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Inconsiderate slander appears to proceed chiefly from two motives. First, many people slander others, merely because they think it exhibits their own character to belter advantage. They wish the faults of their neighbors to serve as a cloak for their own, and also, by way of contrast, to render their virtuesthe more conspicuous. It is probable that most slanderers feel a secret pride in thinking that they are free when they happen to be sofrom the vices which they censure in others. In the second place, it seems likely that some, especially persons of a loquacious turn, slander their neighbors merely for the sake of having something to talk about. Having formed a habit of loquacity, and being at a loss for topics of conversation, they have recourse to that prolific theme, which is never exhausted. It is lamentable indeed, that the education of any should be so neglected, that they should ever find themselves reduced to the unhappy alternativeof either sayingnothing or slandering their neighbors. Such slander as this, almost innocent as it may appear at first view, shows not only a destitution of mental furniture, but of sober reflection and virtuous principles.

CHAPTER

XI.

Lotteries and Gambling. There are two kinds of games; games of chance and games of skill. A game at chess or at bat-and-ball, is a game of skill. A game at hustling or at throwing up cents, is a game of chance. A game at cards or at ninepins, is a game partly of skill and partly of chance. To

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play for money, or any thing equivalent to money, whether in a game of chance or of skill, is called gambling. A lottery, strictly speaking, is a game of chance; differing, however, in two or three respects, from common games of chance. In the latter, those who engage in the play, have all an equal chance for gaining or losing; but in a lottery, the managers are sure to be gainers, and the purchasers of tickets, taken collectively, are sure to be losers. I n common games, the winners and losers manage the game entirely between themselves ; but in a lottery, those who incur the risk, have the game managed for them, by individuals who see to it that they are well paid for their trouble. In common games, the- business is conducted in a private way, and between a few individuals; but lotteries are carried on in a public manner, on a larger scale, and generally under the sanction of the civil law. Since, therefore, a lottery is a game of chance, in whif h money or other valuable property is to be lost or won, it comes strictly under the definition of gambling. That legislators should see fit to authorize lottery systems, does not alter their nature and tendency. A thing may be legal, and yet immoral and ruinous. I f a thing is evil in itself, to give it the sanction of law only increases the evil. The evils of common gambling being generally acknowledged and the practice generally reprobated, the remarks now to be made will be chiefly confined to the nature and tendency of lottery systems. 1. Lotteries occasion a great waste of lime. We will leave out of the account the time which the managers of lotteries and the venders of tickets must devote to their employment. 'By this craft they have their wealth.' The expenditure of time on the part of those who purchase tickets, claims our chief attention. This being a more

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numerous class of individuals, whose time is generally of more value to their families, and who, collectively considered, are sure to receive no equivalent for the time and money of which the lottery system deprives them, the loss becomes a more serious injury to the public. Let us glance at some of the items which go to make up the amount of time consumed by the purchase of tickets. In the first place, some time must be spent in deliberating whether to buy a ticket or not-whether to buy a whole ticket or a part of oneand whether to buy a ticket in this lottery or in that. During this deliberation, lottery advertisements, in the newspapers and elsewhere, must be read, the schemes of various lotteries compared, and the subject talked over with one's family, friends, and neighbors. After the ticket has been purchased, and the drawing has commenced, an equal or greater portion of time must be spent in obtaining intelligence in regard to the blanks and prizes that are drawn from day to day, and in talking and thinking about the constantly brightening prospect of drawing a handsome prize. And when, to this state.of suspense, which half unfits the man for the discharge of his ordinary duties, an end is put by drawing a blank, or some petty prize, the evil is only begun. I f he draws a blank, he feels as if he could not afford to lose the money he gave for his ticket, and he must purchase another with the hope of better luck. The next blank that turns up, produces the same feeling in a two-fold degree ; and he thinks it cannot be that ill luck will attend him three times in succession. The third disappointment stings him more deeply ; but he has gone too far to go back. Why should not he draw a prize as well as such and such a one 1 Besides, he is afraid of being laughed at and despised, if he should give up now. It would look like an acknowledgment of poverty, or like pusillanimity and want of spirit.

