fiddle, to solace himself for the loss of his money. The fifty-
guinea merchant never returned."

On the 13th of October, 1809, a most infamous act of swindling
was practised on eight poor infirm widows in the Almshouses, near
the New Grove Road, Mile End Road, by a well-dressed man,
about five feet two inches high, stoutish made, hair tied, and light
green coat. He went to one of the poor pensioners' houses and thus
addressed them: 'You are all widows -- a lady has left you eight
pounds'; he then took their names down, and inquired who would
go with him, saying the minister and gentlemen were waiting for
them, that they must bring twenty-three shillings in silver to give
change, or they could not be paid. One of the poor women
borrowed the money at a neighbouring public-house, and a young
woman went with him to Stepney Church. He told her to wait at
the porch while he went and spoke to the clerk, which she saw him
do, and supposed all was right; but he told the clerk he wanted to
put up the banns of marriage, and the clerk desired him to come
when the service was over. He came out, told the girl all was right,
and she must go with him. He then asked the unsuspecting girl for
the twenty-three shillings and decamped with the money. The girl
went back to the clerk, where she was soon informed of her
mistake, to the no small grief of the poor disappointed pensioners.


APPENDIX XI
An Exposée of the whole system of GAMBLING, as practised in the
most notorious LONDON HELLS

CHAPTER ONE

OF all the disgraceful scenes which deform the metropolis, the
most vicious and ruinous is that of the fashionable hells, or rouge
et noir gambling; and it is matter of astonishment and reproach,
that they have yet remained undisturbed by the law, and hitherto
unnoticed by the public press. At this time a large number of these
sinks of iniquity are open for the purposes of fraud and seduction
in noon-day, and not a few profane the Sabbath by their diabolical
and sinful practices.

Although the metropolis has been time out of mind infested with
the imps of play, it has only been within the last ten years that they
have dared thus openly to pursue the practice in the broad face of
day. It may be impossible to entirely suppress the vice of
gambling, but surely some legislative enactment might be found
which would destroy the bands of well-organized gamblers who
now spread their nets for the unwary, and pursue their infamous
courses in the very centre of British society, and in the
neighbourhood of the throne and the two houses of parliament.

In exposing the vice we shall, however, cautiously avoid giving
additional pain to the agonized feelings of those who, from the
force of example and the seductive influence of fashion, may have
been incautiously made the dupes of wily and experienced
sharpers.

Our object is only to attack the incorrigible and the acknowledged
professor; the hunter who starts the game, and pursues his victim
till he has, for his own base purpose, plunged him, and with him,
wife, children, kindred, friend, into the gulf of misery, penury, and
destruction. To unravel the mystic web of secrecy with which these
sharpers hive surrounded themselves, was a work of no mean
exertion or enterprise. That we have succeeded (beyond even our
most sanguine wishes) will be of little gratification to us, if we
should fail in producing what we most desire, the interference of
the legislature in suppressing these schools of infamy. To this end 
we labour, and to effect this purpose we shall give a history of the
different gambling-houses, the proprietors, the frequenters, the
game, hours of play, stakes played for; with such anecdotes as will
tend to illustrate and expose the baneful and pernicious effects of
gambling.

The gambling-house displays a heterogeneous mass of human
character, weakness, folly, and duplicity, that is not to be met with
in any other situation. We shall endeavour to place an impartial
picture before the eyes of our readers, and it will be the fault of
those who are addicted to play, if they do not profit by the
exposure.

The following is a list of the principal gambling-houses:-- The G--
H--, in P-- M--, formerly conducted by a Clergyman of the Church
of England, (lately abolished). In addition to which, there are--

Five Houses in Pall Mall
	One House in Jermyn-street
	Two in St. James's-street
	One in Cleveland-row
	One in Bennett-street
	One in Piccadilly
	Two in King-street
	One in Leicester-square
	Four in Bury-street

To which might be added a long list of minor Hells, in and about
the same neighbourhood.

Some of the Principal Black Legs are known among their own
fraternity by the following nick-names:--

The Leviathan
	The Mathematician
	The Black Dwarf
	The Hebrew Star
	The Calculator
	Boniface
	The Neptune
	The Four German Barons
	Jack Spiggot
	Coaxing Tom
	Captain Whimper
	The Pill Gilder
	Mother Bunch
	Count Bluster
	Ella Rosenberg
	Old Square Toes
	Portugal John

To these might be added a very numerous list of persons of the
very highest rank in the state, not excepting some of orthodox
habits, from the top of nobility down to the very lowest of the low,
the scum and outcast of society, all commingled and identified in
one ruinous vice; all following the same criminal pursuits, and
each one endeavouring, by every means in his power, to ruin his
fellow.

