Chronicles and characters of the stock exchange

by of the Bank of England John Francis

The application, however, of lotteries to the service of a state originated at Genoa, the government of which established the principle for its own benefit. The Church was not long in following the example at Rome, where the inhabitants deprived themselves of necessaries to share the chances which their excited imaginations magnified a hundredfold.

The first on record in England was drawn in 1569. The harbors and havens of the whole line of coast were out of repair, and the only mode of procuring money was by lottery. The prizes were partly in money and partly in silver plate, and the profits to be applied to the above purpose. But the drawing was a very important task; and, as 400,000 lots were to be drawn, night and day for nearly four months were the people kept in a state of excitement. The time occupied must have been somewhat tedious; and, as this was the first lottery, and there were but three offices in London, it is to be supposed that the drawing of that period bore the same proportion to the drawing at a later time, that the coaches then bore to the railroads now. In 1612, another lottery was allowed for the benefit of the Virginia colonies, in which a tailor gained the largest prize of 4,000 crowns. But thus early was it found that lotteries and demoralization went hand in hand. Sanctioned by the state as a source of gain, they were found equally profitable to private individuals; and the town teemed with schemes which brought wretchedness and ruin in their train. In March, 1620, however, they were suspended by an Order in Council; but it was only a suspension, and the evil was once more revived by Charles I., who, to assist a project of conveying water to London, granted a lottery towards its expenses. That which the first Charles allowed for so great a purpose, the second of the name allowed as a boon to those whom he could reward in no other way. It was in vain for censors to preach, divines to sermonize, or the House of Commons to legislate. While there was the chance of a great gain for a small risk, men ran in crowds to subscribe. Those who could not pay a large sum found plenty of opportunities to gamble for a small amount, and penny lotteries became common.[4] In 1694 they were again employed by the state, William III. having appealed to the propensities of the people, and raised one million by the sale of lottery-tickets, the prizes of which were funded at four per cent. for sixteen years. The voice of the moralist continued to be raised; and the public papers show, that, directly the state sanctioned the nuisance, the evil increased tenfold, and that schemes were introduced which were a loss to all save the promoters. “What a run of lotteries we have had!” says one. “With what haste they all put in their money! What golden promises they made!”

The anecdotes connected with these abominations, the grim, grotesque despair of the losers, and the eager delight of the gainers, was for the time the great entertainment of the town. Men ran with eager haste after the lotteries of merchandise; and “the people were tickled,” says a pamphleteer, “with the proposals of prodigious profits, when the proposers intended it only for themselves.” The writer concludes somewhat vehemently:—“Indeed, the people have been so damnably cheated, they have no need of dissuading, and their own sufferings are sufficient to convince them it is their interest to forbear.”

The system of lotteries sanctioned and employed by the legislature was a terrible temptation to human nature. The chance, however remote, of gaining a large sum by a small risk, with the feeling of anxious and not unpleasing excitement, rendered lotteries a favorite phase of English gambling; for the voice of the people had not spoken so peremptorily the great truth, that the state must not purchase a nation’s wealth at the price of a nation’s morals. That which a government employs as an instrument of wealth, is sure to be followed by the people to a lower extent, but in a more mischievous manner. In 1772, lottery magazine proprietors, lottery tailors, lottery stay-makers, lottery glovers, lottery hat-makers, lottery tea merchants, lottery snuff-and-tobacco merchants, lottery barbers,—where a man, for being shaved and paying threepence, stood a chance of receiving £10,—lottery shoe-blacks, lottery eating-houses,—where, for sixpence, a plate of meat and the chance of sixty guineas was given,—lottery oyster-stalls,—where threepence gave a supply of oysters and a remote chance of five guineas,—were plentiful; and, to complete a catalogue which speaks volumes, at a sausage-stall in a narrow alley was the important intimation written up, that for one farthing’s worth of sausages, the fortunate purchaser might realize a capital of five shillings. Quack doctors—a class which formed so peculiar a feature in village life of old—sold medicine at a high price, giving those who purchased it tickets in a lottery purporting to contain silver and other valuable prizes.

The eagerness of the populace grew with the opportunity. The newspapers teemed with proposals; and the rage for gambling reigned uncontrolled. Every ravenous adventurer who could collect a few articles advertised a lottery. Shopkeepers, compelled by the decrease of business, took the hint, and disposed of their goods in lottery. Ordinary business among the lower tradesmen was greatly suspended. Purchasers refused to give the full price for that which might be obtained for nothing. Large profits were procured upon worthless articles; and in 1709, so great was the eagerness to subscribe to a state lottery, that Mercers’ Hall was literally crowded with customers, and the clerks were insufficient to record the influx of names. It was, however, from those which were termed “little goes,”—which drew the last penny from the pockets of the poor man,—which saw the father gambling and the daughter starving, the mother purchasing tickets and the child crying for bread,—that most evil arose. The magistracy, not always the first to interfere, grew alarmed, and announced their determination to put in practice the penalties which, if earlier enforced, would have been beneficial, but, unhappily, were incompetent to put down that which they might easily have prevented. It was found, also, impossible to restrain in private adventurers the wrong that the state sanctioned in public.

It was known that lotteries were injurious to morals and to manners; it was known that crime followed in their wake; it was known that misery and misfortune were their attendants; but the knowledge was vain, and remonstrance useless, under the plea of the necessities of the state.

Lotteries continued to be employed by ministers as an engine to draw money from the pockets of the people, at a price alike disgraceful to the government and demoralizing to all. The extent to which the evil had reached may be inferred from the fact, that money was lent on these as on any other marketable security; that, in 1751, upwards of 30,000 tickets were pawned to the metropolitan bankers; and this, when, to have an even chance for any prize, a purchaser must have held seven tickets; and it was ninety-nine to one that, even if a prize were drawn, it did not exceed £50.

Suicide through lotteries became common. The streets swarmed with unhappy wretches, who, while they suffered for the past, were making imaginary combinations for the future. All arts were resorted to. Lucky numbers were foretold by cunning women, who, when their art failed, shrouded themselves in their mysticism; and if fortune favored them, paraded their prophecies to the public.

The most gross and revolting superstition was practised to discover lucky numbers. Rites which surpassed the darkest imagination of a Maturin, and ceremonies which appear like relics of the elder world, were resorted to for the same purpose.

It was in vain that the smaller lotteries were put down; they only gave way to an evil which preyed upon the very vitals of English society. Insurance, an art upon which hundreds grew rich, while hundreds of thousands grew poor, was commenced with terrible success. Those who were unable to buy tickets, paid a certain sum to receive a certain amount if a particular number came up a prize. A plan like this was available for all, as the amount could be varied to the means of the insurer.