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He ventures again, and is again disappointed ; but the disappointment only inspires him with the desperate resolution of persevering till he draws a prize large enough to recompense him a hundred-fold for all his losses. Thus he goes on, each succeeding disappointment only serving to increase his infatuation, till, by the combined influence of buying tickets and neglecting his proper business, his pecuniary affairs become embarrassed, and his family, perhaps, is reduced to want. It is not meant, that every unfortunate adventurer goes so far as this; but that such is the infatuating nature of that hope which trusts to a lottery as a means of acquiring wealth. Individuals of a less sanguine temperament, are driven to despair at an earlier stage of their career ; and some are rendered wise enough, by two or three failures, t^ resolve never again to build their hopes on the wheel of Fortune. The preceding remarks have been made on the supposition that the result of every adventure is a blank. But it is seldom that this is the case. If several tickets are purchased, the probability is, that some one of them will draw a prize nearly sufficient to repay the adventurer for the money which he has expended. This partial success, however, produces an effect worse than if nothing but blanks had been drawn. It inspires a double confidence, that the next ticket will bring a larger prize,as the purchaser has now some evidence that he is one of the " favorites of Fortune." Hence, drawing a small prize occasionally, is only an ignis fuluus, which lures its victim to more certain destruction. 2. Lotteries occasion a great loss of property. This is evident from what has been already said. " Time is money." Just so far as the lottery adventurer wastes his time and neglects the appropriate duties and labors of his station, his pecuniary interest suffers. But this is not all. 12

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Even if no loss of time or neglect of business resulted from the purchase of tickets, there is still an inevitable loss of money. It is well known, that the amount of all the prizes is very far from being equal to the cost of all the tickets. The managers and ticket venders must live by their trade, (and the trade is said to be a very lucrative one to those whose consciences will suffer them to engage in i t ; ) and a small sum must also be reserved to promote the ostensible object of the lottery. Now, it is evident, that the purchasers of tickets must sustain a loss equal to the difference between the amount of all the prizes and the cost of all the tickets. I f this loss were equally divided among them, no man would buy a ticket. To the purchase of every ticket, a definite amount of certain loss would be attached. And in what respect is the case better, as lotteries are actually managed ] It is no better ; nor can it be viewed so by any, except those who have so little skill in arithmetic, as not to understand the " doctrine of chances.',' Instead of the certainty of a smoll loss, there is a possibility of gain, which is more than cancelled by the probability of a greater loss. The whole body of purchasers must inevitably suffer a certain amount of loss, (and not a small amount, neither;) and if one of them bears less than his share of it, some other must bear more than his share; and if one, or a few, instead of losing, become gainers, this very gain, too, comes out of the pockets of the other purchasers. It is susceptible of mathematical demonstration, that the possibility of gaining and the probability of losing, attached to a ticket, being added together, are precisely equivalent to a certainty, that the purchaser will sustain a loss equal to his share of the sum total of loss which must be sustained by the whole body of purchasers. As so many purchase tickets, influenced by the hope of gain, and even by the expectation of acquiring wealth, it

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may be well to show, if possible, still more clearly, the delusive nature of such a hope and the unreasonableness of such an expectation. A man holds a ticket in a certain lottery. It is evident, that if the drawing is conducted honestly, every other ticket in the lottery has the same chance of drawing the highest or any other given prize, as the one which he holds. In other words, the chances or probabilities of losing or gaining, attached to all the tickets, are equal. I f it is a wise calculation, then, to buy one ticket, it must be equally so for the same man to buy a second ticket in the same lottery ; because this second ticket has as good a chance of drawing a prize, as the first. For precisely the same reason, it is equally wise to buy a third and a. fourth ; and the greater number of tickets he buys, the more wisely he acts ; because every additional ticket is worth just as much to him as the first. Whatever degree of probability of making a fortune the possession of one ticket gave him, the possession of one hundred tickets increases this probability one hundred-fold. And supposing the whole lottery to consist of 10,000 tickets, whatever wisdom and good calculation he may have manifested in buying one ticket, he will manifest 10,000 times as much of the same qualities, would his pecuniary means allow, by buying up the whole lottery. He would then be sure to draw the highest prize, and all the others with it. But where, in the mean time, is the " splendid fortune" which this noble adventurer is to secure ? A short process in subtraction will furnish an answer. In ordinary cases, men act according to apparent probabilities. I f the prospect of advantage in-any enterprise, appears to be less than the prospect of injury, the enterprise is abandoned. Every man, in his senses, must acknowledge, that such an enterprise ought to be abandoned. Yet, in just such an enterprise does he embark, who buys a ticket