These dens have the appearance of private dwellings, with the
exception, that the hall door of each is left ajar, during the hours of
play, like those of trap-cages, to catch the passing pigeons, and to
obviate the delay which might be occasioned by knocking; a delay
that might expose the customers to a glance of an unsuspecting
creditor, a confiding father, or a starving wife. It is generally
understood that a stranger must be what they term "introduced"
before he can get admission, or permission, to lose his money; and
this is to obviate the danger of being surprised by the officers of
the law: but it is, alas! too easy to break through that rule; and any
gentleman, whom the door-keeper has sufficient reason to think is
not a constable, finds the avenues of these labyrinths too ready to
his foot.

On passing the outer door the visitor is impeded by another in the
centre of the hall, in which is constructed a small spy-hole,
exhibiting the fixed ball of a ruffian's eyes, intently examining his
figure. If the visitor is a fair pigeon or an old crow, he is at once
admitted by this Cyclops, and politely bowed upstairs; at the top of
which another gate unbars its power. To this succeeds the last of
these barriers, a massy iron door, which on opening presents the
visitors of the house with a scene of dazzling astonishment.
Around an oblong table, covered with green cloth, assemble the
votaries of gaming on each side: while in the centre sit the priests
of the ceremony: one to deal the cards and decide events, the other
to assist him in collecting the plunder following these events.
Behind the company are seen two or three or the proprietors, with
eagle-eye, watching the progress of their gains: remorseless,
avaricious, and happy, unmarked with the lines of care which
contract and deform the faces of their victims, -- "they smile, and
smile, and murder while they smile."

Their attention is always directed to the Punters, (or Players) and
they talk and take snuff with them, not forgetting to explain the
fairness of the game, and the great losses they have sustained!
While the stranger's eye is delighted, and his avarice stimulated by
a profusion of money flying about the table, and heaped in the
centre, his senses become harmonized with his hopes through the
influence of strong wines, liquors, &c., with which he is
unceasingly plied by the obliging waiters; and, believing that his
Midas touch must turn anything into gold, he boldly adventures.

In nine cases out of ten he is successful on his first night's play;
and in the glare of his imaginary good fortune, he loses sight of all
that proper value which he had before been accustomed to bestow
upon his money; be becomes profuse in his expenditure, believing
that half an hour at Rouge et Noir will make up for all, and he
blesses the inventor of a system which ensures him all the
happiness of unlimited fortune. A few days, or weeks at the most,
convince him of his chimerical castles; and poverty, contempt, and
destruction, tumble in upon him with all their horrors. It is not
unfrequently the case, that men who one day stood beside the
proprietors of these tables, not only independently, but looked
down upon them, the next day they have been obliged to entreat
their pecuniary assistance, and to receive the mortification of a
refusal.

DESCRIPTION OF A GAMBLER AT ROUGE ET NOIR

It is heart-rending to observe the progress of the unfortunate
votaries to this destructive game, as they gradually sink into the
various stages of misery and want. A young man of fortune is first
seen playing high stakes, with hundreds, and even thousands of
pounds before him; he has alternate success, until losses throw him
off his guard: desperation then seizes him, and he loses all. The
following day he appears with a new capital; and again is
unsuccessful. Thus he goes on, day after day, until his resources
are exhausted; his credit gone, and his character blasted; he can
now only play occasionally, and, when he does play, his stake is a
crown, or less, as the gambling house he frequents, admits.

His appearance, which was at first fashionable and gay, and his
clothes, new and well-made, are now sadly changed. He is haggard
and pale, pining under distress and care; has passed the preceding
night at the Rouge Table, and afterwards lingered the time away at
Hazard, until five or six in the morning, and finished all by a futile
attempt at borrowing a crown, probably from the waiter at the
table; his fine spirit is gone; he shuns the companions of his
brighter days, he is himself avoided, and styled a Gambler, or
Black Leg. Look at him  -- where is the Man of Fashion? This
cannot be him, this young man has a rusty hat and thread-bare coat
on: he wears patched boots, and dirty linen; his pantaloons are in
holes, and he is detected sneaking through lanes and courts to
avoid his creditors, for he owes money to every person who would
trust him.

