LOTTERY, a game of hazard, in which small sums are adventured for the chance of obtaining a larger value, either in mo ney or other articles. Lotteries are form ed on various plans ; but in general they consist of a certain number of tickets, which are drawn at the same time, with a corresponding number of blanks and prizes mixed together, and by which the fate of the tickets is determined. This species of gaming has been sanctioned by the governments of France, Holland, Great Britain, and other countries, as a means of raising money for public pur poses; as, from the contributions being voluntary, it is always easier to obtain mo ney in this way than by new taxes : it is, however, liable to the serious objection, that it tempts many persons to lose more than they can conveniently spare, par ticularly among the lower classes of socie ty, who are led to neglect the gains, of honest industry for the chance of acquir ing sudden riches by a prize in the lot tery.
The proposals for the first public lotte ry in England were published. in 1567 and 1568, and it was drawn in 1569, at the west door of St. Paul's cathedral. The tickets were sold at ten shillings each, and there were no blanks. The prizes consisted chiefly of plate; and the profits of it were intended for the repair of the havens of the kingdom, and other public works. In 1612, King James granted per mission for a lottery, to be held at the west end of St. Paul's, of which the high est prize was of the value of four thousand crowns, in plate : this was for the assist ance of the Virginia company, who were licensed to open lotteries in any part of England, by which means they raised 29,0001. At length these lotteries came to be considered a public evil ; they at tracted the attention of parliament, were represented by the commons as a griev ance, and in 1620 were suspended by an order of council. In 1630, however, Charles I. granted a special licence for a lottery, or lotteries, " according to the course of other lotteries heretofore used or practised," for defraying the expenses of a project for conveying water to Lon don.
Soon after the revolution lotteries were resorted to, among other expedients, for raising part of the extraordinary sums ne cessary for the public service, by which the disposition for this species of gambling was greatly encouraged and extended ; and private lotteries, formed on the most delusive and fraudulent principles, be came so general, not only in London, but in all the other principal towns of En gland, that parliament found it necessary, in 1698, to pass an act for suppressing them ; by which a penalty of 5004 was laid on the proprietors of any such lotte ries, and of 201. on every adventurer in
them ; notwithstanding which, the dispo sition to fraud on the one hand, and for adventure on the other, continued to pre vail, and small lotteries were carried on under the denomination of sales of gloves, fans, cards, plate, and other articles. This was attempted to be checked by a clause of an act passed in 1712, which only gave rise to a new mode of carrying on this kind of gaming. The adventure was now made to depend on the drawing of the government lottery ; and the selling and buying of chances and parts of chances of tickets in the state lotteries became a ge neral practice, till it was prohibited by all act passed in 1718, by which all undertak ings resembling lotteries, or being depen dent on the state lottery, were strictly prohibited, under the penalty of 1001. over and above all penalties enjoined by former acts of parliament against private lotte ries.
During the reign of Queen Anne, the lotteries were generally for terminable annuities, to which both blanks and prizes were entitled, at different rates : thus, in 1710, the lottery consisted of 150,000 tickets, valued at 101. each ; every ticket being entitled to an annuity for thirty-two years, the blanks at 14s. per annum, and the prizes to greater annuities, from 51. to 1,0001. per annum. This was the first lottery for which the Bank of En gland received the subscriptions for go vernment. In the following year, the whole of the money advanced for the tickets was to be repaid, both in blanks and prizes, in thirty-two years, with in terest at 6 per cent. and an additional sum of nearly half a million to be divided in order to form the prizes ; which addi tional capital was to be paid, with the like interest, within the same period as the original sum. In this manner, which was continued in several of the subsequent years, a very considerable premium was given for the money advanced, in addition to a high rate of interest.