anic good name generally, to close their _tripots_, and in some
measure the Federal authorities succeeded. The only existing continental
gaming houses authorized by government are now the two Badens, Spa (of
which the lease is nearly expired, and will not be renewed), Monaco
(capital of the ridiculous little Italian principality, of which the
suzerain is a scion of the house of "Grimaldi"), Malmoe, in Sweden,
too remote to do much harm, and HOMBOURG. This last still flourishes
greatly, and I am afraid is likely to flourish, though happily in
isolation; for, as I have before remarked, the "concession" or privilege
of the place has been guaranteed for a long period of years to come by
the expectant dynasty of Hesse-Darmstadt. "_C'est fait_," "It is all
settled," said the host of the Hotel de France to me, rubbing his hands
exultingly when I mentioned the matter. But, _Quis custodiet custodes?_
Hesse-Darmstadt has guaranteed the "administration of Hesse-Hombourg,
but who is to guarantee Hesse-Darmstadt? A battalion of French infantry
would, it seems to me, make short work of H. D., lease guarantees,
Federal contingent, and all. I must mention, in conclusion, that within
a very few years we had, if we have not still, a licensed gaming house
in our exquisitely moral British dominions. This was in that remarkably
"tight little island" at the mouth of the Elbe, Heligoland, which we so
queerly possess--Puffendorf, Grotius, and Vattel, or any other writers
on the _Jus gentium_, would be puzzled to tell why, or by what right. I
was at Hamburg in the autumn of 1856, crossed over to Heligoland one day
on a pleasure trip, and lost some money there, at a miniature _Roulette_
table, much frequented by joyous Israelites from the mainland, and
English "soldier officers" in mufti. I did not lose much of my temper,
however, for the odd, quaint little place pleased me. Not so another
Roman citizen, or English travelling gent., who losing, perhaps,
seven-and-sixpence, wrote a furious letter to the "Times," complaining
of such horrors existing under the British flag, desecration of the
English name, and so forth. Next week the lieutenant-governor,
by "order," put an end to _Roulette_ at Heligoland; but play on a
diminutive scale has since, I have been given to understand, recommenced
there without molestation.

(71) Mr Sala is here in error. Colton was a prosperous gambler
throughout, and committed suicide to avoid a surgical operation. A