Such is the career of the Rouge et Noir Gambler.


CHAPTER TWO

THE first in order, and in consequence, of these Temples of
Iniquity, (which has lately been closed,) was known by the name
of the G-- H--. This spacious building was fitted up in the most
extravagant style of modern elegance, a profusion of chandeliers
and candelabras were tastefully arranged to light the victims to the
altar of seduction. The furniture was of the most splendid
description, and in the ante-room were arranged a collection of the
most fragrant shrubs and choice exotics, forming a grove through
which the dupes of these demons were led to destruction.

This house was opened by a joint stock company of the most
experienced gamblers, and was intended by its sumptuous fittings,
and extravagant arrangements, to have been exclusively used for
the purpose of easing young noblemen and men of fortune of their
superfluous cash, and the unnecessary incumbrance of a good
estate, or the more weighty difficulty of a large funded property.

The project originated with, and was carried into execution by, a 
Reverend Divine, who officiated as the high-priest of this Temple
of Vice.

As there are some curious circumstances connected with the origin
of this house, it would not be doing justice to the parties or the
public to pass them by unnoticed, particularly as the history
abounds with some curious characteristic anecdotes of this class of
persons.

A banker had become enamoured of a celebrated courtesan, over
whose confidence the Reverend Professor of the Black Art had a
most unlimited control. This lady lived in a very splendid style,
kept her carriage and her establishment in elegant liveries, gave
splendid parties to a few choice friends, and was in fact the gaze of
fashion, and the great orb of attraction among the licentious and 
the giddy, who buzz around the unfathomable whirlpool of
destructive folly. Many were the attempts of the Banker to obtain
an interview with this adorable, but all his efforts proved abortive,
till he had made certain arrangements with the high-priest of her
presence, her orthodox confessor.

Acceptances upon the Banking house were given for a sum of Five
Thousand Pounds, and to this was added a bonus of Two Thousand
more in ready rhino, such was the infatuation of this deluded man
for a notorious Cyprian, who, but a short time before was a nightly
attendant in the lobbies of the theatres.

Up to this period, the Parson had been a constant visitor at the most
notorious play-houses, occasionally picking up a crown or guinea
as the pigeons were knocked down by the more wealthy and
successful players. Tired of his dependence upon this precarious
revenue, and elated with the success of his late negotiation (which
far exceeded his former exploits with a French chere amie,) the
Reverend determined to form a society of congenial worthies for
the humane and moral purpose of opening a superior Gambling
House. The abilities of the Parson were too generally
acknowledged not to be highly appreciated, and accordingly eight
other depredators embarked with the Parson in the New Gambling
Scheme.

The house was opened with great éclat, but the success was by no
means equal to the anticipated gains of the parties; in short, the
thing was badly managed; the entrance through seven different
doors before you gained the Sanctum Sanctorum was rather
calculated to create suspicion in the minds of the most volatile or
thoughtless; in fact, the object was too notorious, and young men
of fashion, although quite foolish enough generally speaking, were
not to be duped out of their money quite so glaringly.

A separation of partnership was the consequence, but the Parson
being quite as well versed in the common as the canon law, and
being withal in possession of the premises, determined to remain in
statu quo. This was a gambling transaction, and such subjects are
always viewed with a suspicious eye, both by judge and jury; the
Parson was therefore under no great apprehensions of legal
reprisal, and being thus firmly seated in a new and elegant
establishment, determined to stand his ground, set his partners at
defiance, and keep possession of the property.

Some of the associated robbers brought actions for their One
Thousand Five Hundred Pounds each, but the Parson managed to
justify the bail, and the plaintiffs were too wise to proceed.

Ultimately the house was let by the Parson to a company of
Foreigners, at the head of whom was a person calling himself a
Baron. The rent was thirty guineas per day, and thirteen guineas
more were paid for house expenses, for which the Parson supplied
the company with wine, sandwiches, tea, coffee, and refreshments.
The sums, thus paid, will give some idea of the enormous gains of
these houses, and to this is to be added the sums paid to the dealers
and room-porters, door-keepers, &c., some of whom have their
five pounds per day, and all are very liberally rewarded.

