world; Napoleon, the humble Corsican, at length Emperor of France and the terror of nations, and a thousand others.

In a letter from Smollett to his friend David Garrick, he makes the following true remarks "I am old enough to have seen and observed, that we are all the mere playthings of fortune, and that it depends upon something as insignificant as the tossing up of a half-penny, whether a man rise to affluence and honour, or continue to his dying day, struggling with the difficulties and disgraces of life."

I can easily suppose my Eastern readers now exclaiming; but what has all this to do with India? I answer, these papers are not intended as efforts to describe a few of the customs of the British in the East, but to be a source of instruction on many valuable subjects, as well as an oriental vehicle of amusement: fortune is still the same though 10 or 12,000 miles from "the precious stone set in the silver sea." In this paper I have run away from my original intention, which was to treat slightly on the subject of lotteries, but I shall reserve that subject for another. I shall conclude with an extract from our great orientalist's (Sir W. Jones) sweet poem of the Palace of Fortune.

TO MAIA.

"Me suppliant men imperial fortune call,
The mighty empress of yon rolling ball
To me has fate the pleasing task assigned,
To rule the various thoughts of human kind;
To catch each rising wish, each ardent prayer,
And some to grant, and some to waste in air.
Know further-as I ranged the crystal sky,
I saw thee near the murmuring fountain lie;
Mark'd the rough storm that gather'd in thy breast;
And knew what care thy joyless soul oppress'd.
Straight I resolved to bring thee quick relief,
Ease every weight, and soften every grief!"

POLYPHILUS.

Tuesday, January 23, 1844.

No. 11.

The Lottery Fortune Seeker.

"The first day presented the hopeful ticket, a detestable blank. The rest came out with different fortune, and in conclusion I lost£30, by this great adventure."-Dr.JOHNSON.

Rambler, No. 181.

"The wretch of to-day may be happy to-morrow."

Gay's Beggar's Opera.

What a vast number of adventurers are here from the British Isles; all seeking after the idol gold; they have left the homes of their fathers to seek a comfortable independency amid continual difficulties and dangers, and in a measure to wield the government of an Empire, under a burning sun. What credit then is due by the good folks at home, to we" exiles from splendour." and yet how little is given; the kind people in England, form incorrect ideas of the customs of this country; still we read that Burke possest a great knowledge of India, also Sheridan; but it is probable they would have altered their sparkling oratory, had they had personal communication with the natives of India. The lottery Fortune Seeker is a man on whom Fortune has frowned, and who places all his

I

hopes on the turn of the Lottery wheel; long before the drawing takes place, he has planned out all he will do with his expected Fortune. have caught hold of an anecdote of a character nearly of this description, which I insert for the pleasure of my brethren in the East. "In the early part of the reign of King George the Second, the footman of a lady of quality, under the absurd infatuation of a dream, disposed of the savings of the last 20 years of his life, in two tickets, which proving blanks, after a few melancholy days, he put an end to his life. In his box was found a plan of the manner in which he would spend the £5,000 prize, which his mistress preserved as a curiosity. As soon as I have received the money, I'll marry Grace Towers, but as she has been cross and coy, I'll use her as a servant. Every morning she shall get me a mug of strong beer with a toast, nutmeg and sugar in it, then I will sleep till 10, after which, I will have a large sack posset. My dinner shall be on table by one, and never without a good pudding ; I'll have a stock of wine and brandy laid in about five in the afternoon I'll have tarts and jellies, and a gallon bowl of punch; at ten, a hot supper of two dishes; if I'm in good humour, and Grace beha ves herself, she shall sit

down with me ;-to bed about twelve." What absurd views do some people take of chance play, such as cards, backgammon, &c.; and those very people who are such advocates for morality, are found buying perhaps 10 or 20 tickets in a Lottery, which is just back-gammon on a large scale, what a fine inconsistency is here, oh! humbug! humbug!!! when wilt thou cease thy despotic sway over the soul of man. The curious may be anxious to learn a little about the history of Lotteries, for whose instruction I shall add concerning this" Universe of Destiny" that "The first Lottery in England was drawn near St. Paul's Cathedral (Old St. Pauls') in 1569 and consisted of 40,000 lots, at 10 shillings each lot; the prizes were plate, and the profits were to be applied towards repairing the havens of the kingdom. In 1612, King James, for the plantations of English Colonists in Virginia, appointed a Lottery to be held at St. Pauls," from that time to the last few years, they have existed in England, but I believe they are now suppressed by order of Government, and also that, the Indian Government have ceased to patronize Lotteries ;-which order I am afraid will cause many a young Subaltern to sigh for a lac, as in the following lyric.