The New Hampshire Gazette And Historical Chronicle

To the PRINTERS of the New-Hampshire Gazette.

If the following Thoughts, upon a Science, much in Vogue at this Season of the Year, when many are at a Loss how they shall kill a long Evening, are not unseasonable, be kind enough to give them a Place in your Gazette, and you will oblige your humble Servant,

ARISTIDES.

- Quem præceps Alea nudat ;
HOR.
Alea Quando
Hos Animos? - - - Juvenal.

AMONG all the Amusements invented by the idle Part of Mankind, to pass away their Time, there is not one which is attended with so many evil Consequences, as that of Gaming ; nor indeed any so much below the Dignity of human Nature.---
It is an Employment so trifling in Appearance, that a Man with a Box and Dice, is hardly distinguishable from a Child with his Rattle ; or when he diverts himself with a few Scraps of painted Paste-board, does he make a Figure, one whit the better.----But setting aside Appearances of this Kind, which may make even the wisest look ridiculous, my Design is to intimate some of the more solid Evils, that attend all intemperate Practitioners in this way ; and these may be sum'd up in the following Losses, viz. of Time--- of Reputation--of Health---of Fortune---of Temper; and, what is often consequent upon it, of Life itself.

First. That it is a Loss of time is plain, because our Time may be employed to some Advantage; for by six Hours in the twenty four, a man may make himself wiser, better and richer : Whereas by spending that time at Cards or Dice, he infallibly grows more Stupid, and worse ; and the chance is an hundred to one against him that he becomes poorer.

Secondly. That it is a Loss of Reputation and Esteem in the World is easily evinced, because no Man of Reputation or Esteem was ever called a Gamster : Ergo Vice versa, no Gamster can be called a Man of Reputation and Esteem. In giving the best Characters of Men or Women, we never use the word Gaming as an Epithet. For Instance, we say, a wise and good Governor, a prudent and faithful Councellor, an impartial and upright Magistrate, a skilful and honest Attorney, an equitable and worthy Merchant, a devout and pious Christian, a virtuous and modest Lady, and thro' the best Degrees of Men and Women. But how oddly would it sound if we should take out the latter Epithet from each of these, and put in their Stead the word Gaming : and say a wise and Gaming Governor, a prudent and Gaming Counsellor, an impartial and Gaming Magistrate, a skilful and Gaming Attorney, an equitable and Gaming Merchant, a devout and Gaming Christian, a virtuous and Gaming Lady, &c.---
From which it is evident, that the word Gaming must stand and agree with the worst Characters ; for it sounds very well to say, a profligate gaming Spendthrift; a notorious Gaming Bully; and the same Epithet will agree as well with Pick pockets, Rakes & Highwaymen, and others of that distinguished Race of Mankind.

Thirdly. Loss of Health is the necessary Effect of the Sedentary Life, to which those who follow Gaming are confined, and of being deprived of the necessary Refreshment of Sleep in the Season of it, ( which is almost universally the Case with Gamsters) from whence, Physicians tell us, proceed Dropsy and Gout, on Men, Hysteric, Vapours and a load of bad Humours in Women for want of those Exercises which produce Perspirations and Evacuations necessary to invigorate, strengthen and preserve the Animal Oeconomy free from those numerous Distempers, which Laziness, Sloth and intemperance produce.

Fourthly. That it is a Loss of Fortune, is out of all Dispute, from the numberless Instances, of Lords, Ladies, and others of the Nobility and Gentry, some of whom have lost their whole Estates, and others laid themselves under such Difficulties, that their annual income has fallen very short to supply them with the common Necessaries of Life, so that they have been obliged to live upon the Credit of the ensuing Year.
It is very well known, among the great and fashionable People of former Ages, they very rarely had recourse to Gaming. I cannot recollect that ever the Ladies enter'd into it at all ; their Amusements were the Needle and the Loom for which their Perfections are celebrated by the best Poets of Antiquity. The Men of any Consequence passed their Evenings in learned and agreeable Conversation, such, as tended to make them wiser and better : which way of Improvement is thus beautifully and elegantly described by Horace.
Ergo.
Sermo oritur, non de Villis domibusve alienis ;
Nee male necne Lepos saltet ; sed quod magis ad nos
Pertinet, et necire malum est, agitamus : Utrumne
Divitiis Homines, an int virtute beati ;
Quidve ad Amicitias, usus, rectumne, trahat nos
Et quae sit natura boni, summumque quid ejus.
We never talk of this Man's House or Will,
Or whether Lepos dances well or ill :
But of those Duties which ourselves we owe,
And which 'tis quite a Scandal not to know :
As whether Wealth or Virtue can impart,
The truest Pleasure to the human Heart :.
What should direct us in our choice of Friends,
Their own pure Merit, or our private Ends :
What we may deem, if rightly understood,
Man's Sovereign Bliss, his chief his only Good.

