LOT 
cipal prize was ftill farther augmented ; the lottery drawn 
in October 1807, containing a prize of 4.0,0001. and that 
drawn in June 1808 fix prizes of 20,000!. each. But, not- 
withftanding the temptations- which thefe fchemes held 
out to the inconfiderate, the contraiftors found, either from 
the greater frequency of lotteries, or the increafed num¬ 
ber of tickets, that it became impolfible to get the tickets 
off their hands, without reforting to a variety of expe¬ 
dients for attrafting the public attention, which were car¬ 
ried to fuch a length as to become a public nuifance. 
This and many ferious evils which were known to exift 
relating to lotteries, particularly that of illegal infurances, 
gave rife, in 1808, to a committee of the hcufe of com¬ 
mons, which was appointed in order to enquire “ how far 
the evils attending lotteries had been remedied by the 
laws paffed refpefting the fame.” In the report of this 
committee, various inftances were adduced of the moft fe¬ 
rious evils, attelfed by the moft refpeftable witneffes, fome 
of which are fo ftriking, that we cannot refill the mention 
of them in the prefent article. One cafe, which was at- 
tefted by the Rev. Mr. Gurney, is particularly interefting, 
as it lhows to what an amazing extent this kind of gam¬ 
bling will carry perfons, who, had it not been for the 
temptations held out by lotteries, might have lived with 
comfort and refpedlability, but who, from thefe kinds of 
('peculations, have been reduced to the moft abjeft ftate of 
poverty and diftrefs. “I knew,” fays Mr. Gurney, “a 
widow in a good line of bulinefs, as a filk dyer, which, 
I fuppofe, brought her in about 400I. a-year. She kept a 
very good houle, and I was in habits of intimacy with 
the family. The foreman (he had was in the habit of in- 
furing in the lottery ; he was led aftray by an acquaint¬ 
ance, and he and his miftrefs infured to the amount of 
from 300I. to 4.00I. in a night, although the foreman had 
only 30I. a-year wages. It appeared, on his deceafe, he 
had infured immenfe fums of money within the laft year 
of his life. I found that he had expended upwards of 100 
guineas in the lottery, purchafing one ticket at 161. and 
infuring away the reft. It came up a blank at laft; and I 
verily believe the difappointment was the caufe of his 
death. He died infolvent, and I affed as his executor, 
and paid three or four Ihillings in the pound to his cre¬ 
ditors. He had received a great many bills for his mif¬ 
trefs, which he had never accounted for, and was the ruin 
of her alio; (he was not able to pay three Ihillings in the 
pound. She was obliged to go into an alms-houfe, and 
died there in four or live months. They would fend all 
the plate Ihe poffeffed to raife money to carry on an in- 
furance, which had begun perhaps at a low rate. The 
gentleman who drew the foreman into this praftice was 
himfelf alfo ruined by it. His wife had an annuity of 
400I. per annum fettled upon her, he fold her life-intereft, 
and (he was obliged to live afterwards upon charity, while 
her liufband, who had formerly kept his carriage, and 
lived in a good houfe in Queen-lquare, fpent the laft hours 
of his raiferable exiftence within the rules of the Fleet 
prifon.” Various other inftances of a fimilar kind were 
mentioned in the appendix to the report of the committee, 
where the parties, formerly in relpeftable circumftances, 
were reduced to mifery and diftrefs. But what ferves to 
mark the evils of lotteries the ftronger is, that it is not 
only the unfuccefsful adventurer that is ruined by the 
failure of his fpeculation, but there are many cafes 
where a fuccefsful fpeculator has had equal reafon to de¬ 
plore his firft connexion with this lpecies of gambling. 
