The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1916-05-18
THE PEOPLES FORUM.
GAMBLING.

/ ulOiICy YET Truly IOfSS his IdIully, DUl
the gambler is devoid of love and home
is not attractive. 1t plays havoc with
the virtues, quenches religious feelings;
prayer, the Bible and Christ are moth
ing to the professional gambler. He is
deaf to the plea for pity or mercy. His
heart is consumed by the fire of the
play and conscience is scared. This is
the end We shall see the beginning
by and by.
One says. Tine finished gambler has
no heart, he would play at his brother 5
funeral and gamble on his mother S
coffin" Another declares, that gam
bling palsies the heart and so effectually
silences the voice of conscience that a
man may commit any crime and feel nc
remorse. Satan as he sees their deal
lngs may well be proud of them and re-
gard them with sort of deferential re-
spect, as one master gazes at a superior.
The poet says,
"Where'er the gaming board is set,
Two classes of mankind are met;
But if we count the greedy race,
The knaves fill up the greater space. -
1t looks we'll at a distance but it is
armed with lances that cut body and
soul. Flee this thing for there's death
in it. What is the connection between
this and card playing as carried on in
society? Society's pet game is but the
beginning of this evil. No harm in
playing cards! True they are harmless
in themselves, but what are their as
sociations? What do they represent?
Every argument against the wine cup
holds against cards and but for the love
of fashion and lack of intellectual and
spiritual occupation no Christian would
think of patronizing the card table.
Should goddess fashion dictate that we
pierce the nose for a jeweled ring; or
hobble about with pinched foot like a
Chinese, there would be plenty of
votarles, just as there were for the
Kangaroo dip, or the hustle that made
them look like a relative of the camel.
If madame fashion should dictate any
foolish thing there would be thousands
ready to lay down their heads at her
bidding. So when the devil sends forth
the imp fashion to say to society people.
world lovers, and pleasure seekers its
the proper thing to play progressive
eucher, she can count on a grand rally
in which some and a goodly number of
church members will join.
But it is fashionable. So what diff
ference does it make if one hundred or
a thousand are swept down the rapids
to the gulf below. Society consoled
herself by denouncing them as fools or
dummies. 1t was their own fault. The
piously trained are always in danger.
Thousands may be ruined but the in
stltutlon remains. 1t is in the parlor
and the den; on the cars and aboard the
steamers; in hotel drawing rooms, and
in camps, at watering places and pic
MICS, in the woods and behind the shed.
by day and by night, in summer and
winter. The cards look innocent but
they represent variety of games which
are unified in the card table which is
supported by avarice, infatuation and
fashion in society, then by fascination
worse than the serpent's eye, then the
fever which neither love nor reason can
allay. Shall Christians countenance it?
We do not discuss it from a worldly
stand point. 1t is the worldlings part
to have good time, to live for self,
not for others, and to crafty their de-
sire for pleasure. You NAV talk of
policy and claim that you must make
compromises to win an unconverted
friend, but you know it can't be done
in that way
You can't separate the individual
from the institution itself Progress
i've Eucherl What is 1t? Gambling
that is all. An eminent writer and
SHAIoNAAh says, lie PAIN " lIlc inner
most hell of gambling is through the
clover blossom of fashionable card
playing. Many of the victims of the
gambling dens today were on a votaries
in parlors when no stakes were set up
and people were bent on fun or to pass
the time agreeably, or be in the fashion
Suppose you refuse to indulge will that
impair your character, or influence and
will you lose anything by refusal? Will
you forfeit spiritual discernment or the
confidence of good people. The card
table has no good but much evil to Its
credit no matter where it is found
In its most innocent forms it is the
picket line of an evil army. Why are
church people of the more consistent
sort against it? Why do church bodies
pass stringent resolutions against it?
Why are appeals made against it and
why are Christian culture against gam
bling? Why are these practices given
up in times of Lent-always so-and all
the year by Christians who believe that
what might be coducive to worldliness
for forty days in the spring is equally
harmful IN tho cnir,tuoI ffa or, opu and