382 



RACINO, WAGERS A^'D GAMING. 



Reign of 

 "William the 

 Fourth. 



Reign of 

 Queen Vic- 

 toria. 



to imprisonment with liard laLoiir for any term not ex- 

 ceeding three calendar months (/■) . 



In tlie Eeign of William the Fom'th an Act was passed, 

 A.D. 1835, which is now in force. It is 5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 41, 

 heing " An Act to amend the Law relating to Secmities 

 given for Considerations arising ont of Graming, usurious, 

 and certain other illegal Transactions." It repealed so 

 much of 16 Car. 2, c. 7, and 9 Anne, c. 14, as made void 

 any Note, Bill or Mortgage given for any illegal consi- 

 deration, or made such securities enure for the benefit of 

 parties in remainder, and enacted that such secm-ities should 

 not be deemed void, but to have been given for an illegal 

 consideration (s). So that money, paid to the holder of any 

 such security, shall be deemed and taken to have been paid 

 on account of the person to whom the same was originally 

 given on such illegal consideration, and to be deemed a 

 debt due from the last -named person to the person who has 

 paid the money, and be recoverable accordingly in an action 

 at law {t). In this Eeign also an Act was passed to pre- 

 vent the advertising of any foreign or illegal Lottery under 

 a penalty of 50/. {u). 



When Queen Victoria ascended the throne, the law of 

 Racing, Wagers and G-aming was in a most unsatisfactory 

 condition; but the Judges began to look more favourably 

 upon Sporting transactions. Formerly, the tendency of 

 the Com'ts was towards an extension of the prohibitory 

 enactments, and a corresponding strict construction of any 

 relaxations of them. But now the current of j udicial opinion 

 took another direction, and a different view of the subject 

 prevailed. Racing and matters connected with it Avere no 

 longer regarded in Westminster Hall \\i\h. an unfavourable 

 eye, and it is, perhaps, hardly going too far to assert, that 

 some transactions were supported which former Judges 

 would barely have allowed to be argued {x) . Steeple- 

 chases were held to be legal (//), as also Trotting matches 

 along a road (s) . We have at length, however, had the 

 law on these subjects simplified and put upon a rational 

 footing ; and for this change we are indebted to the common 

 informers who brought qui tani actions against certain in- 

 fluential individuals. 



(r) 5 Geo. 4, c. 83, s. 4, Appen- 

 dix. 



(.y) 5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 41, ss. 1, 3, 

 Ajipendix. 



{t) Ibid. 8. 2, and see Gaming, 

 post, Chap. 4. 



(«) 6 & 7 WiU. 4, c. 66. 



{x) 31 Law Mag. 72. 



( y) Ecans v. Pratt, 4 Scott, N. 

 R. 378 ; S. C, 1 DowL, N. S. oOo. 



(:;) Challand v. Bra>j^ 1 Dowl., 

 N. S. 783. 



