St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-09-04
THE GAMBLERS SOUL
Rev. DR.. Talmage Tells How n
Becomes Hnslaved.


v or. Talmage Tells How 4
Becomes Hnslaved.
ne DSsPosataoa % Hazard aad What Il
Loads te-Ga0bliag N Insidlous
san that Grags Its Dsvoeee
Downward 70 Psrdltioa.
The following sermon by Rev. T. De
Witt Taimage 10 devoted to warning
men against the insidious sin of gam.
ping. 1t is based On the text:
Woe unto them that Gin Is it were with car
fcpe--Isaiah ". IA
There are some iniquities that ouly
mobile at the heart After . lifetime
OF their work. the man still stands up
right respected and hcnored. These
vermin have not strength enough tc
gnaW through q mans character. Blu,
there are other transgressions that lift
themselves up to gigantic proportions,
and seize hold of man and bind him
with throngs forever. There are some
anlquities that have such great en-
phasis of evil that he who commits
them may be SAID to sin as with
cart rope. suppose You know how
they make = great rope. The stuff out
OF which it is fashioned is nothing
but tow which you pull apart without
any cxertion of your fingers. This ID
spun into threads, any of which you
could easily snap, but . great many of
these threads are interwound-then
you have q rope strong enough to bind
an OK or hold . ship in tempest Ispesk
to You Of the sin of gambling. A cart
rope in strength is that sin. and yet
l wish more especially to draw your
attention to the small threads of in
fiuence out of which that mighty in
iquty is twisted. This crime is on the
advance, SO that It is we'll not onl y
that fathers, and brothers, and sons,
be interested in such . discussion.
but that wives, and mothers, and
sisters, and daughters look out
lest their present home be sacrificed.
or their intended home be blasted. No
man, no woman, can stand aloof from
such a subject as this and say: ''It has
no practical bearing upon my life;;" for
history an experience in which you will
find that the discussion involved three
worlds-earth, Heaven. hell. There IRE
gambling establishments by the thou
sands. There are about 5, 500 profess
sional gamblers. Out of all the gam
bling establishments, how many of
them do you suppose profess to
be honest? Ten. Then ten pro-
Tossing to be honest because
they are merely the ante-chamber
to those that are acknowledged fraud
ments. You step little way out of
Broadway, New York. You 60 up the
marble stairs. You ring the bell. The
liveried servant introduces You. The
walls are lavender tinted. The man
tells are of Vermont marble. The pic
lures are ''Jephthah's Daughter" and
Dore's sDante's and Virgirs Frozen
Region of He'll" q most appropriate Sc
lection, this last, for the place. There
is the roulette table, the finest, cost
lest, most exquisite piece of furniture
banqueting room. where. free of charge
to the guests, you may find the plate,
and viands, and wines, and CT
gars, sumptous beyond parallel.
Then You come to the sec
ond-class gambling establishment
To it you are introduced by s card
through some ..roper in" Having en-
tered, you must either gamble or fight
Sanded cards, dice loaded with quicksil-
yer. poor drinks mixed with more poor
drinks. will soon help you to get rid of
all Your money to . tune in short meter
with staccato passages. You wanted
to see. You saw. The low villains of
that place watch you rs you come In.
Docs not the panther, squat in the
grass, know a calf when he sees 1t?
Wranglc not for your rights in that
place, or your body will be thrown
bloody into the street. or dead into the
river.
You go along q little further and
find the policy establishment In that
place you bet ON numbers. Betting on
two numbers is called saddle" bet
ting on three numbers is called . '1Kig;;"
betting on four numbers is called .
horse and there are thousanes of |
young men leaping into that saddle"
aud mounting that gig" and behind |
that horse" riding to perdition. There |
is ALWAYS one kind of sign on the door |
-"Exchange;r = most appropriate title |
for the door, for there. in that room, . |
man exchanges health, peace and
Heaven for loss of health. loss Of |
home, loss of family. loss of immortal !
soul. Exchange sure enough and in
finite enough.
Now. you acknowledge that 10 cart |
rope of evil, but you want to know |
what are the small threads out of |
which it is made. There is. in many,
. disposition to hazard. They feel = |
delight in walking near the precipice
because of the sense Of danger. There
are people who 60 upon Jungfrau, not
for the largcncss of the prospect. but |
for the feeling that they have OF |
thinking, "What would happen il l
should fall Off" There are persons
who have their blood 6lliped and ac-
by skating very near an air
hole. There are men who find = posi-
tive delight in driving within two
inches Of the edge of = bridge. It is
this disposition to hazard that finds
in gaming practices.
Here IRE $500. I may stake them. II
/ stake them may lose them; but 1 |
may win q, 600. Whichever it turns
have the excitement. Shufiie the
cards. Lost! Heart thumps. Head
dizzy. At it again-just to crafty this
desire for hazard.
Then there are others who 60 into
I his sin throuvh sheer desire for unin |