hat is to say, our
desire of having more; it flatters our vanity by the idea of preference
that fortune gives us, and of the attention that others pay to our
success; it satisfies our curiosity, giving us a spectacle; in short, it
gives us the different pleasures of surprise.

Certain it is that the passion for gambling easily gets deeply rooted,
and that it cannot be easily eradicated. The most exquisite melody, if
compared with the music of dice, is then but discord; and the finest
prospect in nature only a miserable blank when put in competition with
the attractions of the 'honours' at a rubber of Whist.

Wealth is the general centre of inclination. Whatever is the ultimate
design, the immediate care is to be rich. No desire can be formed
which riches do not assist to gratify. They may be considered as the
elementary principles of pleasure, which may be combined with endless
diversity. There are nearer ways to profit than up the steeps of labour.
The prospect of gaining speedily what is ardently desired, has so
far prevailed upon the passions of mankind, that the peace of life is
destroyed by a general and incessant struggle for riches. It is observed
of gold by an old epigrammatist, that to have is to be in fear; and
to want it is to be in sorrow. There is no condition which is not
disquieted either with the care of gaining or keeping money.

No nation has exceeded ours in the pursuit of gaming. In former
times--and yet not more than 30 or 40 years ago--the passion for play
was predominant among the highest classes.

Genius and abilities of the highest order became its votaries; and the
very framers of the laws against gambling were the first to fall under
the temptation of their breach! The spirit of gambling pervaded every
inferior order of society. The gentleman was a slave to its indulgence;
the merchant and the mechanic were the dupes of its imaginary prospects;
it engrossed the citizen and occupied the rustic. Town and country
became a prey to its despotism. There was scarcely an obscure village to
be found wherein this bewitching basilisk did not exercise its powers of
fascination and destruction.

Gaming in England became rather a science than an amusement of social
intercourse. The 'doctrine of chances' was studied with an assiduity
that would have done honour to better subjects; and calculations were
made on arithmetical and geometrical principles, to determine the
degrees of probability attendant on