The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-06-10
The Baccarat scandal.
value.

religious newspapers taking a dependent
view OF the prince OF Wales and the non
conforming religious bodies OF the king
dom expressing their disapproval of his
ways in emphatic, though respectful,
language. The non-conform British
are, of all people in the world, the most
rigid in their ideas OF morality, and for
horse racing and gambling in all forms
they entertain holy horror. To the
minds of most of them cheating at cards
is but trifiing aggravation of the offense
OF playing at all for stakes; and the fact
that the heir apparent to the throne, the
future sovereign of the United Kingdom
and emperor of India, now we'll on in mid
die age, should spend his DAYS on race
courses and his nights at the gaming
table, in the company of dissolute men
and giddy women, shocks their moral sem
sibilities and puts their loyalty to the
throne TO a severe test. OF course the
British people have long known that His
Royal Highness was not a model in his
private life. In his younger days all
Europe rang with his wild follies, and
the revelations in the Mordaunt case
have not been altogether forgotten. But
even the stern British non-conformists
can pardon something to youth and can
forgive the sowing of wild oats in ones
early period if it is followed by decorous
and respectable middle life. For some
years past the prince of Wales has paid
strict attention to such public duties as de-
volved upon him. He has laid innumerable
corner-stones, dedicated divers and sundry
public and semi-public institutions, deliv
cred addresses on all sorts of occasions,
participated in many undertakings OF
popular character. and. in one way and
another, made himself very convenient
and useful and agreeable to the Brit
ish public. The said British public
or at least the very large, very in
fiuential and very respectable non-con-
forming section thereof-has come to re-
gard the prince as a pretty decent kind of
fellow, and had half forgotten and al
most wholly forgiven the scandals OF his
earlier manhood. 1t is true that during
all these years unpleasant rumors about
the princes private life came to the sur
face from time to time; that the names of
good many ladies, titled and otherwise,
were coupled with his in the society prints
and in current gossip; and that occasional
tales were told of his plunging at Epson
and at Longchamps, and of his high play
at Hamburg and at Monte Carlo, which
produced occasional nervousness among
tbo Cood Yoo,Dla ~ Epolopd ord Scotland
But the rumors of gallantry were not
fortified; the stories of reckless play
lacked confirmation; and much of the
current gossip about the prince was set
down as idle, and the loyal and godly
Britishers convinced themselves, with
king was grossly maligned, and that the
stories which they heard about him either
grew out of the follies of his youth or
were monstrous exaggerations of COM
paratively harmless and innocent actions
of later day. In the absence of plans
and specifcations-of dates and full par
ticulars-they gave His Highness the
benefit of all doubts, and let him pass for
man who had atoned for wild youth
with proper and decorous middle age.
But in these baccarat revelations the
God-fearing Britons have a full bill of par
ticulars of the misconduct of their prince.
Nothing is lacking. Date, place, COM
pany, game, staKes-all the details are
given and stand unchallenged. The
prince is shown to have carried a gamb-
ling outfit with him in his visits to the
country houses during the racing season
and to have acted as banker night after
night at a game at which tolerably high
stakes were played. His associates upon
these occasions were men and women
against whom the really exclusive draw
ing rooms of England were closed, and
among these associates was at least one
cheating card player with whom His High
ness had been on terms of close intimacy
for years, and whose ofiense was sufficient,
if known, to outlaw him even from the
questionable circles in which he moved.
This ohense the prince sought to
cover up in order to prevent an
exposure from which he himself would
suffer. But the exposure was not averted.
The world knows the story-not the whole
story. perhaps, but enough for immediate
practical purposes-and some parts of it
from the princes own lips, given under
the solemn sanction of an oath In her maj
estys high court OF justicel That the
whole story has not been told is evident;
and there seems to be no good reason for
discrediting the rumor, which came by
cable yesterday, that the disgraceful ex-
pose was brought about by titled wan
ton who has long been one of the princes
darlings. but OF whose fayors the accused
baronet, Sir WILLIAM GORDON CUNNING,
is said to have publicly boosted that he
had been the recipient. Truly "Hell hath
no fury like woman scorned," and it is
not at all impossible that the unsavory
crowd which was collected at Trsnby
Croft last September may have lent them
selves to the purposes OF Lady BRooKE's