New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-06
POYJT HfCCAR1I.

example of intelligence and caution instead Oh
| foolish temerity
ROYAL BACCARAE
Gambling has been an aristOcratlc recreation
in England for many generations. In the van
ity Fair of Smollett Fielding and Ihackeray
country parsons have been represented as play
ing whist with shilling on each game yirtuous
old ladies have been depicted as ventuling their
little stakes in roulette or trente let guarantee
| and titled raies in very bad company at the
green table and we-dreSsed knaveS pncklng
| down the cards and living by their wits upon
the vices of arist0cratic prodigals have been
| familiar figures Public sentiment in the fash
ionable circles OF England has never been rlgor-
ous in discountenancng gambling. In rich
capital like London, where fortunes made In one
generation arc Squandered in the next, pleasure
| sets I'M ifs own conventional standards. Ii the
Partisan dictum of NJ. de Florac that "next to
winning losing is the best sport, and next to
losing looking on" has never been accepted by
closely calculating Britons of high degree 1t
has at least been considered allowable III goou
society for men and women to play baccarat
and roulette if they can afford to DO IL anu 10
not cheat their neighbors. The recreauons at
| Tranby Croft are duplicated at many an Eng
lish country house every season, and wnlle Non
conformist exhorters may rail at fashionao!e
| vice. and the Straitlaces may grudge spehu-
| thrifts the privilege of Ringing away thelr
guineas, no violence is done to the STANDARDS
of high life at the West End.
While the revelations OF the baccarat trial
will excite more lenient criticism in EnglaId
than in America in consequence OF the Social
| license which gambling has enjoyed Tor gen
erations in the London world OF fashion, the
s+rono light which has been thrown upon the
nrivate recreations Of the Prince of Wales can
hardly fail to create strong prejudice aS;nnSo
| ,ovaltv In order to illustrate this distinction
| Il l. onv necessary to conjecture how great
nrbIic scandal would be caused if American
president were known to be in the habit OF
ulaying draw poker during his hours OF SOCIAL
raIsvation The fact that draw poker is
favorite game among Americans ana that IL Is
commonly played by members OF Congress anu
Senators at Washington would not break the
force of such disclosure. 1t would DO esteehleu
not only in the United States, but also IN Eu-
| rome National disgrace if the most nlustuouS
| American, the first citizen OF the Repuonc ny
virtue of his exalted station, gave countenahce
| to gambling even in most popular torln' W haV
tho President is here the Prince ofiWales Is IN
England As heir to the throne he occupies al
exalted station. BY his association with card
sharners. baccarat-players and spendthritts he
deerades his royal calling and cheapens his IL
ustrious birthright in the sight OF virtuous SUD-
| ,octs of a yirtllous Queen. lie calls down upon
| himself such criticism as is embodied IN the
resolutions of censure passed by the MethodlSts
| ha IL MAINLY
that his gambling habit ofcnds the religious
sense of the people, and dragS the royal houSe
| from the high position IN which IL Stoou' anu
tends to lessen the loving and devoted a1ec'
ton to the throne, which has been ever cher-
| iShed by u.s."
Another illustration may strengthen the argu-
mpnt. When an American Minicter in London
Taught select audiences i'll country-houses the
mysteries of draw poker and drew up set OF
| rIIes for the guidance OF players his conduct
WAS sharply criticised in England as well as
tha limited States If he had been an Amen-
can entertained privately in England, his zeal
in Introducing the game would not have eX-
cited comments but as the representative OF
great Nation his dignity was generally consid-
cred to have been compromised by his conduct
| I'm like manner the Prince of Wales as the heir
to the throne is the representative OF a great
nation. When he is brought into court as he
| has been in the baccarat trial, and shown 10
be the intimate associate of a suspected cheat
and the banker at gambling games in when
gilded youth are sharp enough to detect trick
ery. especially when 1t Is too 81 ot' for them
the dignity of his high rank is brought into low
| repute. When the heir to the throne, who
under the British Constitution is destined to
become the civic head OF a powerful Church,
and for whom prayers arc offered every Sunday
IN every English church throughout the I'm
rire, is exhibited as travelling about the coun-
try with set of private counters for use In
baccarat gambling whenever he is entertained,
royalty inevitably suffers in popular estimation.
With Mr.. Thackeny the English Radical may
we'll exclam: 1.-The tariff Of British virtue Is
wonderfully organized Heaven help the soc-
ety. which made its laws" The world Of Lon
don fashion may condone the Princes offences
against good morals, since it is permeated, and
has been for generations, with the gambling
spirit BY its conventional DEGREES it may make
the vice of gambling honorable or at least
reputable. but it cannot exempt the heir to the
throne from the consequences of an exposure
which brings royalty into contempt and popular
disfavor.
! RAPID LUNCHEON
The demand made by The Tribune few days
| 400 TINT something be done to solve the rapid