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in a lottery. Although there is a possibility of gaining, yet the probability of losing is so much greater, that, on the whole, there is a probability that the man will be a loser by the bargain ; and the more tickets he buys, the nearer this probability approaches to absolute certainty. It must, therefore, be an act of folly, to buy a ticket, influenced by the hope of drawing a prize, until a lottery scheme shall appear, in which the value of the prizes exceeds the price of all the tickets. And the men who should make such a lottery, would manifest as rational a regard to their own pecuniary interest, as the purchasers of tickets now do. The great inducement, with many, to purchase a ticket, is the possibility of drawing a high prize. But it should be remembered, that the greater is the prize on which the eye of hope is fixed, the greater is the number of chances against drawing it. The high prizes are as much less in number, as each one is greater in amount. The chance of drawing one of the lowest prizes, numerous as they are, is not worth the price of a ticket, because the blanks are so much more numerous. And the chance of drawing a high prize, is of no greater value. 3. Lotteries are attended with a species of superstition and impiety. All the idle talk about " lucky tickets" and the " favorites of Fortune," savors more of paganism, than of Christianity. In pagan Greece and Rome, Fortune was regarded as one of their many deities. And our lottery folks would fain persuade their deluded votaries, that Fortune is a real goddess, on whose favor and aid they may safely rely. Surely, somuch.is not said in this strain without any meaning ; and the only meaning that can be attached to such language, is one which is equally in opposition to reason and scripture. The object appears to be, to spread a delusion over the minds of the ignorant

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and unthinking, and produce an impression on each purchaser, that he is more likely than others to draw a prize. But on what ground is this hope built ? I f the chances are not all equal, it must be owing either to fraud in the managers of the lottery, or to some supernatural interposition. I f the lottery is fairly conducted, nothing can give one ticket a greater probability of drawing than another, but the agency of some invisible being, setting aside the ordinary laws of nature. Many holders of lottery tickets seem to have a secret expectation that such an agency will be exerted in their behalf, though they would be ashamed to avow it, and have probably no very definite ideas on the subject. 4. Lotteries and gambling tend t> destroy habits of industry and to produce a dipravation of morals. That lotteries tend to destroy habits of industry, was made evident by our remarks on the ' the waste of time' which they occasion. But there is another view of the subject, which is worthy of consideration. It is a wise appointment of Providence, that property shalj be ordinarily acquired by industry, economy, and good calculation. So long as a man relies on his own efforts and talents to ob* tain a subsistence or to accumulate wealth, he will naturally exhibit an assiduous, uniform, and persevering application to his business, whatever it may be. But just so soon as he begins to dream of obtaining riches from some other source, he begins to neglect those means on which he has hitherto relied ; his ordinary business grows irksome ; he remits his accustomed efforts, and becomes idle and irregular in his habits.Such is the natural tendency of lotteries ; and by common gambling, the same effects are produced in a still greater degree. 5. Lotteries increase the inequality in the distribution of property.- ft is justly considered as one cause of the 12 *