Robert Baker, efq. depofed, that “ he remembered one 
very ftrong inftance of diftrefs arifing out of the tranfac- 
tions in the lottery four or five years ago. It was the cafe 
of a journeyman who belonged to a club, which club pur- 
chafed a ticket that came up the great prize. The (hare 
of this man was 100I. or thereabouts ; he had been an in- 
duftrious working man before, and he was perfuaded by 
his friends to invelt the money in the (locks, in the joint 
name of himfelf and wife, in order to prevent his making 
away with it. He did fo, but foon got into habits of 
r E R Y, 679 
idlenefs after he was poffeffed of the money; and he wanted 
his wife to join in the transfer of it. This occafioned 
quarrels, which proceeded to affaults ; he changed his ha¬ 
bits of induftry to thofe of drunkennefs and idlenefs, he 
deftroyed all his domeftic comforts, and was the ruin of 
his family.” Many other cafes of a fimilar delcription are 
given in the appendix to this report; in fome of them 
mothers have neglected their children, and left them def- 
titute of the common neceffaries of life, while the money 
by which thofe neceflaries (hould have been purchafed has- 
been gambled away in the infurance of certain numbers 
in the lottery. In other cafes the wife has robbed an in- 
duftrious and careful hufband and father of the l'mall and 
hard-earned favings of many months, and even of many 
years ; and who, inftead of finding his little treafure in 
the drawer in which it was depofited, and which he was 
about to increafe by another fmall addition, found that 
the whole had been gambled away in lottery-fpeculations, 
and every article of his clothes, which were not likely to 
he immediately wanted, had been pawned in order to re¬ 
cover the former lofs. In other cafes, children have 
robbed their parents; fervants their makers; filicides 
have been committed ; and almoft every crime that can 
be imagined, has been occafioned, either direftly or indi¬ 
rectly, through the baneful influence of lotteries. 
The committee before which the above mentioned faffs- 
were difclofed, were fully aware of all the evils we have 
recounted, and in the courfe of their report, declared,, 
that “ the foundation of the lottery-fyftem is fo radically 
vicious, that your committee feel convinced, that under 
no fyftem of regulations which can be devifed will it be 
poftible for parliament to adopt it as an efficacious fource 
of revenue, and at the fame time diveft it of all the evils 
of which it has hitherto proved fo baneful a fource. But,, 
in cafe it fhould be thought expedient to continue ftate- 
lotteries, the number in each year fhould be limited to- 
two lotteries, of not more than 30,000 tickets each ; that 
the number of days allowed for drawing, inftead of ten, 
fhould be brought down to eight for each lottery, the 
number fixed in 1802 ; that the number of tickets to be 
drawn each day (hould be uncertain, and left to the di- 
refftion of the commiffioners of the (lamp-duties, and 
kept fecret till the clofe of the drawing each day ; care 
being taken, as the lottery proceeds, not to leave too great 
a number undrawn on the-latter days of drawing; but 
that one moiety, or upwards, be drawn on the four firft 
days thereof; that every lottery-office keeper (hould, in¬ 
addition to his own licenfe, take out a limited number of 
licenfes for his agents ; that the limitation of hours dur¬ 
ing which lottery-offices may be open for the tranfaftion 
of bufinefs, viz. from eight o’clock in the morning till, 
eight o’clock in the evening, enafted by 22 Geo. III. 
c. 47, and renewed in the lottery-acls in 1802 and the 
three following years, but omitted in thofe of 1806 and 
1807, ought in future to be re-enai 5 ted, without the ex¬ 
ception therein made, to Saturday evenings.” Thefe fug- 
geftions have been attended to in the lotteries of the laft 
two or three years, which have been feveral of them drawn, 
in one day, and confequently a confiderable check has 
been given to illegal infurances. Still, however, many 
evils remain, which are fo blended with the nature of lot¬ 
teries, that it is impoflible to feparate them ; but while- 
in a moral view, lotteries are to be reprobated, in the de¬ 
partment of finance they are found fo convenient to a mi- 
nifter, that we cannot flatter ourfelves with the hope of 
their annihilation; and the application of palliatives to 
the difeal'e is all that the nation mult expeift. In (fating 
the lottery-fcheme, the minifter generally aflures the houle 
that he has taken great pains to prevent its mifchievous 
operation ; but, when the principle itfelf is radically vi¬ 
cious, it is impoffible to obviate all the evil confequences. 
Confldered as a tax, or mode of railing, money for the 
ftate, we may fay on the one hand that no one is taxed 
without his own confent, and on the other that trade is- 
hurt by many perfons employing their money that way 
3 rathe?.- 