The play at this house was from five shillings to nominally one
hundred pounds; but, in fact, for any sum you pleased, by its being
previously mentioned to the banker.

The chances in Rouge et Noir are about two per cent against the
player upon every stake arising from the apres, which, occur twice
out of three deals, or about twice in eighty coups or events. Hazard
was also played here to a very great extent, and it was no unusual
circumstance to see one thousand pounds upon the table at a time.

Some short time after the Parson had opened his Saloon, he found
out that some forgeries had been committed upon his bank, with
respect to the introduction of ivory counters which were then in
use. He laid a wager with one of his partners, that before twenty-
four hours, he would detect the person who brought them to the
house. A gentleman who had been in the daily habit of playing at
his table, happened to be sent for by a friend, with whom he had
made an appointment, and as it was in the middle of a deal he did
not wish to disturb the game by getting change for sixteen counters
be had left, and told the croupier he would take them away, and
return and play them in the evening. During his absence, a set of
silver counters were substituted in lieu of the ivory, and when he
came in the evening, be found to his astonishment, that be was not
permitted to stake them; they were alleged to be forgeries. The
gentleman protested against such usage, and said he had received
them at the table in the morning, and appealed to one of the
croupiers, who confirmed his statements, but said that nothing
could be done until the Parson made his appearance. When he
came he examined the tokens, and declared eight out of sixteen to
be false, charged the gentleman with having had them made, and
said he had a person in the house who was ready to swear he had
given him an order to make fourteen pounds worth. The gentleman
demanded to be confronted with him, and upon questioning the
man whether he had ever employed him, he declared he had never
seen him in his life, nor was he like the person he had given a
description of. Upon which his reverence got in a great passion,
and swore with many oaths they were both a set of swindlers, and
that his opinion was not in the least altered respecting the
transaction, and that he had now won his wager.

The Parson could bully in safety as he knew the gentleman could
not resent any insult he might offer, being bound over by his
friends not to play; and if it were known he was in the habit of so
doing he would lose a considerable annuity. Of this person the
Parson made selection as an instrument to win his wager.


CHAPTER THREE

THE house at the corner of B-- Street, St. James's, is generally
denominated the dandy house. Here the most elegant suppers are
gratuitously given to the infatuated punters, as an inducement to
play; the most intoxicating wines are freely distributed, and every
luxury provided that can lull suspicion, and promote the views of
the experienced sharper. The stakes here are from five shillings to
one hundred pounds, but for any sum the punter pleases, by its
being previously named to the banker. Many of the young officers
of the guards, and some clerical associates, will remember their
reverses in this house while they live.

It was here that one young man was first initiated into this dreadful
vice, and afterwards ruined of all the property bequeathed to him
by his lamented father; yet, such is his infatuation, that he still
continues a constant visitant at all the notorious hells, being by
nature far more attentive to the study of rouge et noir than to the
honourable and lucrative profession which rendered his father one
of the brightest ornaments of society.

As a proof of the destructive effects of such associations, we shall
here relate an anecdote of this young man, which, we are sorry to
say, is by no means a singular occurrence among the dissipated and
thoughtless, who, driven to desperation, seize on any circumstance
to recover some portion of their losses. This young sprig of
fashion, and student of Lincoln's Inn, after losing in one night
upwards of seven hundred pounds, went to a pawn-broker's in
Jermyn-street, disrobed himself of his shirt, pledged it for the
paltry sum of eight shillings, then buttoned up sans linen, and
returned to the table, where he won about one hundred pounds of
his money back again; and, will, it be believed, made his boast of
the degrading circumstance which had enabled him to resume the
same.

Next in destructive consequence to the Hell we last described is
one in K-- Street, St. James. The proprietors of this den of infamy
have assisted in no small degree for some years to people the
King's Bench prison. The public cannot fail to be benefited by a
full view of the internal mechanism by which, this diabolical
engine is kept in daily motion.

There are four croupiers, who alternately deal the cards. One was
formerly a commissariat clerk; and one a brother to the proprietor
(and of slight-of-hand notoriety, having always at command a
thirty-one apres, whenever the stakes are high).

These gentry are in perfect training, and move as regular as clock-
work, receiving a stipend of from three to four pounds per week,
and a percentage upon the winnings, or rather plunder. This is done
with a view to keep them upon the alert, and to extinguish any
spark of pity that might kindle in their bosom: in a few weeks they
become as callous and hard-hearted as their employers.

