The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-10

had obtained a tremendous hold upon all
! classes of society. one of the most strik-
| ing features at this period was the female
gambler of high rank. Noble women of
the highest rank used to keep public gam
ing rooms where the play was high, fast
and furious. In 1893 an act was passed
by which the keepers and frequenlers of
| such places were made liable 10 heavy
fines. In 1745 we find the chairman of the
| quarter session for Westminster and Mid
dlesex appealing in person TO the House
of Lords They had tried TO do their duty,
but told how claims of privilege of peer
age We're made, and insisted on, by the
Ladies Mordington and Cassel.s, in order
to intimidate the peace officers from doing
their duty in suppressing the public gam
ing houses kept by the said ladies'"
Here is the strange instrument" which
was read to the House containing Lady
Mordington's Plea, and it throws a pecu-
liar light on the customs of ladies of the
early part of the eighteenth century:
81 Dame Mary, Baroness of Mordington,
! do hold a house in the Great Piazza Co
| ent Garden, for and as an assembly, where
| all persons of credit are at liberty to fire.
quent and play al such diversions as are
used at other assemblys And l have hired
| Joseph Dewberry, William Horsely, Ham
| Chopper and George Sanders as my serv-
/
have given them orders to direct the man
agement of the other inferior servants
| (namely), John Bright, Richard Davis,
| John Hill, John Vandenvoren, as box
| keepers; Gilbert Richardson, housekeeper;
| John Chaplain, regulator; William Stanley
and Henry Higgins, servants that wait on
| the company at the said assembly; Will
liam Penny and Joseph Penny, as porters
| thereof. And all the aforementioned per-
| 1 m dnFpRGfiQk
and demand all those privileges that be-
! long to me, as peeress of Great Britain,
| appertainng to my said assembly.
| dated Jan, 1745. NJ. Mordngton."
The House of Lords. to their credit, re-
fused to grant Privilege of Peerage."
zone of the most curious anecdotes of
| gambling, about this date, is the follow
ing: '1735, Oct. A child of James and
Elizabeth Leesh of Chester lie street, was
! played for at cards, at the sign of the Sal
| mon, one game four shillings, against
the child, by Henry and John Trotter,
Robert Thomson and Thomas Ellison,
which was won by the latter, and deliv-
cred to them accordingly
To give some idea of the style of play
In the eighteenth century, the following
| passages are quoted from letters of Hor-
ace Walpole:
"2 Feb. 1910. The gaming at Almack' s
| is worthy of the decline of our Empire.
The young men of the age lose five, ten,
fifteen thousand pounds in an evening
there. Lord Stavordale, not one and twen-
| ty, lost eleven thousand there last Tues
day. but recovered it by one great hand
at hazard he swore a great OATH Now,
If had been playing deep, / might nave
won Millions His cousin, Charles Fox,
| shines equally there and in the House of
| Commons"
IS Feb, 1850. Within this week there
| has been a cast at hazard at the Cocoa
! Tree, the difference of which amounted to
hundred and four score thousand pounds.
| Mr. OBirne, an Irish gamester, had won
one hundred thousand pounds of a young
Mr. Harvey of Chigwell, just started
! from a midshipman into an estate by his
| elder brothers. death. OBirne said, You
| never can pay me- L can't said the
youth; my estate will sell for the debt.
No said o., / will win ten thousand
you shall throw for She odd ninety They
did, and Harvey won.'
The famous Charles James Fox has al
ready been mentioned. 1t would seem a
| difficult matter to decide whether be was
| greater as a statesman or as a gambler.
! Steinmetz says:
'Foxs best friends are said to have
been half ruined in annuities given by
them as securities for him 10 the Jews.
Five hundred thousand pounds sterling
q year of such annuities of Fox and his
Society were advertised to be sold at one
! time Walpole wondered what Fox would
do when he had sold the estates of his
friends Walpole further notes that in the
debate on the Thirty-ninth Articles, Feb.
! 6. 1772 Fox did not shine, nor could it
| be wondered at. He had sat up playing
at hazard. at Almack's, from Tuesday
I evening, the 4th, till in the afternoon of
Wednesday, the 9Th. An hour before he
had recovered $4,000 that he had lost; and
/ by dinner, which was at O'Clock, he
had ended, losing Eli, 600! On the Thurs
/ day he spoke in the above debate; went
TO dinner at II 30 at night; from thence
to Whites where he drank till the
next morning; thence 10 Almack's, where
he won $1,000, and between and 4 in the
/ afternoon, he set out for Newmarket. His
brother Stephen lost $1,000 two nights aft
err, and Charles 10000 more on the 18th. so
that in three nights the two brothers
the eldest not % years Of age-lost f32, 000!'
Here is another story Of Fox:
1.-The Right Hon. Charles James Fox
had an old gambling debt TO pay to Sir
/ John Lade. Finding himself in cash aft
er a lucky run at faro, he sent compli-
mentary card to the knight, desiring to
discharge the claim. Sir John no sooner
saw the money than he called for pen
and Ink and began 20 figure. What now?'
I cried Fox only calculating the interest.
replied the other. Are you sol? coolly re-
/ joined Charles, and he poclSeted the cash.
( 4 thought Il was a debt of honor. As
/ you seem to consider II "A trading debt
{ and as ] make il an invarlable rule to
pay my Jew creditors last, you must wait
little longer for your money"
In the reign of George III, when the
! Prince of Wales became regent, gambling
was, IL anything. higher or deeper than
ever. At whites" Tory Club play
was carried on to an extent which made
many ravages IN large fortunes, the traces
Of which have not disappeared al che pres
eut day Gen. Scott. the father-in-law Of
George Canning ami The Duke Of Port
/ land was known to have won, az White s,
/ f20O.CO0 thanks TO mis- notorious eobriet ~
| and knowledge of the game of whist The
/ d cd