Excerpt

Excerpt from The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims. Volume 1 (of 2), by Andrew Steinmetz

Have not the gambling propensities of our forefathers influenced the
present generation?....

No doubt gambling, in the sense treated of in this book, has ceased in
England. If there be here and there a Roulette or Rouge et Noir table in
operation, its existence is now known only to a few 'sworn-brethren;'
if gambling at cards 'prevails' in certain quarters, it is 'kept quiet.'
The vice is not barefaced. It slinks and skulks away into corners and
holes, like a poisoned rat. Therefore, public morality has triumphed,
or, to use the card-phrase, 'trumped' over this dreadful abuse; and the
law has done its duty, or has reason to expect congratulation for its
success, in 'putting down' gaming houses.

But we gamble still. The gambling on the Turf (now the most uncertain
of all 'games of chance') was, lately, something that rang through and
startled the entire nation. We gamble in the funds. We gamble in endless
companies (limited)--all resulting from the same passion of our nature,
which led to the gambling of former times with cards, with dice, at
Piquet, Basset, Faro, Hazard, E O, Roulette, and Rouge et Noir. At
a recent memorable trial, the Lord Chief Justice of England
exclaimed--'There can be no doubt--any one who looks around him cannot
fail to perceive--that a spirit of speculation and gambling has taken
hold of the minds of large classes of the population. Men who were wont
to be satisfied with moderate gain and safe investments seem now to
be animated by a spirit of greed after gain, which makes them ready
to embark their fortunes, however hardly gained, in the vain hope of
realizing immense returns by premiums upon shares, and of making more
than safe and reasonable gains. We see that continually.' In fact, we
may not be a jot better morally than our forefathers. But that is no
reason why we should not frown over the story of their horrid sins,
and, 'having a good conscience,' think what sad dogs they were in their
generation--knowing, as we do, that none of us at the present day lose
FIFTY OR A HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS at play, at a sitting, in one
single night--as was certainly no very uncommon 'event' in those palmy
days of gaming; and that we could not--as was done in 1820--produce a
list of FIVE HUNDRED names (in London alone) of noblemen, gentlemen,
officers of the Army and Navy, and clergymen, who were veteran or
indefatigable gamesters, besides 'clerks, grocers, horse-dealers,
linen-drapers, silk-mercers, masons, builders, timber-merchants,
booksellers, &c., &c., and men of the very lowest walks of life,' who
frequented the numerous gaming houses throughout the metropolis--to
their ruin and that of their families more or less (as deploringly
lamented by Captain Gronow), and not a few of them, no doubt, finding
themselves in that position in which they could exclaim, at OUR
remonstrance, as feelingly as did King Richard--

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Explanation

Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims (1870) by Andrew Steinmetz

Context of the Source

Andrew Steinmetz’s The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims (1870) is a two-volume work examining the history, psychology, and social impact of gambling in England. Written during the Victorian era—a time of moral reform, industrial expansion, and shifting social norms—Steinmetz critiques both historical and contemporary gambling practices. The excerpt reflects Victorian anxieties about speculation, financial recklessness, and the persistence of gambling despite legal suppression.

The 19th century saw the decline of traditional gambling dens (due to laws like the Gaming Act of 1845, which banned most gambling houses) but also the rise of new forms of financial speculation, such as stock market gambling and betting on horse racing ("the Turf"). Steinmetz’s work sits at this transition, lamenting that while overt gambling has been driven underground, the gambling spirit persists in more "respectable" (but equally destructive) forms.

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Themes in the Excerpt

1. The Persistence of Gambling Despite Legal Suppression

   • Steinmetz acknowledges that traditional gambling (roulette, card games like Faro or Piquet) has been driven underground—no longer "barefaced" but hidden in "corners and holes, like a poisoned rat."
   • However, he argues that gambling has not disappeared; it has merely evolved into new forms (stock speculation, company shares, horse racing).
   • The Lord Chief Justice’s quote reinforces this, describing a "spirit of speculation and gambling" gripping the population, where even formerly cautious investors now chase "immense returns" recklessly.

2. Hypocrisy and Moral Self-Righteousness

   • Steinmetz critiques the Victorian tendency to condemn past generations while ignoring their own vices.
   • The passage mocks the idea that modern society is morally superior because it no longer sees public, extravagant losses (e.g., losing £50,000 in a night, as in the early 1800s).
   • Yet, he implies, modern gambling is just as destructive, albeit less visible—ruining families through financial speculation rather than card tables.

3. The Democratization of Gambling

   • In the past, gambling was associated with the aristocracy and elite (noblemen, officers, clergymen).
   • By the Victorian era, it had spread to all classes—from "grocer[s] and horse-dealer[s]" to "men of the very lowest walks of life."
   • This reflects the industrial revolution’s impact: more people had disposable income, and financial markets allowed wider participation in speculative gambling.

4. The Illusion of Progress

   • Steinmetz suggests that while laws have changed, human nature has not.
   • The gambling instinct remains, merely redirected into socially acceptable (but still risky) ventures like stock trading.
   • The reference to King Richard (likely Richard III’s famous line, "My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, / And every tongue brings in a several tale, / And every tale condemns me for a villain") underscores the guilt and ruin that gambling brings—whether in the past or present.

