ting to enable any person to realize a large fortune
by a small advance to the advertiser. It will readily be seen that
the following is the ORIGINAL of the scheme, put forth in the Morning
Chronicle, in 1818:--
'Important Offer. A gentleman of respectability has discovered a method
of winning at any game of chance, fairly and honourably, to a
certainty, by a method hitherto unknown;--he will SELL THE SECRET for a
consideration, or treat with a gentleman able to join him with a capital
of L300, by which a fortune may be made; in either case he will engage
with one person only. This will be found well worth the attention of
a member of the superior clubs. **** No personal application will be
answered.'
GAME AND GAMBLING.
A gentleman celebrated for his quickness at repartee, when informed that
a young nobleman of his acquaintance (remarkably fond of a fashionable
game) had shot an immense number of RED partridges, and also of the
BLACK game, which abounded on his estates, replied--'I am not in the
least surprised; he was at all times, EVEN WHEN IN LONDON, devotedly
attached to the GAME OF ROUGE ET NOIR.'
CATCHING A TARTAR.
'My skill at billiards,' says a confessing gamester, 'gave me a
superiority over most I met with. I could also hide my skill very
dexterously, which is generally found a work of great difficulty,
and judiciously winning or losing, I contrived to make it answer my
purpose,--until one day, going to a table which I was very much in
the practice of frequenting, and where no one was then engaged, I was
invited by a stranger to play. I accepted the invitation for a small
stake, and won very easily, so much so, that on commencing a new game I
offered to give him six, to place us more on an equality. He accepted it
eagerly, but it produced him no benefit; he played so badly, and managed
both his cue and mace so awkwardly--for I made no objection to his
changing them as often as he pleased--that, playing very carelessly, I
could not avoid beating him. We continued increasing the stakes every
successive game; money seemed of no value to him; he appeared to have
plenty, and lost it with a spirit that told me I had got hold of an
excellent subject, who could pay me well for beating him. I did not
wish to win too palpably, and therefore kept increasing the advantage I
yielded him, till it amounted to sixteen. He now proposed making the bet
ONE HUNDRED POUNDS, and that I should give him eighteen. His eager
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