The Gaming Table | Page 3

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THE GAMING TABLE: ITS VOTARIES AND VICTIMS,

In all Times and Countries, especially in England and in France.

BY ANDREW STEINMETZ, ESQ.,

OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW; FIRST-CLASS
EXTRA CERTIFICATE SCHOOL OF MUSKETRY, HYTHE; LATE
OFFICER INSTRUCTOR MUSKETRY, THE QUEENS OWN
LIGHT INFANTRY MILITIA.
AUTHOR OF `THE HISTORY OF THE JESUITS,' `JAPAN AND

HER PEOPLE,' `THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING,' &c., &c.

`The sharp, the blackleg, and the knowing one, Livery or lace, the
self-same circle, run; The same the passion, end and means the same--
Dick and his Lordship differ but in name.'

IN TWO VOLUMES.--VOL. I.

TO HIS GRACE
The Duke of Wellington, K.G. THIS WORK IS DEDICATED, WITH
PERMISSION, BY HIS GRACE'S MOST DEVOTED SERVANT
THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.
To the readers of the present generation much of this book will,
doubtless, seem incredible. Still it is a book of facts--a section of our
social history, which is, I think, worth writing, and deserving of
meditation.
Forty or fifty years ago--that is, within the memory of many a living
man--gambling was `the rage' in England, especially in the metropolis.
Streets now meaningless and dull--such as Osendon Street, and streets
and squares now inhabited by the most respectable in the land--for
instance, St James's Square, THEN opened doors to countless votaries
of the fickle and capricious goddess of Fortune; in the rooms of which
many a nobleman, many a gentleman, many an officer of the Army and
Navy, clergymen, tradesmen, clerks, and apprentices, were `cleaned
out'--ruined, and driven to self-murder, or to crimes that led to the
gallows. `I have myself,' says a writer of the time, `seen hanging in
chains a man whom a short time before I saw at a Hazard table!'

History, as it is commonly written, does not sufficiently take
cognizance of the social pursuits and practices that sap the vitality of a
nation; and yet these are the leading influences in its destiny--making it
what it is and will be, at least through many generations, by example
and the inexorable laws that preside over what is called `hereditary
transmission.'
Have not the gambling propensities of our forefathers influenced the
present generation? . . . .
No doubt gambling, in the sense treated of in this book, has ceased in
England. If there be here and there a Roulette or Rouge et Noir table in
operation, its existence is now known only to a few `sworn-brethren;' if
gambling at cards `prevails' in certain quarters, it is `kept quiet.' The
vice is not barefaced. It slinks and skulks away into corners and holes,
like a poisoned rat. Therefore, public morality has triumphed, or, to use
the card-phrase, `trumped' over this dreadful abuse; and the law has
done its duty, or has reason to expect congratulation for its success, in
`putting down' gaming houses.
But we gamble still. The gambling on the Turf (now the most uncertain
of all `games of chance') was, lately, something that rang through and
startled the entire nation. We gamble in the funds. We gamble in
endless companies (limited)--all resulting from the same passion of our
nature, which led to the gambling of former times with cards, with dice,
at Piquet, Basset, Faro, Hazard, E O, Roulette, and Rouge et Noir. At a
recent memorable trial, the Lord Chief Justice of England exclaimed--
`There can be no doubt--any one who looks around him cannot fail to
perceive--that a spirit of speculation and gambling has taken hold of the
minds of large classes of the population. Men who were wont to be
satisfied with moderate gain and safe investments seem now to be
animated by a spirit of greed after gain, which makes them ready to
embark their fortunes, however hardly gained, in the vain hope of
realizing immense returns by premiums upon shares, and of making
more than safe and reasonable gains. We see that continually.' In fact,
we