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Volume I Volume II

The Gaming Table by Andrew Steinmetz

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THE UNIVERSAL PASSION OF GAMING OR, GAMING ALL THE WORLD OVER

CHAPTER I. page 12

Such is the source of the thing in our _NATURE;_ but then comes
the furious hankering after wealth--the desire to have it without
_WORKING_ for it--which is the wish of so many of us; and
_THIS_ is the source of that hideous gambling which has
produced the contemptible characters and criminal acts which
are the burthen of this volume.

We love play because it satisfies our avarice,--that is to say,
our desire of having more; it flatters our vanity by the idea of
preference that fortune gives us, and of the attention that
others pay to our success; it satisfies our curiosity, giving us
a spectacle; in short, it gives us the different pleasures of
surprise.

Certain it is that the passion for gambling easily gets deeply
rooted, and that it cannot be easily eradicated. The most
exquisite melody, if compared with the music of dice, is then but
discord; and the finest prospect in nature only a miserable blank
when put in competition with the attractions of the `honours' at
a rubber of Whist.

Wealth is the general centre of inclination. Whatever is the
ultimate design, the immediate care is to be rich. No desire can
be formed which riches do not assist to gratify. They may be
considered as the elementary principles of pleasure, which may be
combined with endless diversity. There are nearer ways to profit
than up the steeps of labour. The prospect of gaining speedily
what is ardently desired, has so far prevailed upon the
passions of mankind, that the peace of life is destroyed by a
general and incessant struggle for riches. It is observed of
gold by an old epigrammatist, that to have is to be in fear; and
to want it is to be in sorrow. There is no condition which is
not disquieted either with the care of gaining or keeping money.

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