Part 27 (1/2)
1 Swindler--Is a term originally derived from the German, Schwindel, which signifies merely to cheat. It was first introduced as a cant term, and used to signify obtaining of goods, credit, or money, under false pretences. It has since had a legislative adoption, being parliamentary recognised by an Act for the prevention of it. The artifices, schemes, and crimes, resorted to by these gentry, are so numerous, that it would be impossible to describe them all. One mode of practice, however, is not uncommon in London.
Three or four swell Jews contrive to hire a large house with some spare rooms, in the City, that are turned into warehouses, in which are a number of casks, boxes, &e.
filled with sand; and also a quant.i.ty of large sugar-loaves in appearance, which are only clay done up in blue paper, but corded and made up with great nicety.
An elegant Counting-house is likewise furnished with books and other apparatus, to deceive the eye and give the appearance of extensive business, great regularity, and large property. The Clerks in attendance are a set of Jews, who are privy to the scheme, and equally ready at fraud as those who profess to be the Princ.i.p.als.
A Dining-room elegantly furnished upon the _mace_,* receives you
* The Mace--Is a person who carries all the appearance of a great and rich man, with servants, carriages, &c. for the purpose of defrauding tradesmen and others, by all manner of plans most calculated to entrap the parties they intend to dupe.
whenever it is necessary to admit of your visits; a Black Servant opens the street-door, and the foot of the stair- case presents surtouts, boots, livery-cloths, a large blue coat with a yellow cape, and habiliments in which the opulent! array their servants. With these and similar merchant-like appearances Trade is commenced, and persons dispatched to provincial manufacturing towns, to buy various articles; for the amount of the first purchases, bills are drawn upon the Firm, and even before the goods are pack'd up, and sent according to order, the acceptances are paid, and, by this means, credit is partly established, which, once accomplished, they are in want of large a.s.sortments for exportation upon credit, at one, two, and three months. The goods are accordingly chosen and forwarded to their a.s.sociates in London, where they are immediately disposed of at 20 or 30 per cent, cheaper than the prime cost, and the money realised. The first bills become due, are noted, and protested. The second are presented, but the House has stopped payment, and the Owners are bankrupts. By the time the third month's bills become due, the docket is struck, the a.s.signees chosen, and there is not sixpence in the pound left for the Creditors. Pet.i.tions are ineffectually presented to the Chancellor, for a number of fict.i.tious Creditors, of the same profession and persuasion, over-swear the just ones, and by exceeding them in number and value, the House obtains its certificate, and has again the power of committing similar depredations.
Perhaps the most daring and systematic proceeding of this kind was that lately detected in the conspiracy of Mosely Wolfe and his confederates, for which he is now suffering the sentence of the law.
~206~~prides himself on his success, boasts of his being _down as a nail_, and--”
”_Down as a nail!_” said Bob, ”I don't remember hearing that expression before.”
”_Down as a hammer, or Down as a nail_” continued Sparkle, ”are cant or slang terms made use of among gamblers, and are synonimous with being up; and it must be confessed that there are many ups and downs amongst them. These flash words are well understood by many a young Greek, who perhaps knows nothing of the Greek Testament, although the use of them has proved in some cases beyond the comprehension of a Judge. Hence the necessity of knowing Life; for if a man gets familiarized with low life, he will necessarily be up, and consequently stand a great chance of being a rising genius. How proper it must be to know how to get a rise upon a fellow, or, in other words, to get him in a line!
”A learned Judge once, examining a queer covy, a flash customer, or a rum fellow, asked him his reason for suspecting the prisoner at the bar of stealing a watch, (which among the lads is scientifically termed nimming a toiler, or ~207~~nabbing a clicker,) replied as follows:--'Why, your honour, only because you see as how I was up to him.'--'How do you mean, what is being up to him? '--' Why, bless your heart, I was down upon him, and had him bang.' But still perceiving the learned Gentleman's want of nous, he endeavoured to explain by saying, That he was _up to his gossip_,--that he stagged him, for he was not to be done--that he knew the trick, and was up the moment the chap came into the c.o.c.k and Hen Club, where he was tucking in his grub and bub.--Had the learned Judge been up himself, much time and trouble might have been saved; and indeed the importance of being down as a nail, to a man of fas.h.i.+on, is almost incalculable; for this reason it is, that men of high spirit think it no derogation from their dignity or rank, to be well acquainted with all the slang of the coachman and stable-boy, all the glossary of the Fancy, and all the mysterious language of the scamps, the pads, the divers, and all upon the lay, which, by an attentive and apt scholar, may easily be procured at a Gaming-house.
”Of h.e.l.ls in general, it may fairly be a.s.serted, that they are infernally productive; no other line of business can be compared to these money mills, since they are all thriving concerns, the proprietors of which keep their country houses, extensive establishments, das.h.i.+ng equipages; and
”While they have money they ride it in chaises.
And look very big upon those that have none.”
”It certainly is a pity that men do not keep constantly in their recollection, that no calculation of chances can avail them, and that between the apres, the limitation of stakes, and other manouvres, the table must eventually be an immense winner.
”For Greeks stick at nothing to gain their own ends, And they sacrifice all their acquaintance and friends;
And thus luckless P'----n, to gain what he'd lost,
Put his faith in a Greek, which he knows to his cost; Join'd a bank, as he thought, when the sly Greeking elf Of a friend soon contriv'd for to break it himself. You credulous pigeons! I would have you beware, Of falling yourselves in a similar snare.”
”We ought to consider ourselves greatly obliged,” said Merry well, ”for the accurate description of characters ~208~~you have given. But have you heard the report that is now in circulation, that a certain Marquis of high military celebrity, and whose property is, or was, very considerable, has lost almost his last s.h.i.+lling?”
”I,” said Sparkle, ”am seldom surprised at such rumours, particularly of persons who are known to be players, for they are rich and poor in rapid succession; but if there be any truth in the report, there is a fine example of perseverance before him--for Lord ----, after a long run of ill-luck, being refused the loan of an additional rouleau,{1} on account of his score being rather long, left the company in dudgeon, and determining on revenge, actually opened another h.e.l.l in opposition to the one he had left, and by that means recovered all his money.”
”That was well done,” rejoined Tallyho.
”It was rather too much of a trading concern for a Lord,” said Tom.
”Not for a gambling Lord,” replied Merry well; ”for there is in fact nothing beneath a Greek, in the way of play: besides, it was a trying situation, and required some desperate attempt--they care not who they a.s.sociate with, so they do but bring grist to the mill.”
”The confusion of persons and characters at a Gaming-house,” said Sparkle, ”are almost incredible, all ranks and descriptions are mingled together.
”What confusion of t.i.tles and persons we see Amongst Gamesters, who spring out of every degree, From the prince to the pauper; all panting for play, Their fortune, their time, and their life pa.s.s away; Just as mingled are Pigeons, for 'tis no rebuke For a Greek to pluck all, from a Groom to a Duke.”