The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-10-28

=" ptoIllpltOry statute FORBADE amy per
sons, save those of noble rank, to play
at cards except during Christmas, ana
lof generations this custom was strict
~ adhered to, so that many who OBJ
Jected to touch q card at any other
Tune relaxed their prejudices and
Played few games at this festive sea-
SON. AS late as the year 1888, the Eu-
ropean Magazine for December saSs:
1hls being the season when and When
only card-playing is permitted In sober
lamllles FOR the recreation OF men, Wo-
men and children" etc, ut may not be
out OF place to give a few observations
on games which at no distant time
were the most popular" Among these
games brag is spoken of as peculiarly
adapted to the fair and softer sex, and
therefore so much in vogue amongst
the ladies of distinction that hereby
they acquire a decent assurance and
competency of countenance so abso-
lutely necessary in life; and remedy
that shamefacedness, which is defect
or nature, by the assistance Of her
handmade art"
The passion for gaming which pre-
vailed in the days of Queen Anne
went on steadily increasing during the
reigns of the three Georges. The Cen
tleman's Magazine for 1853 tells us that
His Majesty played at St. James Pal
ace on Twelfth Night for the benefit Of
the groom-porter. Fortune favored the
royal family; the Duke of Cumberland
won three thousand pounds" The
spirit of gambling was by this time no
longer confined to the court; it had
broken loose over the whole land; the
taste was universal and alike INDUCED
IN by both men and women.
Almack's club-not to be confounded
with Almack's Assembly rooms-was in
Fall Mall. Horace Walpole gives de-
scription Of the play and the company
They play only for fifty pound roul-
eaux, and generally ten thousand
pounds on the table" Those to whom
play meant business appear to have set
to work in a very serious manner.
'They began he says, "by pulling off
their embroidered clothes and put on
frieze great-coats, or they turned their
coats inside outwards for luck. They
put on pieces of leather-such as are
worn by footmen when they clean
knives-to save their lace ruffies; and,
to guard their eyes from light and to
prevent tumbling their hair, they wore
high-crowned straw hats with broad
brms adorned with flowers and rib
bons, besides masks to conceal their
emotions Charles James Fox and his
elder brother Stephen were conspicuous
members Of this Maccaroni assembly.
Their father, Lord Holland, had paid
| over twenty thousand pounds for them.
Some of FoX's best friends were Grip
pied in means during their whole lives
on account of the annuities granted by
them as securities for him to the mon
ey-lenders. Walpole wondered what
Fox would do when he had played
away the estates of all his friends.
Mrs. Harris writing in 1772, says:
Charles Fox sat down to cards last
Tuesday after dinner, played all night
and next morning, and in that time lost
G12,000; by five that afternoon he lost
f12,000 and 900 more" The mania
for gambling was conspicuous in the
Fox family. Lord Stavordale, eldest
son of Stephen Fox, Lord leicester,
when not twenty-one lost 911,000 at
Almack's, but recovered it the same
evening by one great hand at hazard.
He swore a great oath. Now if /
had been playing deep I might have
| won millions!' Pail Mall Magazine.