'
In 1819 an inquest was held on the body of a gentleman found
hanging from one of the trees in St James's Park. The evidence
established the melancholy fact that the deceased was in the
habit of frequenting gambling houses, and had sunk into a state
of dejection on account of his losses; and it seemed probable
that it was immediately after his departure from one of these
receptacles of rogues and their dupes that he committed suicide.
The son of the gate-keeper at St James's saw several persons
round the body at four o'clock in the morning, one of whom, a
noted gambler, said: 'Look at his face; why, have you forgotten
last night? Don't you recollect him now?' They were, no doubt,
all gamblers--in at the death.'
The three following stories, if not of actual suicide, relate
crimes which bear a close resemblance to self-murder.
A GAMBLER PAWNING HIS EARS.
A clerk named Chambers, losing his monthly pay, which was his
all, at a gaming table, begged to borrow of the manager's; but
they knew his history too well to lend without security, and
therefore demanded something in pawn. 'I have nothing to give
but my ears,' he replied. 'Well,' said one of the witty demons,
'let us have them.
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