There are also in the constant pay of the concern, a number of
ruined gamesters, who are employed in the capacity of recruiting
officers, who frequent the fashionable coffee-houses at the West-
end, insinuate themselves into the society of young men of fashion,
introduce them to the houses, and are paid a bonus by the
proprietors, great, in proportion to the sum their victim has been
robbed of.

When the company musters thick, and there is much play, two of
them take their seats at the table opposite to each other, and deal
the cards by turns. Their fame for slight of hand is too well known
to require any comment; suffice it to say, that when they preside,
the colour on which the most money is staked is sure to lose, or if
stakes are nearly equal on both, a thirty-one apres is made, which
gives them the half of both the stakes.

This is playing a sure game, and numberless are the victims whom
these all-devouring monsters have thus destroyed; many are the
instances of men, who after having been ruined by them, have been
brought to the gallows. They have caused more ruin than plague,
pestilence, or famine, could have done; their system of play is
founded on deceit of all sorts, and by such means they rise like
mushrooms, become suddenly rich, owing their wealth to no
qualities but such as are most despicable, and holding in utter
contempt those who strive to gain an independence by slow and
honest means. Fraud and villainy are the deities worshipped by
them, and at the shrine of their insatiate avarice, is immolated the
victim, who, had he not been decoyed to this den of thieves, might
still have continued to be happy.

To illustrate this, let us cite the example of one of the first brokers
upon 'Change, who, a few years ago, rolled in wealth, whom they
have actually stripped of incalculable sums, and now reduced next
door to beggary. Of all the Hells about St. James's, this is the most
infamous (the parson's excepted) and its proprietors ought to be
held up to public execration.

Two gallants, brothers, officers in the army, who, after having
escaped the dangers and perils of the peninsular war, returned
home to enjoy in the bosoms of their families that peace and
comfort which their patrimony, of which they had lately become
possessed, promised them the enjoyment, became the prey of the
recruiting serjeants belonging to this establishment, in three years
were fleeced of a very large sum of money, and very speedily both
were confined in prison.

Let us next take a peep a few doors lower in the same street, kept
by the elder, and Dick -- of E. O. table, and false dice notoriety.
This Hell is less in rank, though not least in villainy, to the
foregoing; the aiders and abettors are Bill, son to the
aforementioned, who bids fair to rival his sire in the arts of false
play; Tommy, ci-devant conductor of stores to the army, a
complete Greek, always ready at hand, to second the motion of
Dick when a Johnny Newcome is to be fleeced; and last, not least,
behold the Squire, who, under the most meek and sanctified
outward appearance, conceals all the tricks and devices of an
experienced black-leg, a perfect Iago.

Of such materials is composed the staff of this establishment,
besides a good corps de reserve, always at hand.

They profess to place on the table a bank of three hundred pounds,
but it scarce ever exceeds one hundred and fifty pounds, and with
this trifling sum, they contrive to win from four hundred to five
hundred pounds daily, and 'tis not rare to see an individual lose
from eight hundred to twelve hundred pounds at a sitting. The
stakes are from two shillings and six-pence to twenty-five pounds;
one shilling and six-pence and two shillings are frequently put
down by the broken punter, and the smallest donations are
thankfully received by the bank.

You may daily behold at the table individuals who constantly win;
they are in the secrets of the cabinet, and play for the bank in order
to delude the young and unsuspecting punter into a belief there is a
possibility of winning, although experience proves that certain ruin
is sure to overtake him who is so infatuated as to persist in
following up this destructive game.

They seldom, at this house, give the broken-down player the
opportunity of resorting to the pawnbroker to recruit his finances;
if the victim has about his person a valuable watch, seals, chain,
diamond broach, or ring, from the moment of his entering this den
of thieves, Tommy has already calculated its probable value, and
steps forward and generously offers to lend about half its worth, on
this security, encouraging the poor fellow again to try his luck, and
he has always at his elbow one of the recruiting squad to recount
some unaccountable story of Mr Such-a-one, who borrowed a few
pounds on the security of his watch, and won all the money on the
table. The poor fellow is credulous, again ventures, and, in a few
moments, loses his last stake. When it is considered that his means
are exhausted, and he neglects to redeem his pledges, in a few
days, he is deemed completely plucked, and is refused admittance,
unless he is base enough to consent to introduce some candidate
who is flush (to use the cant words), in which case he is enrolled
on the recruiting service, and is paid in proportion to the ruin he
entails on those who may be weak enough to be deluded by him.