The Fifth Loss I mentioned was that of Temper. If any one doubts the Truth of this Position, I refer him to the nightly clubs where the Virtuosos of the gaming Science usually assemble. If Blasphemy, Cursing, Swearing, Distortions of Countenance, biting of Nails, Scratching of Elbows, Burning of Cards, &c. can be called Loss of Temper, they may be seen in those Places in the highest Degree of Perfection.

And to make out the last and greatest Loss, which is the Loss of Life, call to mind the numerous Accounts you may have read or heard of. that these Gentlemen of the Trade, upon some hasty Words, or Elbows given at the Gaming Table, have retired from their Company, and in a few Minutes one of them have returned, and brought in the News of the others Death. Upon the whole, I cannot but remark, that Gaming proceeds from three Qualities of the basest Kind, Avarice Laziness and Ignorance ; for it must undoubtedly, be a thirst after Gain, which is a motive to high Playing ; it must be Laziness that stimulates to an Amusement so indolent and trifling, rather than manly and wholesome Exercise ; and it is because proper Talents are wanting, that a Leisure Hour is not spent in a Way of Conversation, agreeable to rational Creatures.

It may perhaps be objected that the foregoing Considerations operate only against intemperate Gaming, or that which engrosses more time than ought to be allowed for Diversion ; but to amuse ones Self, at proper Seasons, with a Game at Cards or Dice, is not only innocent in itself, but requisite to unbend and relax the mind, and fit it for closer Application. I acknowledge that between making use of Diversion' only as a necessary Relaxation to the Mind, and spending a great part of our Time at them, the Difference is Material. But such is the fascinating Nature of this Sort of Amusement, that, like the Sirens, when we once get within its Reach it charms us to Destruction. Like other bad Practices, it insensibly gains Ground upon us, till by Degrees it becomes habit, and we are not able to quit it at Pleasure. For the Truth of this, let me ask those who at first only once in a while, indulged themselves in a Game of Loo, whether a Fondness for it, did not continually and insensibly increase, till at length, they were quite out of their Element, unless they were every Evening at the Loo Table. Their constant Practice gives the Lie to their Words if they deny it. And thus, what they engage in at first, only as an innocent Amusement, becomes the Employment ( or as I should term it, the Fatigue) of one half, at least, of their waking Hours.

But there is one Consideration, which ought to be Reason sufficient, to those, who call themselves Christians, and profess any Regard to divine Ordinances, never to divert themselves with Games of this Sort ; and that is, that in all Games of Chance or Lot, there is in effect, an Appeal to the Supreme Majesty of Heaven and Earth, and his providence is immediately concerned in deciding it. For the Words of Inspiration are, The Lot is cast into the Lap : but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. A Circumstance little thought of by some, who profess a Regard to the divine Oracles, and yet spend much of their Time at such Games.

A Lot was always used, and esteemed as a sacred Ordinance, and therefore ought not to be prophaned by trifling Amusements and Diversions, nor made use of, but upon some weighty and important Occasion. But as Arguments of this sort will have no great Influence with those against whom this is levelled. I shall conclude with an Extract from Mr. Hartley's celebrated Observations on Man. Chap. III. Section 3. concerning the Elegancies and Amusements of Life. "The Practice of playing at Games of chance and skill is one of the principal Amusements of Life ; and it may be thought hard to condemn it as absolutely unlawful, since there are particular Cases of Persons infirm in Body or Mind, where it seems requisite to draw them out of themselves, by a Variety of Ideas and Ends in View, which greatly engage the Attention. ---- But this Reason takes place in very few Instances. The general Motives to play are Avarice, joined with a fraudulent Intention explicit or implicit, Ostentation of Skill, and Soleness through the Want of some serious useful Employment. And as this Practice arises from such corrupt Sources, so it has a Tendency to increase them ; and indeed may be considered as an express Method of begetting and inculcating Self-Interest, Illwill, Envy, &c. For by gaming a Man learns to pursue his own Interest solely and explicitly, and to rejoice at the Loss of others as his own Gain ; thus entirely reversing the Order established by Providence for social Creatures, in which the Advantage of one meets in the same Point as the Advantage of the other, and their Disadvantage likewise."