The Gaming Table | Page 4

may not be a jot better morally than our forefathers. But that is no
reason why we should not frown over the story of their horrid sins, and,

`having a good conscience,' think what sad dogs they were in their
generation--knowing, as we do, that none of us at the present day lose
FIFTY OR A HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS at play, at a sitting, in
one single night--as was certainly no very uncommon `event' in those
palmy days of gaming; and that we could not--as was done in
1820--produce a list of FIVE HUNDRED names (in London alone) of
noblemen, gentlemen, officers of the Army and Navy, and clergymen,
who were veteran or indefatigable gamesters, besides `clerks, grocers,
horse-dealers, linen- drapers, silk-mercers, masons, builders,
timber-merchants, booksellers, &c., &c., and men of the very lowest
walks of life,' who frequented the numerous gaming houses throughout
the metropolis--to their ruin and that of their families more or less (as
deploringly lamented by Captain Gronow), and not a few of them, no
doubt, finding themselves in that position in which they could exclaim,
at OUR remonstrance, as feelingly as did King Richard--
`Slave! I have set my life upon a CAST, And I will stand the HAZARD
OF THE DIE!'
Nor is gaming as yet extinct among us. Every now and then a batch of
youngsters is brought before the magistrates charged with vulgar
`tossing' in the streets; and every now and then we hear of some victim
of genteel gambling, as recently--in the month of February, 1868--when
`a young member of the aristocracy lost L10,000 at Whist.'
Nay, at the commencement of the present year there appeared in a daily
paper the following startling announcement to the editor:--
`Sir,--Allow me, through the columns of your paper, to call the
attention of the parents and friends of the young officers in the
Channel-fleet to the great extent gambling is carried on at Lisbon.
Since the fleet has been there another gambling house has been opened,
and is filled every evening with young officers, many of whom are
under 18 years of age. On the 1st of January it is computed that
upwards of L800 was lost by officers of the fleet in the gambling
houses, and if the fleet is to stay there three months there will soon be a
great number of the officers involved in debt. I will relate one incident
that came under my personal notice. A young midshipman, who had

lately joined the Channel fleet from the Bristol, drew a half-year's pay
in December, besides his quarterly allowance, and I met him on shore
the next evening without money enough to pay a boat to go off to his
ship, having lost all at a gambling house.
Hoping that this may be of some use in stopping the gambling among
the younger officers, I remain, yours respectfully, AN OFFICER.'[1]
[1] Standard, Jan. 12, 1870.
In conclusion, I have contemplated the passion of gaming in all its
bearings, as will be evident from the range of subjects indicated by the
table of contents and index. I have ransacked (and sacked) hundreds of
volumes for entertaining, amusing, curious, or instructive matter.
Without deprecating criticism on my labours, perhaps I may state that
these researches have probably terminated my career as an author.
Immediately after the completion of this work I was afflicted with a
degree of blindness rendering it impossible for me to read any print
whatever, and compelling me to write only by dictation.
ANDREW STEINMETZ.

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
CHAP.
I THE UNIVERSAL PASSION OF GAMING; OR, GAMING ALL
THE WORLD OVER
II GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT HINDOOS-- A HINDOO
LEGEND AND ITS MODERN PARALLEL
III GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, PERSIANS
AND GREEKS
IV GAMING AMONG THE ANCIENT ROMAN EMPERORS

V GAMBLING IN FRANCE IN ALL TIMES
VI THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF MODERN GAMING IN
ENGLAND
VII GAMBLING IN BRIGHTON IN 1817
VIII GAMBLING AT THE GERMAN BATHING-PLACES
IX GAMBLING IN THE UNITED STATES
X LADY GAMESTRESSES
XI GAMBLING POETS, SAVANTS, PHILOSOPHERS, WITS, AND
STATESMEN
XII REMARKABLE GAMESTERS
XIII THE LOTTERIES AND THEIR BEWILDERMENTS
XIV THE LAWS AGAINST GAMING IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

THE GAMING TABLE.
CHAPTER I.
THE UNIVERSAL PASSION OF GAMING; OR, GAMING ALL
THE WORLD OVER.
A very apt allegory has been imagined as the origin of Gaming. It is
said that the Goddess of Fortune, once sporting near the shady pool of
Olympus, was met by the gay and captivating God of War, who soon
allured her to his arms. They were united; but the matrimony was not
holy, and the result of the union was a misfeatured child named
Gaming. From the moment of her birth this wayward thing could only
be pleased by cards, dice, or counters.

She was not without fascinations, and many