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superior prosperity and happiness of our country, that the distribution of property is much less unequal than in most other civilized nations. We are free, not only from an aristocracy of power, rank, and privilege, but also from an aristocracy of wealth. Instead of having a few men immensely rich, and all the rest sunk in abject poverty, the great mass of our community enjoy that easy competence, that happy mediocrity of condition, which affords the best security to virtue and the surest means of felicity. But lotteries are continually destroying this desirable equilibrium in the condition of men. They are continually exhausting the sources of comfort in the lower classes, and pouring a flood of wealth on here and there an individual, who perhaps had enough before, or who does not deserve, or does not know how to use, his sudden affluence. 6. Lotteries injure those whom they enrich, as well as those whom they impoverish. It is a maxim, confirmed both by the dictates of wisdom and the decisions of experience, that that property is of the greatest service to its possessor, which is acquired in a gradual manner and by his own efforts. How often have we seen a youth injured in his morals and in his temporal prosperity, by being heir to a la/ge estate. How often does the son of a rich man prove to be a prodigal, who ' wastes his substance with riotous living.' Such effects on the character and habits are easily accounted for. If, then, the expectation and the subsequent possession of a large inheritance, prove so injurious, much greater will the injury probably be, when a man, by the chances of a lottery, is suddenly made the possessor of a ' splendid fortune,' which his education and habits have, prepared him neither" to use nor to enjoy. 7. Lotteries and gambling afford peculiar temptations and facilities f o r the practice of fraud. It is a common remark, that gamhlers are notorious for cheating; and

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that the young and inexperienced often become victims to the knavery of older and more practised villains. The temptations and facilities for the practice of fraud by the managers of lotteries and the venders of tickets, are evidently quite as great, as among common gamblers. How far those gentlemen have sufficient strength of moral principle to resist these temptations and to abstain from availing themselves of these facilities, it is not easy to say. It has been stated, however, on apparently good authority, that lotteries are scarcely, if at all, more exempt from fraudulent practices, than other species of gambling. In our preceding remarks on the pernicious effects of lotteries, we have all along supposed them to be conducted with perfect fairness and integrity. If, however, the reverse of this is the case, as there- is much reason to believe, it is evident, that our representations of the tendency of lottery systems to produce a depravation of morals and to impoverish the unsuspecting purchasers of tickets, fall far below the truth. 8. Lotteries and gambling tend to excite bad passions, and, partlcular'y, tn foster the principle of selfishness. It is natural to expect, that he who has abandoned all trust in the blessing of Heaven on the ordinary means of acquiring property, and all reliance on his own efforts, and who has placed his hope of gain on he knows not what, will, when this hope is disappointed, be far from feeling a spirit of resignation to his lot. This expectation is verified in the outbreakings of unhallowed temper which are often witnessed at the gambling table. Similar in kind, though usually less in degree, are the feelings that are frequently excited by the disappointments which lotteries occasion. The hope of drawing a prize, is, at the best, but a selfish one. He who buys a ticket, knows that whatever he may gain by drawing a prize, must come out of the

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pockets of his neighbors. The wish to be a gainer himself, is, therefore, virtually a wish that others may be losers. This is true of every species of gambling; and would be true of lotteries, even if the amount of all the prizes was equal to the cost of all the tickets. When the merchant or manufacturer receives money for the articles which he offers for sale, or the professional man for his services, those who pay the money, sustain no loss, because they receive an equivalent in return. So far from sustaining a loss, they obtain, for their money, those things which are essential.to their comfort and happiness. But wh6n a man gets money by gambling, or by a lottery ticket, the case is totally different. Those, from whom the money comes, receive, in return, no equivalent whatever. All their remuneration is in having their hopes blasted, and, perhaps, their evil passions excited. The loss they sustain is as complete, and their sensations of regret, and sometimes of resentment, are as poignant, as if the money had been taken from them by a thief, or a robber, or a cheat. When I purchase an article of another, and pay him for it, I feel that I have done him a favor and obtained an accommodation to myself. By such an intercourse, a mutual favor is conferred, and mutual feelings' of kindness are excited. But if I take advantage of my neighbor's ignorance to sell him an article for twice its value, how different are my feelings toward him! The feeling which prompts to such an act, is covetous and selfish in a high degree. And when I think of him whom I have thus defrauded, it can be only with feelings of hatred,unless, by being brought to repentance, I resolve to confess my crime and.make restitution. Almost equally covetous and selfish are the motives which actuate the gambler and the lottery adventurer; and almost equally malignant are the feelings which are often reciprocated between the winners and the losers.