The bank can at first sight detect a forged note, being adepts in that
science; yet 'tis very strange how many forged notes are received
by the punters, and if they attempt to return them they are
threatened with exposure. These practices, strange as it may
appear, are carried on in the open face of day, and in defiance of
the wise laws which have been enacted to prevent excessive and
destructive gaming.


CHAPTER FOUR

PROCEED we next to a description of one of the Hells in B--
Street, St. James's. The door is decorated with a brass plate,
bearing the name of a pretended merchant. The hours of
destruction in this place are from one to four in the forenoon, and
from seven to eleven or twelve at night.

This hell is an immense gulf, in which many have been totally
swallowed up, many very much shattered and damaged, some
quite disjointed and broken to pieces; some, perhaps, may have
escaped the common wreck, but the number of the last is very
small.

The proprietors and setters-up of the game of Rouge et Noir, at this
place, are, first, a notorious black-leg, who has realized a good
fortune at the trade, and is said to be the proprietor of a large estate
at Sydenham in Kent. Second, one called Vulcan, from his being
lame; if report speaks true, 'tis said he was hurled (not from
heaven), but from a second-floor window, by a son of Mars, some
years since, for some little irregularity in casting the bones. His
present occupation is that of catching Pigeons, with a net of his
own construction, the meshes of which are so artfully woven as to
be imperceptible, and very few, who have the misfortune to be,
caught, escape complete plucking from the fangs of this
Polyphemus. Third, Captain --. He may never have distinguished
himself in that capacity, but it must be allowed that the trade he has
been following up, for some years past, has disgraced him as an
officer and a gentleman. He is a character devoid of moral feeling,
who did not scruple to initiate his son in the mysteries of the
Pandemonium, and made him his locum tenens, while forced to
secrete himself, in consequence of writs being issued against him.
Men, however depraved, generally wish to keep their offspring
free from depravity; but with him 'tis quite the reverse, lucre is his
god, and at its shrine he does not scruple to sacrifice parental duty
and affection, and without compassion or remorse, converts into
deadly poison the food he administers. Fourth, Jemmy, who goes
by many names, and is as complete a master of the art of
legerdemain as any professor at present exhibiting within the
precincts of St. James's; famous for the undeviating and continued
assiduity with which he has pursued his gambling career from year
to year -- whose depth of calculating villainy is only exceeded by
his power of assuming the semblance of modesty, a saint in
appearance, but a demon in reality!!!

These are the proprietors of this Hell -- a quartetto of fit associates
who have formed an odious and abominable conspiracy to effect
the ruin of all who have the misfortune to come within their vortex.

A notice, framed and glazed, to the following purport, is exhibited
most conspicuously opposite each entrance of the rooms:-"The
bank will be on the table precisely at one o'clock in the forenoon
till four o'clock, and in the evening at seven till eleven; the stakes
are from two shillings and sixpence to twenty pounds."

The staff of this establishment is not so numerous, but equally, if
not better, organized than that of their neighbours. There are three
croupiers in daily attendance. One, a ci-devant dealer in cattle,
from Yorkshire, who, in an unlucky moment was induced to play,
lost his all, and became a Pigeon, and, as a dernier resort, was
forced to take service under the banners of the Captain. He,
however, to speak the truth, is a good sort of a fellow, merely a
dealer, and not initiated in the mysteries of the black art, and is
possessed of more feeling than could be supposed to be left to one
of his employ.

