This crime is no newborn sprite, but a haggard transgression that
comes staggering down under a mantle of curses through many centuries.
All nations, barbarous and civilized, have been addicted to it. Before
1838, the French government received revenue from gaming houses.
In 1567, England, for the improvement of her harbors, instituted a
lottery, to be held at the front door of St. Paul's Cathedral. Four
hundred thousand tickets were sold, at ten shillings each. The
British Museum and Westminster Bridge were partially built by similar
procedures. The ancient Germans would sometimes put up themselves and
families as prizes, and suffer themselves to be bound, though stronger
than the persons who won them.
But now the laws of the whole civilized world denounce the system.
Enactments have been passed, but only partially enforced. The men
interested in gaming houses wield such influence, by their numbers and
affluence, that the judge, the jury, and the police officer must
be bold indeed who would array themselves against these infamous
establishments.
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