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Literary Devices & Stylistic Choices

1. Metaphor & Simile

   • "Like a poisoned rat" – Gambling is compared to a diseased, hiding creature, emphasizing its sly, corrupting nature.
   • "Public morality has trumped" – A card metaphor ("trumped" meaning to overcome in a card game), reinforcing the book’s gambling theme while suggesting moral victory is superficial.

2. Irony & Sarcasm

   • Steinmetz mockingly congratulates the law for "putting down" gaming houses, only to immediately undercut this by showing how gambling persists in other forms.
   • The list of professions (clerks, grocers, clergymen, etc.) who gambled in the past is exhaustive and almost comical, highlighting how widespread the vice was—and still is, just in different forms.

3. Juxtaposition

   • Past vs. Present Gambling:
     • Then: Extravagant, public losses (£50,000 in a night).
     • Now: "Respectable" speculation (stocks, companies) that is just as ruinous but less obvious.
   • Elite vs. Common Gamblers:
     • The 1820 list includes noblemen and clergymen alongside tradesmen, showing gambling’s class-blind destructiveness.

4. Allusion

   • King Richard’s lament – Likely referencing Shakespeare’s Richard III, where the king is consumed by guilt. This ties gambling to moral decay and self-destruction.
   • "The Turf" – Refers to horse racing, a major gambling venue in Victorian England, symbolizing how gambling had migrated from cards to "sport."

5. Rhetorical Questions & Direct Address

   • "Have not the gambling propensities of our forefathers influenced the present generation?" – Engages the reader, forcing them to confront the continuity of vice.
   • "We may not be a jot better morally than our forefathers" – A challenging statement, implying that modern society is delusional in its sense of moral superiority.

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Significance of the Excerpt

1. Critique of Victorian Hypocrisy

   • The Victorians prided themselves on moral progress, but Steinmetz exposes how gambling simply took new forms.
   • The stock market boom (and subsequent crashes) of the 19th century proved that speculation was just as dangerous as old-fashioned gambling.

2. Warning About Financial Speculation

   • Steinmetz predicts the dangers of unchecked capitalism, where greed and risk-taking lead to economic ruin.
   • His words resonate today in discussions of stock market bubbles, cryptocurrency gambling, and financial crises.

3. Historical Continuity of Human Vice

   • The passage suggests that laws can suppress behaviors but not desires.
   • Gambling, whether in cards, stocks, or sports, is a timeless human weakness, merely adapting to new circumstances.

4. Class and Social Mobility

   • The democratization of gambling reflects broader 19th-century changes:
     • The middle class had more money to risk.
     • Industrialization created new ways to gamble (e.g., investing in railways, companies).
   • Yet, as Steinmetz notes, this did not make gambling less destructive—it just spread the risk wider.

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Conclusion: Why This Excerpt Matters

Steinmetz’s passage is a scathing indictment of human nature’s inability to escape vice, even when society claims to have "progressed." While traditional gambling houses were shut down, the same reckless spirit simply found new outlets in financial markets and betting. His ironic tone, vivid metaphors, and historical comparisons make the excerpt not just a Victorian moral lesson, but a timeless warning about the dangers of speculation, greed, and self-deception.

In modern terms, one could draw parallels to:

• Day trading and meme stocks (e.g., GameStop, Bitcoin)
• Sports betting apps (legalized but still addictive)
• Economic bubbles (e.g., the 2008 financial crisis)

Steinmetz’s message is clear: Gambling doesn’t disappear—it just changes its disguise.

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Questions

Question 1

The passage’s comparison of gambling to a "poisoned rat" that "slinks and skulks away into corners and holes" serves primarily to:

A. evoke sympathy for the plight of gamblers forced into secrecy by oppressive laws.
B. illustrate the physical decay of gambling establishments in Victorian England.
C. suggest that gambling, though less visible, remains a corrosive and persistent force.
D. contrast the vibrancy of historical gambling with the stagnation of modern speculation.
E. imply that gambling, like vermin, is a natural and unavoidable part of human society.

Question 2

The Lord Chief Justice’s remark about "a spirit of speculation and gambling" taking hold of "large classes of the population" is most effectively used by Steinmetz to:

A. undermine the notion that modern society has morally transcended the excesses of the past.
B. provide legal justification for the continued suppression of traditional gambling houses.
C. highlight the economic benefits of widespread investment in limited companies.
D. argue that financial speculation is a more sophisticated and less harmful form of gambling.
E. demonstrate that gambling is now primarily a working-class rather than an aristocratic vice.

Question 3

The passage’s reference to King Richard’s lament ("at OUR remonstrance") functions rhetorically to:

A. invoke a sense of historical inevitability in the decline of gambling cultures.
B. align the modern reader with the moral authority of medieval monarchy.
C. underscore the timeless and universal experience of ruin and regret caused by gambling.
D. suggest that gambling’s consequences are now less severe than in previous eras.
E. contrast the dramatic losses of the past with the more modest financial risks of the present.

