The Iola register., 1886-11-12
" THE FIELD OF BLOOD"
A Powerful Sermon by Rev. T. De
Witt Talmage, D. D.
What Gambling II. and the Great Preva-
hence Of the Evil-The Many Forme
Under Which lt Il Carried On
Its Rulnoas Consequences.

hence Of the Evil-The Many Forme
Under which IL Il Carried On
Its Rulnoas Consequences.
BROOKLYN, n. T., Nov. 7.-Dr. Talmago
took for his text this morning Acts 1: 10:
" Aceldama, that Is TO say, the neld Of
blood" He then said:
The money given TO Judas for surrender.
ing Christ was afterward used TO purchase
. graveyard. As the money was blood
money, the ground bought by it was called
In the Syriac tongue Aceldama, meaning
"the field Of blood" Well, there Is ono
word want TO write to-day over every
race-course where wagers are staked, and
every pool-room, and every gambling
saloon, and every table, public or private,
where men and women bet for sums Of
money, large or small, and that is word
incarnadined with the life Of innumerable
victims-Aceldama. The gambling spirit,
which is at all times q stupendous evil,
ever and anon sweeps over the country
like an epidemic, prostrating uncounted
thousands. There has never been a worse
attack than that from which all the viii
lagos, towns and cities are now suffering.
Whatever your age or calling, the sub
ject OF gambling, about which I speak to-
day, is pertinent. Some years ago. when
an association for the suppression Of gam
bling was organized, an agent Of the asso-
citation came 70 q prominent citizen and
asked him to patronize the society. He
said: "No, can have no interest in such
an organization. l am in nowise affected
by that evil" At that very time his son,
who was his partner in business, was one
OF the heaviest players in Herne's famous
gambling establishment. Another refused
his patronage on the same ground, not
knowing that his first ook-kecper, though
receiving a salary Of only one thousand dol
lars, was losing from fifty to one hundred
dollars per night. The president Of rail-
road company refused to patronize the in
stitution, saying: THAT society is good for
the defense Of merchants, but we railroad
people are not injured by this evil" not
knowing that at that very time two Of his
were spending three nights OF
each week at faro tables in New York. Di-
rcctiy or indirectly this evil strikes at the
whole world.
Gambling is the risking Of something
more or less valuable In the hope Of win
ming more than you hazard. The instru-
ments Of gaming may differ, but the princi-
pie is the same. The shufliing and dealing
OF cards, however full Of temptation, is not
gambling unless stakes are put up; while,
on the other hand, gambling may be carried
on without cards, or dice, or billiards, or
ten-pin alley. The man who bets on
horses, on elections, on battles-the man
who deals in fancy" stocks, or conducts
business which hazards extra capital, or
goes into transactions without foundation
but dependent upon what men call ''l1ck,"
Is a gambler.
Whatever you expect to get from your
neighbor without Offering an equivalent in
money. or time, or skill, is either the prod
uct Of theft or gaming. Lottery tickets and
lottery policies come into the same cate
CORY. Fairs for the founding OF hospitals,
schools and churches, conducted on the
raining system, come under the same
Do not, therefore, associate
gambling necessarily with any instrument
Or game, or time, or place, or think tho
principle depends upon whether you play
Tor glass OF wine or one hundred shares
Of railroad stock. Whether you patronize
auction pools," 'French mutuals," or
whether you employ faro or
rondo or keno, cards or basatelle,
The very idea Of the thing is dishonest, for
u ptolCSSCS " UCSlO" UIOu yO0 = K0Oo IOE
which you give no equivalent
This crime is no newborn sprite, but .
haggard transgression that comes stagger-
ing down under a mantle Of curses through
many centuries. AL nations, barbarous
and civilized, have been addicted to it, Be-
fore 1888 the French Government received
revenue from gaming houses. In 1861 En-
gland, for the improvement Of her harbors,
,eNRNA 1ANH - LAl
door Of st. Par's Cathedral. Four hun
1red thousand tickets were sold at ten shil-
ings each. The British Museum and West
Minister bridge were partially built by SIM
lar procedures. The ancient Germans
would sometimes put up themselves and
families as prizes, and suffer themselves to
be bound, though stronger than the persons
y no won them.
But now the laws Of the whole civilized
world denounce the system. Enactments
have been passed, but only partially en-
forced. and at times not enforced at all
The men interested in gaming houses and
n jockey clubs WELD such influence by
heir numbers and affiuence that the Judge,
he jury and the police officer must be bold
indeed who array themselves against these
Infamous establishments. The House Of
Commons Of England actually adjourns on
Derby day to &c out and bet on the races;
md in the best circles Of society in this
country to-day are many hundreds Of pro-
essedly respectable men who are acknowl-
,dged gamblers.
,loyed in gambling are without harm. Bill
ard tables are as harmless as tea tables,
Ind a pack Of cards as a pack Of letter
envelopes, unless stakes be put up. But
~ their use for gambling purposes they
lave become significant Of an infinity Of
Men wishing to gamble will find places
ust suited To their capacity, not only in the
oyster cellars, or at the table
'ack Of the curtain, covered with greasy
ards, or in the steamboat smoking cabin,
where the bloated wretch with rings in his
ars deals out his pack and winks in the un-
traveler-providing free drinks
III around-but in gilded parlors and amid
gorgeous surroundings. God never made
nan strong enough to endure the wear and
ear Of gambling excitement. No wonder
I, after having failed in the game, men
ave begun to sweep on imaginary gold
rom the side of the table. The man was
harp enough when he started at the game,
Ut niShiSc AZ lne Close. AT every gaming
able sit on one side Ecstasy, Enthusiasm, |
frenzy Of joy; on the other |
ide, Fierceness, Rage and Tumult. The |
gamester schools himself into |
pparent quietness. The keepers Of gam
ling rooms are generally fat, rollicking and |
bese: but thorough and professional |
amblers, in nine cases out Of ten, are pale, |
hin, wheeling, tremulous and exhausted. |
A young man, having suddenly inherited |
large property, sits at the hazard tables,
nd takes up in dice-box the estate won |
y fathers life-time's sweat, and shakes
;, and tosses it away. Intemperance soon
tigmatizes its victim-kicking him out, a
lavering fool, into the ditch, or sending
i'm, with the drunkard's hiccough, stag
ering up the street where his family lives.
tut gambling does not in that way expose