Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-01-27

an aspect peculiarly tempting to the table,
Silver, in dollars and Portuguese crowns, was
the common run ofcurrency; the army was paid
entirely IN that metal; and it was no unusual
thing to see an officer come down to gaming
house absolutely bending under the weight of a
couple Of hundred pounds which he had to risk |;
OF sending for servant, hackney coaches were
scarce,) in case Of a run of luck, to carry away
his winnings.
Hazard and faro were the faYourite games.
Of billiards people were shy,--people commonly
danger in going home, after being very success
full at nights, but the games Of chance were In
general very fairly played. The bank, of
course, had acertain, and considerable advan-
tage; but as all the houses were public and open,
there was little, if any, opportunity for fraud.
And it ,sasn by the assumed advantage Of the
table, or by any process SO tedious, that my
stripping was effected.-In luck, was unfor-
tunate. lost, at my first sitting, more money
than could afford to part with and in hope of
recovering it, was compelled 20 perseyere.
have heard, among many dogmas as to the Sc
ductiveness Of play-las passion, by theway, no
more invincible, though perhaps more rapidly
destructive, than most of the other passions to
which the human mind is subject, that los
ing gauIestcr may stop, but that winning one
ply peculiarly to your gaInester de cGur /; and
possibly, Though de tete would be the more
A." germane" illustration, possibly, az Gall or
Spurzheim would say, the organ" of winning
and losing was not in me strongly developed.
As far as my own feeling goes, it certainly ne
gatives the principle. Had l at any time re-
gained my own, think l should have stopped.
II lost every shilling possessed horses, jew
els, and even pistols, in the attempt.
l have stated, think, that l was an only
child; but, up to this point, have said very
little about my parents. Thank Heaven, (for
their sakes) they no longer exist. My father
died inmy arms about seven years since, exhor-
ting me, with his last breath, against the habits
he had lived in all his life. l can understand
this. My father died what is called natural
DEATH" Sickness had enervated his mind ter
rors, the mere weakness of nerve, oppressed
him. The ague Of a month effected that change
to which the argument Of years had been une-
qual after fifty years of inidelity, he fancid he
died a believer. Were to live ten years long
er, should probably die as he did.
Butt name my relatives in this place, merely
for the sake of observing, that, at the time to
which refer, was very much estranged from
them. My father held himself pretty well re-
ieved from anxiety as to the fate of man over
whose conduct he had no control; and it was a
draft only for fifty pounds which, received from
him in Lisbon after the loss of my commission,
accompanied by letter which determined me
never to apply to him again.
So, with twenty guineas only in my pockets,
and with experience enough to know how little
twenty guineas would do for me, again landed
in England in the year 1912; but have not
time, nor would the world have patience, for the
adventures which, in three months, conducted
mo- <, ot
collect, which no bookseller would look at;-a
play, which is still lying at one of the winter
theatres. Then l sent proposals to the Com
manderin. chief for altering the taste of our ca
valry accoutraments and harness; next, drew a
plan land seriously too) for the invasion of Chi
ma; and after these, and variety of other
strange efforts, each suggested by my poverty
and all tending to increase it, the clocks were
striking twelve on dreary November night, as
walked along Picadilly without a penny in the
world.
1t is at twelve o'clock this night that my
earthly career must terminate and, looking
back to the various changes with which my life
has been chequered, find crisis after crisis
connecting itself with the same hour. On the
evening to which allude, Wandered for hour,
through the streets but it was not until mid
night that thought very intenuy on my situa.
ton. There is something, perhaps, of appalling
in the aspect Of London at that hour in the
gradual desertion of the streets by reputable
passengers (; and in the rising, as it were, from
theirdepths Of earth, of forms repulsive, horrible
and obscene. This change of object and asso
citation is sometimes peculiarly striking in the
Parks. AS the evening draws in, the walking
parties, and well-dressed persons disappear one
by one and the benches become peopled will
an array of fearful creatures, who seem to glide
from behind the trees,-fo be embodied, as i
were, out of the air. havemyself turned rouDt
suddenly, and seen a squalid shape beside me
which had not been there but the moment be
fore. And knew not how it came, nor from
what quarter it approached but it came OF
through the dark like some pale meteor, or I'm
Wholesome exhalation, which was not visible til
the good light was gone. The closing too In
the town) of the shops one after the other,--th.
honester and safer houses first, and so on unit
the haunts even of guilt and infamy shut u,
their doors, as seeing no farther prospect thro
the gloom. And the few animated objects which
break the general stiffness, more revolving ant
fearful even than that stiffness itself STARING
wretches, huddled together in holes and corners
seeking concealment from the eye of the police
thief-takers making their stealthy rounds, ant
cycling every casual wanderer with suspicion
and half-threatening glances. Then the asso
CITATIONS which present themselves to the mine
in such a situation. Thoughts of burglars, muir
derers, wretches who violate the sanctity of the
grave, and lurking criminals of still darker dye
the horrorbeiDgless of injury from such crea
lures than of possible approximation TO them -
the kind Of dread which man feels, he car
scarcely tell why, Of being touched by rat, ;
spider, or atoad.
But wandered on till 81. James bell tollet
twelve; and the sound awakened some curious
recollection in my memory. A mistress ofmint