Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1891-03-06

written the counterfeit signature, cmptied
the bankers money vault and welded the
assassins dagger. There Is no depth Of mean
ness to which it will not stoop. There is no
cruelty at which IT is appalled,. There is no
warning OF God that II will not dare. Merci-
less, unappeasable fiercer and wilder il
blinds, it hardens II rends, IL blasts II
crushes, It damns. Il has peopled our pris-
ons and lunatic asylums. How many rail-
road agents and cashiers and trustees
OF funds 1t has driven to dis.
grace incarceration and suicidel. Wit
ness years ago a cashier Of a railroad who
stole one hundred and three thousand dol
lars TO carry on his gaming practices. Vic
ness forty thousand dollars stolen from n
Brooklyn bank within the memory OF many
OF you, and the one hundred and eighty
thousand dollars taken from Wall street
Insurance company for the same purpose
These are only illustrations on a large scale
of the robberles every day committed for
the purpose Of carrying out the designs Of
gamblers. Hundreds of thousands OF dol
lars every year leax out without observa-
ton from the merchants till into the
gambling hell. A man in London keeping
one Of these gambling houses boasted THAI
he had ruined a nobleman a day; but IL all
the saloons Of this land were 70 speak out
they might utter more infamous boast,
for they have destroyed thousand noble
men a year.
Notice also the effect Of ths crime upon
domestic happiness. II has sent its ruthless
plowshare through hundreds Of families, un-
til the wife sat In rags and the daughters
were disgraced, and the sons grew up to the
same infamous practices or took a.short cut
TO destruction across the murderer's scaffold.
Home has lost all charms for the gambler.
How tame ere the childrens caresses and Q
wife,s devotion to thegambler! How drearily
the fire burns on the domestic hearth There
must be louder laughter, and something to
win and something to lose; an excitement ia
drive tho heart faster and flllip the blood
and fire the imagination. No home, however
bright, can keep back the gamester The
sweet call Of love bounds back from his iron
soul, and all the endearments are consumed
in the flames Of his passion. The family
Bible will go after all other treasures are lost,
and If his crown in heaven were put into his
hand he would cry: "dere goes one more
game, Ia. T boysl On this one throw I
stake my crown In heaven A young
man in London, on coming OF age,
received q fortune OF one hundred aud
twenty thousand dollars, and, through gam
bling, in three years was thrown on his
mother for support. An only sou went to q
southern city; he was rich, intellectual and
elegant in manners. His parents gave him
on his departure from home their last bless
ing. The sharpers got hold of him: They
fatterei him. They lured him to the gam
ing table, and let him win almost every time
for q good while, and patted him on the
back and said, First rats player" But full
ly in their grasp they feeced him, and his
thirty thousand dollars were lost. Last OF
all he put up his watch aud lost that. Then
he began to think OF his home and his old
father and mother. and wro q thus:
my Beloved Parsnts-You will doubtless
fanl - e
letter from tho child Of your bosom. on
whom you have lavishsd oil the favors of
your declining years, But should feeling
OF Joy for moment spring up in your hearts
when you should have received this from
me, cherish it not. l have fallen deep
never to risss Those gray hairs that I
should have sonored and protected I shall
bring down with sorrow to the grasa will
not curse my destroyer but oh! may God
upon the unwary in way that shall best
please him. This, my dear parents, Is the
last letter you will ever receive from me. I
numbly pray your forgiveness. l. IS my
dying prayer. Long before you have re-
ceived this letter from me the cold grave
will have closed upon me forever. Life TO
me Is insupportable / cannot, nay, will
not, suffer the shame Of having ruined you.
Forget and forgive Ia the dying prayer Of
your unfortunate son"
The old father came to the postoffice, got
the letter and fell to hef1or. They thought
he was dead at first; but they brushed back
the white hair from his brow and famed
him. He had only tainted. wish he had
been dead, for what is life worth to a father
after his son is destroyeif When things 20
wrong at gaming table they shout: Foul
Foulr' Over all the gaming tables of tho
world l cry out: "FoIi foull Infinitely
FOUL
Shall sketch the history OF the gamblerf
Lured by bad company he finds his way
into place where honest men ought never
to go. He sits down to his first game but
only for pastinie and the desire OF being
thought sociable. The players deal OUT
the cards. They unconsciously play into
Satans hands, who taxes all tho tricks and
both the players souls for trumps-he being
sharper at any game. A slight stake Is
put up just to add interest to the play. Game
after game is played. Larger stakes and
still larger. They begin to move nervously
on their chairs. Their brows lower and eyes
flash, until now they who win and they who
lose, fired alike with passion, SIT with set
jaws and compressed lips, and clinched fsts,
and eyes like fire balls that seem starting
from their sockets, to see the final turn be-
fore 1t comes; II losing, pale with envy and
tremulous with uEuttered oaths cast back
red hot upon the heart-or, winning, with
hysteric laugh-"Ha, hal have i'll have
itm
A few years have passed and he is only the
wreck OF man. Seating himself at the gams
ere he throws the first card, he stakes the
last relic Of bis wife, and the marriage ring
which sealed the solemn VOWS between them.
The game Is lost, and staggering back in ex-
haustion he dreams. The bright hours Of
the past mock his agony, and in his dreams
fends with eyes Of fire and tongue OF flame
circle about him with Joined hands to dance
and sing their orgies with hellish chorus
chanting "Haii brother p kissing his clammy
forehead until their loatnsome locks, flowing
with serpents crawl into his bosom and sink
their sharp fangs and suck up his life's
blood, aud coiling around his heart pinch ft
with chills and shudders unutterable.
Take warning You are no stronger than
tens Of thousands who have by this practice
been overthrown. No young man In our
cities can escape being tempted. Beware OF
the first beginnings This rood Ii a down
grade, and every instant increases the mo
mentum. Launch not upon this treacberous
sea. Split hulks strew the beach. Eysrlast'
ing storms howl up and down, tossing UNI
wary crafts into the Hellgate. speak 90
what have seen with my own eyes hav
looked OH into the abyss and / have seen
the foaming, and the Kissing, and the wbirl-
ing Of the horrld deep in which the mangled
victims writhed, one upon another, and
struggled, strangled, blasphemed and died
the death stare Of eternal despair upon their
oountenances as the water gurgted over
them.
To gamblers deathbed there comes no
hope. He will probably die alone. His for.
mer associates come not nigh his dwelling.
When the hour comes his miserable soul will
go out Of miserable life into a miserable
| eterpity Ashs moor renains mn ss tha bous.
where he was ruined, old companions may
look ont moment and say, There goes the
old carcass-dead at last" but they will not
get up from the table. Let him down now
into his grave. Plant no tree to cast It's shade
there, for the long, deep, eternal gloom that
settles there Is shadow enough. Plant no
'forget:ne-nor or eglantines around the
spot, for flowers were not mads TO grow on
snch blasted heath. Visit IT not IN ths sun,