covetous only the more so. Man is so constituted as to
be unable to bear, with safety, a rapid accumulation of property. To
the truth of this, all history attests, whether ancient or modern,
sacred or profane.

The famous philosopher Locke, in his 'Thoughts on Education,' thus
observes: 'It is certain, gaming leaves no satisfaction behind it to
those who reflect when it is over; and it no way profits either body or
mind. As to their estates, if it strike so deep as to concern them, it
is a _trade_ then, and not a _recreation_, wherein few thrive; and at
best a thriving gamester has but a poor trade of it, who fills his
pockets at the price of his reputation.'

In regard to the _criminality_ of the practice, a late writer has the
following striking remarks.

'As to gaming, it is always _criminal_, either in itself or in its
tendency. The basis of it is covetousness; a desire to take from others
something for which you have neither given, nor intend to give an
equivalent. No gambler was ever yet a happy man, and few gamblers have
escaped being positively miserable. Remember, too, that to game for
_nothing_ is still _gaming_; and naturally leads to gaming for
_something_. It is sacrificing time, and that, too, for the worst of
purposes.

'I have kept house for nearly forty years; I have reared a family; I
have entertained as many friends as most people; and I never had cards,
dice, a chess board, nor any implement of gaming under my roof. The
hours that young men spend in this way, are hours murdered; precious
hours that ought to be spent either in reading or in writing; or in
rest; preparatory to the duties of the dawn.

'Though I do not agree with those base flatterers who declare the army
to be _the best school for statesmen_, it is certainly a school in
which we learn, experimentally, many useful lessons; and in this school
I learned that men fond of gaming, are rarely, if ever, trust-worthy. I
have known many a decent man rejected in the way of promotion, only
because he was addicted to gaming. Men, in that state of life, cannot
_ruin_ themselves by gaming, for they possess no fortune, nor money;
but the taste for gaming is always regarded as an indication of a
radically bad disposition; and I can truly say that I never in my whole
life--and it has been a long and eventful one--knew a man fond of
gaming, who was not, in some way or other, unworthy of confidence. This
vice creeps on by very slow degrees, till, a