About 20 years ago the late James Armstrong, Sheriff’s officer, indicted two gentlemen upon this statute; one of whom was a clergyman, and who to avoid the consequences of their temerity retired to the continent, where they remained some years, and at length were reduced to the humiliating situation of soliciting the pardon of a fellow whose company they would have thought a disgrace upon any other occasion. Armstrong at length consented to drop the prosecution upon their giving one hundred pounds to the poor of the parish where the offence was committed. Such are the disgraceful, and I may say, ignominious terms upon which men indulge themselves in this favourite vice, a vice so fascinating, that if the pursuit of it was made felony, it might somewhat diminish it, but would never wholly subdue it; for when the human passions come in contact with human reason, the former will ever be the strongest. Terrific as these acts may appear upon paper, they are rendered very difficult in the prosecution, particularly the 9 Ann, which, indeed, is the principal one, as it applies to the higher order of people, for the mischiefs that become the objects of that act, are frequently done at races and public places of resort, at a great distance from the metropolis; actions upon penal statutes being local, an offence committed at York must be tried by a jury of that county, though all the parties necessary to the suit reside in London; and no reason, however weighty, is sufficient to change the venue to Westminster Hall. A variety of other defects prove a considerable check upon the operation of the other statutes, and render their imbecility obvious to the courts of Law, as well as magistrates; this evil might be easily remedied by making one efficient act, embracing all salutary purposes, and omitting the futile parts, which would shut out many inconveniences, expence, and that system of iniquity, so conspicuous in prosecuting or defending the objects of punishment. With respect to the laws for preventing illegal transactions in the lotteries, or at least those passed since Thomas Wood was appointed Inspector, seem calculated for no possible purpose but that of spreading the evil, and filling the pockets of a worthless individual; for while there is a lottery authorised by parliament, daily experience evinces the impossibility of subduing its evil consequences; and if gaming tables have a tendency to promote idleness, theft, and debauchery among the lower class, the same pernicious consequences may justly be attributed to the universal spirit for insuring in the lottery, with a train of additional calamities, of fraud, perjury and inevitable beggary; for so long as the infatuated devotees to their own ruin can find money, the invention of sharpers will find means to evade the laws, which only hunt them from one device to another, and render knavish ingenuity swifter than the means of punishment.