notion, ye Inspectors of Police, that in the teeth of the law,
and under its very eyes, a shameless gaming-house exists in moral
Yorkshire, throughout every Doncaster St Leger race-week? Of
course you haven't; never dreamed of such a thing--never could,
never would. Hie you, then, and prosecute this wretched gang of
betting-touts, congregating at the corner of Bride Lane, Fleet
Street; quick, lodge informations against this publican who
has suffered card-playing to take place, raffles, or St Leger
sweeps to be held in his house. "You have seen a farmer's dog
bark at a beggar, and the creature run from the cur. There thou
might'st behold the great image of authority: a dog's obeyed in
office." You have--very well. Take crazy King Lear's words as
a text for a sermon against legislative inconsistencies, and come
back with me to Hombourg Kursaal.'



CHAPTER VII.

GAMBLING IN BRIGHTON IN 1817.

The subject of English gambling may be illustrated by a series of
events which happened at Brighton in 1817, when an inquiry
respecting the gaming carried on at the libraries led to many
important disclosures.

It appears that a warrant was granted on the oath of a Mr William
Clarke, against William Wright and James Ford, charged with
feloniously stealing L100. But the prosecutor did not appear
in court to prove the charge. It was quite evident, therefore,