The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1807-03-31

pohtic and proper law, as is obferved ny
BlackRone,) inaimuck as it tends to encourage
and improve the woollen manufactures OF the
countiv. an o':jett Of the hieheft importance to
the nation. Ii actions, certainly not criminal,
IL not altogether indifferent to fociety, the great
queilion then, is, whether this infringement be
polite or not; if il is not, the law producing
the infringement mutt be decided to be tyran-
meal and unjul. n is believed BY the writer
of this, that the laws of this Fate, with rerpea
to pnDfc gaming, are an unpeceH,,ry infringe.
rent en- our liberties, becaife they have not
produced fn.le good confequence, hut on
the contrary, napy bad effects, and hecaufe
they make the idle and unwiie attempt to era
d'cate from the human heart, propeniities aud
0eii'cs, which are coeva with its sxi0ence. /
aiiunr IT as an undeniabie petition, that it l..
im.be5Tde To fnpprefs gaming, in free coun.
try ; 1t IL iid that the fat of Bonaparte has
inppreRed it throughout hi, empire but if the
aiiembly OF Virginia, were, i'm their wifdon,,
TO make the exhibition of faro bank, or bill.
ard tahle, (ind thoie who play at either, to
while away an idle evening, or with views of
gain,) puniihab!e even with death. the law
would he violated with impuDity: for it is to
be hoped that our laws will got be like Draco's,
written in blood, and that there could not be
touni twelve men in the fate 70 fanguinary AS
to bring in verditt Of guilty. Ifthen, and ]
free country, what is the part a wife leella.
tor lhould pnriue upon the fubjed The an.
liver is ano!t too obvious 10 rcpeat-what we
cannot iuppreis, we mutt give tha: direction 70,
which will render it leaft harmless. IF ftream
runs through our lands in an incommodiss
manner, we do not attempt 70 dam upiis courfe
altogether; we open channels, in order to
direct ITS current in the NOT innocent way.
IN the lame manner ought he TO ad, with ref
peel TO human propeniitics, which the expe.
r'ence or mankind have found rrrpreiiih!r, WHO
has that Knowledge OF human nature which
Hateiman and legilator ought to polltfs. 7
toreiee an argument that may he brought for
ward aaainit this reafohing, which however
will be Teen 10 have ne force. 1t might he urp.
ed that my argument proves too much, becauir
Il every human propenGty, which could not
be altogether fupprelled, was INDUCED, we
might repeal the laws agant murder and theft,
hnce u rs very certain that thrfe crimes will
iometimes be committed. But this obie efion
has only the Tendance of plau6b,iity, tor it il
certain that man eansot receive valuable
confederation in money for the lois of his life,
and 1t is equally certain that he does ,uot. when
his money is taken from him on the high way
by violence, or fccretly purloned from him.
But where two men make a contract to take
their lives or their property againtt each other,
the contract is always fair or pretu,ned to be
TO- and If the law ihall call it murder in the one
Gale, or robbery in the other, the common fcnfe
OF mankind will decide againt it. fay the
contract is preiuined to be fair, for if the con-
trary can ever be ihewn in either cafe, man is
certain to meet the fcorn of fociety, and cannot
be too feverely panifhed.
have laid that our lave againft gaming have
not produced Jingle good confcGuence, but,
on the contrary many bad effects. 1t will be
ln ed i Etnr ,OTa th,t, 6
der worle regulations, is carried on now than be-
fore the Paf1aee of the laws in queRion, that
the foregoing anett;on is correct. Now for one
game OF loo that was played, while billiard
tables were iiceuted, there is now at leaft
thouiand and Of courfe, the immortality, if
there be any in it, and the lois of money is in
the fame proportion for billiards was game
10 extremely alternating that the mind was fuf-
kclently employed and intereited, without re-
curing the ftrong excitement of avarce
whereas loo or dice, are certainly ineffably
dull, unlefs one bets high enough to be reioic-
ed to wia and grieved to lofe {: belides gaming
IN thoie days, with the exception of family
game OF whit, now and then,) was exclufvely
confined to the male lex but now, by igno.
rance in the /ei-nce Of iegjaatiOu, like the plaques
OF GeyPt, 1t is brought home to our dwellings,
and rs found " IN our ovens, our kneading
trougbs, and in the houfes of our fervants.''
In all PoG@ed circles loo is as regular at nine or
ten O'Clock, as dinner is at three or four and
we fee pert chits and waning maids and ma
irons, agitated and torn by "the fury paifions"
OF envy, jealoufy and revenge-a fight perhaps
iomewhat more diguiting than the manly and
elegant exerci!e of billiards, or the intereftinK
vicfit udes of faro table.
Bat gaming has not only increafed in degree,
but by the operation ofthe laws it has degener-
atet and grown worle in the mode of its being
carried on. BOltsd or chained up in gsrrets or
cellars, there is certainly much more probability
of fraud and fwindiing than where free and un.
difguifed acceis and egrefs are allowed. Young
men now, too, SO to faro banks, who would
not if they were openly kept. The facts of
their being there, and the flms they have loft or
won can now I've concealed but in the other
cafe, regard for circumfpetton or liability of
would prevent them from openly
rihing the favour of thofe TO whom they might
look for advancement in life. The laws aeainit
gaming have had another mott pernicious tea
dcDoy. They have created pot of fpies and
informers, and TOWN the leeds of fufpiciop, ami
notify and chickering's between man and man.
A man may loie or win three or four dollars on
one evening and the next day 6nd his nearelt
friend arbitrarily arrayed as an accufer againll
him, and forced, under penalty OF fine and i'm
prifonment, to give evidence againlt him. The
Spaniih iDquiiiton has nothing in its proceed
iogs more unjuf and tyrannical than this ex.
cept that we have not ye; arrived TO the length
OF the torture 70 obtain evidence, nor burning