The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-04-15

My beloved parents, you will doubt
less feel a momentary joy at the recep-
ton of this letter from the child Of
-FOUR bosom, on whom you have Law
isned all the favors of -FOUR declining
years. But should a feeling of joy for
a moment spring up in you hearts
when you should have received this
from me, cherish it not / have fallen
deep, never to rise. Those gray hairs
that l should have honored and pro-
tected l shall bring down in sorrow to
the grave. / will not curse my de-
stroyer; but, oh, my God, avenge the
wrongs and impositions practiced upon
the unwary in a way that shall best
please him, This. my dear parents,
is the last letter you will ever receive
from me-. l humbly pray your forgiv-
ness. 1t is my dying prayer. Long
before you will have received this from
me the cold grave will have closed
upon me forever. Life to me is I'M
supportable. / cannot-nay / will not
suffer the shame of having ruined
you. Forget AND forgive is the dying
prayer of your unfortunate son."
The old father came to the post
office, got the letter and fell to the
AOOA- lASs hooSht ~ was OCdO At
first, but they brushed back the white
He had only tainted. "Aceldama, the
field of blood"
When things go wrong at a gaming
table. they shout: Foul. FOUL" Over
all the gaming tables of the world l
cry out: Foul! Foul! Infinitely FOUL"
Gift stores are abundant through
out the country. With a book or knife
or sewing machine or coat or carriage
there goes a prize. At these stores
people get something thrown in with
their purchase. 1t may be a gold
watch or a set of silver, a ring or a
farm. Sharp way to get off unstable
goods. 1t has filled the land with fc-
titious articles and covered up our pop
ulation with brass finger rings and de-
spoiled the moral sense Of the COM
munity, and is fast making us a nation
Of gamblers.
The church of God has not semed
willing to allow the world to have all
the advantage of these games of
chance. A church bazaar opens, and
toward the close it is found that some
Of the more valuable articles are unsal-
able. Forthwith the conductors of the
enterprise conclude that they will rattle
for some OF the valuable articles, and
under p%retense Of anxiety to make
their minister a present or please some
| popular member of the church fascinat
ing persons are dispatched through the
room, pencil in hand, to solicit
shares" or perhaps each draws for his
own advantage, and scores Of people
! go home with their trophies, thinking
that it is all right for Christian ladies
did the embroidery and Christian men
did the rafting, and the proceeds went
toward a new communion set. But
you may depend on it that as far as
morality is concerned you might as
we'll have won back the crack of the
| billiard ball or the turn of the dice box.
Do you wonder that churches built,
lighted or upholsted by such processes
as that come to great financial and
| spiritual de%crepitude? The devil says,
Il helped to build that house Of wor-
ship, and have as much right there as
you have" AMI for once the devil is
right. We do not read that they had a
lottery for building the church at Co.
rinth or at Antioch or for getting up
an embroidered surplice for St. Paul.
All this l style ecclesiastical gambling.
| More than one man who is destroyed
| can say that his first step on the wrong
road was when be won something at
| a church fair.
The gambling spirit has not stopped
| for any indecency. There transpired
in Maryland a lottery in which people
drew for lots in a burying ground.
The modern habit of betting about
| oxrorx,fbinr &c rroS,,oiuo of inopooncn
mischief. The most healthful and in
nocent amusementS of yachting and
baseball playing have been the occa-
sion of putting up excited and extrav-
agant wagers. That which to many
has ben advantageous to body and
mind has been to others the means Of
financial and moral loss. The custom
is pernicious in the extreme where
scores of men in respectable life give
themselves up to betting, now on this
boat, now On that; now OF this ball
club, now on that. Betting that once
was chiefly the accompaniment of the
race course is fast becoming a national
habit, and in some circles any opinion
advanced on finance or politics is &C
costed with the interrogation, How
much will you bet on that, sir?"
This custom may make no appeal to
slow, lethargic temperaments, but there
are in the country tens Of thousands
of quick, nervous, sanguine, excitable
temperaments. ready to be acted upon,
and their feet will soon take hold on
death. For some months and perhaps
for years they will linger in the more
polite and elegant circle Of gamesters,
but after awhile their pathway will
come to the fatal plunge.
Shall l sketch the history of the
gambler? Lured by bad company, he
finds his way into a place where honest
men ought never to go. He sits down
to his first game, but only for pastime
and the desire of being thought socia-
BILE. The player deals out the cards.
They unconsciously play into Satan's
hands, who takes all the tricks and
both the players souls for trumps, he
being a sharper at any game. A slight
1 &1l-a :, -,% ~ ,.,rt RI odd irt4varf 30