A dissipated buck, who had been sitting all night at Hazard, went
to a church, not far from St James's, just before the second
reading of the Lord's Prayer, on Sunday. He was scarcely seated
before he dozed, and the clerk in a short time bawled out AMEN,
which he pronounced A--main. The buck jumped up half asleep and
roared out, 'I'll bet the caster 20 guineas!' The congregation
was thrown into a titter, and the buck ran out, overwhelmed with
shame. A similar anecdote is told of another 'dissipated buck'
in a church. The grand masquerade given on the opening of the
Union Club House, in Pall Mall, was not entirely over till a late
hour on the following Sunday. A young man nearly
intoxicated--certainly not knowing what he was about-- reeled
into St. James's church, in his masquerade dress, with his hat
on. The late Rev. Thomas Bracken, attracted by the noise of his
entrance, looked directly at him as he chanced to deliver the
following words:--'Friend! how camest thou in hither, not having
on a wedding garment?' It seemed so to strike the culprit that
he instantly took off his hat and withdrew in confusion.
At play, a winner redoubles his caution and sang-froid just in
proportion as his adversary gets bewildered by his losses,
becoming desperate; he takes advantage of the weakness of the
latter, giving him the law, and striving for greater success.
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