Question 4

Steinmetz’s enumeration of professions ("clerks, grocers, horse-dealers, linen-drapers, silk-mercers, masons, builders, timber-merchants, booksellers, &c., &c.") is most strategically employed to:

A. emphasize the respectability of gambling as a cross-class social activity.
B. demonstrate the economic diversity that sustained traditional gaming houses.
C. argue that gambling was primarily a working-class phenomenon in the 19th century.
D. reveal the pervasive and democratized nature of gambling’s appeal and destruction.
E. provide a nostalgic catalog of occupations now lost to industrial modernization.

Question 5

The passage’s closing juxtaposition of past extravagant losses ("FIFTY OR A HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS at play") with modern financial speculation most effectively serves to:

A. celebrate the prudence of contemporary investors compared to reckless historical gamblers.
B. expose the delusion of moral progress by showing that modern gambling is equally ruinous, albeit less spectacular.
C. argue that financial markets have made gambling more accessible and therefore less damaging.
D. suggest that the absence of public scandal indicates a genuine improvement in societal ethics.
E. imply that the scale of financial ruin in the past was exaggerated for dramatic effect.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: C

Why C is most correct: The metaphor of gambling as a "poisoned rat" that "slinks and skulks" is vividly pejorative, emphasizing its persistent, hidden, and corrosive nature. The imagery suggests that while gambling may no longer be "barefaced," it remains active and destructive, merely driven underground. This aligns with Steinmetz’s broader argument that gambling has not been eradicated but adapted into new, equally harmful forms (e.g., stock speculation). The "poisoned" descriptor reinforces the idea of lingering toxicity, even when the vice is less visible.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: The tone is not sympathetic but disdainful; Steinmetz does not frame gamblers as victims of oppressive laws but as perpetrators of self-destruction.
• B: The metaphor is not about physical decay of buildings but the moral and social persistence of gambling.
• D: The passage does not contrast vibrancy with stagnation; if anything, it suggests modern gambling is more insidious because it is disguised as respectable speculation.
• E: The comparison to vermin is not naturalizing gambling as inevitable but condemning it as a blight that should be eradicated (yet persists).

2) Correct answer: A

Why A is most correct: Steinmetz uses the Lord Chief Justice’s remark to undercut the Victorian self-congratulation about moral progress. The quote explicitly states that a "spirit of speculation and gambling" has taken hold of "large classes," directly contradicting the idea that modern society is morally superior to the past. This reinforces Steinmetz’s ironic tone: while people may "frown over the story of [their forefathers’] horrid sins," they engage in equally reckless behavior under the guise of financial investment.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• B: The passage does not endorse legal suppression; it suggests laws have failed to address the root problem.
• C: Steinmetz is criticizing, not praising, the economic consequences of speculation.
• D: He does not argue that financial speculation is less harmful—in fact, he implies it is just as destructive.
• E: The passage does not limit modern gambling to the working class; it describes a broad societal shift affecting all classes.

3) Correct answer: C

Why C is most correct: The allusion to King Richard’s lament (likely Shakespeare’s Richard III, Act V, Scene iii) serves to universalize the experience of gambling-induced ruin. Richard’s line—"My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, / And every tongue brings in a several tale, / And every tale condemns me for a villain"—evokes guilt, regret, and self-condemnation, emotions Steinmetz implies are timeless for gamblers. By invoking this, he suggests that modern gamblers (or speculators) are no different from historical figures in their eventual remorse.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: The reference is not about inevitability but about shared human frailty.
• B: Steinmetz is not aligning readers with medieval morality; he is criticizing their hypocrisy.
• D: The passage does not downplay modern consequences—in fact, it suggests they are equally severe.
• E: The losses may be less spectacular, but the emotional and financial ruin remains comparable.

4) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The exhaustive list of professions—ranging from noblemen and clergymen to masons and booksellers—demonstrates that gambling was not confined to any single class but was a pervasive, democratized vice. This underscores Steinmetz’s argument that gambling’s appeal (and destruction) was widespread, affecting all levels of society. The list also foreshadows the modern era, where financial speculation has similarly democratized risk-taking.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: The passage does not celebrate gambling’s cross-class appeal; it condemns its universality.
• B: The focus is not on economic sustainability but on the breadth of participation.
• C: Gambling was not primarily working-class; the list includes elites and professionals.
• E: The catalog is not nostalgic but critical, highlighting the scale of societal corruption.

5) Correct answer: B

Why B is most correct: The juxtaposition of past extravagant losses (£50,000 in a night) with modern financial speculation serves to expose the delusion of moral progress. Steinmetz argues that while modern gambling may lack the theatrical scandal of the past, it is no less ruinous—just more disguised. The passage mocks the idea that society is "better" because the losses are less publicly spectacular, when in reality, the underlying greed and destruction persist.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: Steinmetz does not celebrate modern prudence; he mockingly undermines it.
• C: He does not argue that modern gambling is less damaging—in fact, he suggests it is more pervasive.
• D: The absence of scandal is not evidence of improvement but of hypocrisy.
• E: The passage does not suggest past losses were exaggerated; it uses them as a benchmark to critique modern complacency.