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9. There is something irrational and absurd in the very idea of transferring money from one person to another by lot, or by a game whether of chance or of skill. Suppose you and I have each a ten-dollar bill, and I say to you, " Let us put these bills together, and decide by lot which shall have them both.'' But why should not each keep and use his own money ? I f we both equally need our money, it is evidently best that each should retain his own. I f you are in want of ten dollars, and I have that sum to spare, freely to give it to you would be an act noble and generous; but to afford you an opportunity to obtain it by lot, while you at the same time stand an equal chance to be distressed by the loss of the ten dollars which you now have, so far from being a favor, seems to be rather a piece of mockery. Are we both in affluent circumstances, and wish to transfer a little money merely as a mark of frftndship ? Let it then be given as a mark of friendship. A present, bestowed in a suitable manner, will excite feelings of gratitude and of reciprocal attachment; but no man regards it as a mark of friendship in another, to invite him to sit down and gamble with him. Equally irrational is it, to suspend the transfer of a sum of money on the result of a game of skill. Suppose I say to you, " I f you will throw a stone so as to hit that apple on yonder tree, I will give you ten dollars." The stone is thrown ; the apple falls ; and I pay the money. But have you done any thing to earn or merit the money ?or have I received any equivalent for it? Would the folly be any less, on my part, if I cast the money into the street, and left it to be picked up by the first passenger that happened to see it TSuppose I had farther said, " I f you do not hit the apple, you shall give me a dollar ;" and suppose the stone, on being thrown, had missed its mark. What rightful claim have I to the dollar?or what crime is

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there in a little want of dexterity, that you should deserve to forfeit that sum 1 Surely none ; and a transfer of money on such a ground, is palpably unjust, as well as irrational and absurd.The case we have just considered, is what is commonly called a bet or wager, and differs from a game only in the greater simplicity and brevity of the process by which a result is obtained. Laying a bet or wager, therefore, may properly be termed a species of gambling, its nature and tendency being precisely the same. I f it is reasonable and right to suffer the distribution of property to be regulated by chance, it is equally so, to manage our other business in the same manner. Suppose, then, that instead of a money lottery, we were to have a civil or political one, in which the office of chief magistrate should be t\% highest prize, while the smaller prizes consisted of the various subordinate offices of power and trust. The tickets would probably sell well; and all the trouble and mischief of electioneering would be spared. "But this would not do at all," say you ; " for not one in ten of the men thus raised to office, would be fit for the station." Very true; and is not the distribution of property by a lottery equally unwise ? Would not ninetenths of those who draw high prizes, be better without them 1 And are not nine-tenths of those who draw blanks, really injured by the loss*? The absurdity and folly, in the two cases, are the same in kind, and differ only in degree. The difference is, that it is a less injury to the public, that a fool or a knave should draw a prize of 10,000 dollars, though a thousand poor men are made poorer in order to obtain the money,than that he should be raised to high political preferment. The practical inference to be drawn from the view that has been taken of the subject of this chapter, is, that

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every thing ought to be avoided, which tends to encourage or uphold lotteries or any species of gambling. All games of chance have this tendency. Such games,a fondness for which, in the young, is frequently regarded as a source of innocent pleasure,produce precisely that effect on the mind, which prepares the individual to become eventually a ruined gambler, or at least an infatuated lottery adventurer. When children and youth, in games of chance or skill, ' play for something,' however small in value, they are taking the first step in a path, which may lead to ruin temporal and eternal. A child should not be allowed to gamble even for a pin. Is this a needless degree of scrupulosity ? Those will not think so, -who know the powerful influence of early impressions and early habits. Let us be consistent. I f we would avoid evil, let us shun the path that leads to it. The lady, who accepts a ticket when offered as a present,the printer, who suffers tickets to be printed in his office,the proprietor of a newspaper, who admits lottery advertisements into his columns,the parent, who patronizes such a paper and brings it into his house, are all doing that which an enlightened conscience must condemn.

CHAPTER X I I .
O f Rights. " Right and obligation," says Dr. Paley, " are reciprocal ; that is, wherever there is a right in one person, there is a corresponding obligation upon others. I f one man has a ' right' to an estate, others are under ' obligation' to abstain from i t ; if parents have a" ' right' to rever-