Next comes a knight of the needle, who, feeling himself above his
calling, and "malicious fate having given him high notions and a
small estate," threw cabbage to the dogs (it was not profitable
enough), slept all day and diced all night; being raw and
inexperienced found himself deficient of the quelque chose, joined
a band of strolling players -- paid his footing, and was admitted a
member of the association, and from that time permitted to vend
his quaint saying, ply his nostrums, and physic the flats. Such were
his natural abilities, that from an entered apprentice he was raised
to a fellow craft, and with hasty strides soon acquired the rank of a
free and accepted blackleg. Scorning to be a satellite, he was not
tardy in eclipsing his teachers, and blazed forth upon the horizon a
fixed star of the first magnitude. Nothing could escape him, every
passing meteor being obliged to pay tribute; those who, previous to
his appearance, conceived themselves in the ascendency, were
soon proved to be in the decline. He was a good judge, for he
always backed the caster out; he could read the book of fate,
foretell events, and was even gifted with second sight!!! His being
no borrowed light, he felt assured he could work in the open face
of day as well as by night. He sold his knowledge to the proprietors
of this house; and it is here this worthy officiates at the game of
Rouge et Noir, having always ready a quaint saying, or an obscene
jest (for he is disgustingly foul-mouthed), to divert the attention of
his punters from the tricks he is playing them. He assumes the
most careless manner of dealing the cards, and an observer would
draw the conclusion, that he is naturally awkward; in fact, he
appears everything but a professor. How many have been deceived 
by him, how many have reason to curse the day they came in
contact with him!

Seated opposite to him may be seen the golden knight, commonly
known by the name of Porpoise, from the unwieldy bulk of his
stinking carcass, for it "hath an ancient and fish-like smell."

This hero is not so barefaced, yet not a whit less rogue than the
knight of the needle. He is a good dealer, and surprisingly active at
his trade; he can handle the cards with such ease, that the punters
very soon find themselves eased of the weight of their cash. Should
he hear any complain of ill luck, he gives them some consolatory
speech, coupled with the assurance that if they will but "call again
to-morrow," it is more than probable they shall retrieve their loss;
for, says he, (while he is shuffling, or rather packing the cards,) 'tis
very singular to be for ever hearing gentlemen complaining they
always lose; I can assure them (drawing himself up in his chair,
and looking big), we have, I mean the bank has, been losing for the
last eight months:" - "Tis true, so help me Bob," echoes the tailor;
his deluded audience, for the most part, take this for granted, and
keep at the game as long as there is a shot in the locker, but alas!
their eyes are only open to conviction when 'tis too late.

In fact, to those who are not in the secret of the Pandemonium, it
would appear the bank did not win; for the moment any punter has
been fleeced by the confederated black-legs present, in comes one
of their squad, and, after exchanging a few winks and significant
nods with the dealers, plays the highest stakes, and soon clears the
bank of the winnings, makes his exit, and as soon as strangers have
withdrawn, returns, and pays back the money, receiving his 
percentage for the job.

It is impossible to have any suspicion of these gentry, as they are
dressed in the very height of fashion, and come to the door either
in their gig or on horseback, attended by a servant. The Captain
keeps a gig for that very purpose; some of these gentry are styled
captains, colonels, and baronets. Having played their part for a
term, they are relieved by other actors; they are in perfect training;
and a very lucrative employment it is.

Let us now take a cursory view of the company frequenting this
hell. A bullying, thrice-bankrupted horse-dealer, and a pawn-
broker from the Strand, are in daily attendance, the first a rogue in
grain, and a sharp; the second a flat, who, if he has but for a while
longer the run of the house, will be forced to take refuge up his
own spout; they both act as supporters to an elegant, accomplished,
and facetious A-- of F--, who, though a severe sufferer, swears, he
will die game, "and cock-a-oodle-doo crow whilst he can." Many
of his acquaintance have wondered why he put down his curricle;
had they known he played rouge et noir, and French hazard, they
would have been able to account satisfactorily for the
circumstance.

Among the numerous visitors, behold, also a city broker, a German
lieutenant, a hatter from Oxford-street, a collector of poor rates, an
army agent, and the little whipper-snapper measurer of miles, near
Charing Cross, formerly a partner in the firm of this hell. The little
Tom-tit, or Lady-killer, and the brave major and learned doctor of
the same regiment. The latter swears it gives him the jaundice to be
so fleeced, and declares he will leave it off, yet is sure to be the
first at play the next day.

Two Roulette Banks are daily and nightly open, in St. James's of
which Monsieur -- is the principal manager; the other in -- Place,
St James's under the auspices of Monsieur -- and Mynheer --, well
known by the name of the Hebrew Star. This concern is reaping a
golden harvest, they have contrived to fleece Colonel -- of some
very heavy sums.

This game of Roulette, Anglice Roly-poly, seems to have taken
deep root, and the number of its dupes seem to be daily increasing.
Other tables have found their way across the channel, together with
a set of French croupiers. It is wonderful how they continue to get
these roulette tables to this country: they surely are too bulky to be
smuggled as a parcel of French lace. Do the Custom-house officers
allow them to pass on paying duty? The natural supposition would
be, that the use of such articles being strictly prohibited in the
country, they would be considered as contraband, and the
individuals attempting to introduce them liable to be prosecuted.

This Mons. B. is concerned with all the roulette banks in London,
-- to him we owe the introduction of this pestilence, and we
sincerely hope that the retributive arm of justice will reach this
delinquent before he has time to secure his unlawful gains and
depart from this country. Let the police-officers be on the alert.

One of the principal Hells is a house at the corner of -- Row,
Piccadilly, where Hazard and Rouge et Noire are played for the
benefit of a company of six black legs. As two of the proprietors
are so notorious for every description of foul play, it was thought
prudent their names had better be kept a secret. A-- of Sloane
Street, was a groom-porter to a person that kept a Hazard table at
the corner of St. James's Street, some few years back. He then went
to a coffee house in the same Street. C. was a fishmonger's man in
the Strand, but was all ways amongst low Greeks, at the inferior
Hells, till he became what they call a good workman, at card and
dice. Another proprietor was originally a lighterman, tugging at the
oar on the Thames, and being considered a good ruffian, he was
employed by P-- of lottery fame, (who kept a gaming-house in Pall
Mall,) also as croupier, or groom-porter, as he might be wanted. A
circumstance one night, when he was dealing the cards at faro,
fixed his fortune. Sir C-- was playing, and having won a large sum
of money at Hazard, and being elated with his success, said to a
gentleman that was with him, "If I win this stake, I will give it to
the croupier," which was C--. The baronet won, and as he did not
play any more that night, he gave it to C--. The sum was fifteen or
seventeen hundred pounds. C--has been known to say, that he has
never wanted money since. He after this attended Newmarket --
got concerned with the training grooms and jockeys, and now is a
great man in his own estimation; he is a little hurt at his old
acquaintance calling him by the name of Happy Jerry.

There is a new firm of Greeks established at Cheltenham, who
think themselves very snug. The proprietors of this firm are, a
person of the name of K--, master of the rooms, a son of K--, who
kept a Hazard table, in Jermyn-street, and Pall Mall: also a Mr B--,
who was a Billiard sharp in London for years. This B--, was
considered the best packer of cards at Rouge et Noir of any of
them, and cogger of a dice on dice, so you may judge how the
people are fleeced here. The other partner's name is --, a broken
down lawyer; this gentleman is considered clever at all games; he
can hand, reef, and steer with anyone of them; he has a wife that is
reported as clever as himself, and can cog a dice, or pack the cards
at Whist, or any other game, as well or better than her spouse. This
gentleman has a cottage, where he gives elegant supper parties, or
dinner, as it may suit. They are carrying on a roaring trade. The last
mentioned hero keeps his hunter and dogs, and picks up a number
of flats in the winter, with the assistance of a certain Colonel --, a
sprig of fashion in the neighbourhood.


CHAPTER FIVE

ROUGE ET NOIR, or, as the French call it, Trente et Quarante,
was introduced into this country some twenty-five or thirty years
ago, and took the place of FARO, which has not been publicly
played for many years; indeed, the odds at that game, and the
fraudulent tricks practised by the bankers, soon rendered the game
obsolete. Rouge et Noir is daily and nightly played at all the Hells,
about thirty in number, in St. James's.

The company take their seats at an oblong table, about six yards
long, and two and a half broad; on each side, at the centre, sits a
croupier (i. e. dealer) with bank notes and gold before him, and in
turn one of these worthies deal the cards, that is three deals each in
succession. At about eighteen inches from each extremity of the
table, which is covered with green cloth after the fashion of a
Billiard table, there are two patches, one red and the other black,
about three feet and a half long by two feet and a half broad; above
these there are two spaces marked by a yellow line. The punters,
for so the persons who play are called, place upon the patches,
either on the red or black patches as they may fancy, the sum of
money they wish to stake. The cards are then shuffled, which
consist of six packs, and tell as follow. Court cards are valued at
ten pips, and aces for one; other cards as they are marked. The
dealer, taking up a handful of cards goes on dealing the first row,
which is always for the black, and st