Some days ago, the Rev. C. 1. Da deliver-d a sperch in the Union Church. The subject of his eldress, or s-rman, being preset at the meet, it is po-sible not to acknowledg- that the sul: with much' verve, white, at the "ame time, ing the right to admit that Of ¢ urs, from the orate's point of th- Gr urd is the pi-ce of playes appointed by Prosulenc~ for thes dis: u-sions, gambling bei ig @ view which will necessitate a great many sermons being pre"ched aga len fruits, is sweetest when it i4 a prohibited amusement, and the fact that it is illicit renders it more attractive, perhaps. Roguery has been taught by confession before now, and the more a vice is arraigned from the pulpit the more seductive it frequently seems to the uninitiated. The Church has eertainly a right to present these questions, however. The moral conscience of the community has to be kept awake, and the Minister is the man to arouse it. The voice raised against gambling in thi-meeting did not seem, howerer, to ring true. It was strongly reminiscent of the doyenne of a diplomatic body, when an address was delivered at which' the world marveled, while it listened Tu this case there seems to be an extraordinary distinction mado_between_the various species of gamblingz—gambling believed to be more or less dangerous gambling where one has to have one's senses about ons; and gambling which makes one lose them. Gambling is sam-whatever form it takes, and the major premise is, that it ix' all con-domnable. Why, then, should lotteries only be pilloried as games of chance, while card-and it is observed that fortunes change hands at every meeting, where the smallest hong ployee loses his little all with the pose and sang fraid of a millionaire, encouraged by the general example of betting?
tenioney with which Mr. Darwent regards gambling at the race meetings, palliating the offence, seemingly, by its infrequency, indicates' a deferen to the. major portion of the community quite inconsistent with the powerful against. gambling which he s advocates, when gambling form st lotteries, If the pastime is a vice, it is a vice in all cases, whether occurring twice a year, or every day and all as is the coco' in share _gambli which is a feature of Shanghai business. I venture to assert that more harm is one to the morals of the community by the peculiar s i which is. prev: that, if it is in the pi Municipal Counci! to exercise a guardian-{ship over the moral conscience of a community? Why are not the mothers urged in moving terms to protect their sons from this ater oril—this reckless risking of all their son's small cornin and the crime of rendering thi selves liable to claims they can never settle?
Does Mr. Darwent not realise that "Incky fluke" at. the races or in shares, or at cards, is as conducive to drunken: ness and licentiousness as a twin in a lotters, where the original risk has been of a fow spare dollars of superfluous cash? Anyone who has observed the "sons" of Shanghai "celebrating" after a lucky race meeting, or "consoling" themselves after an unsuccessful settlement, can have no doubt at all on the subject.
An argument brought forward agains! lotteries is that the advertising of them ie ant to pervert the minds and soil the innocence of school-boys and girls. Where is the influence, then, of the schoolmaster? And why, oh why, is the efficacy of the influence of the Ciurch, Sunday School and Bible Meeting supposed to be so weak in this case and so powerful in others? Why do they require the Munici pal Council. to come to their aid? Con sider the vices that are advertised i papers, and viewed on the streets d Consider the evils to which the south Shanghai are always exposed, living as they do in a mixed community, so much of which is a heathen population!
The children, it seems unnecessary to suggest, will take more hurt from evils which are easier of comprehension than they could from an advertisement of a lottery, which they would probably not take the trouble to read.
Let the Municipal Council exert their superfluous energy, if they have any left after thoroughly repairing the streets, in putting down the real evils of Shanzhai <the "drunkenness and licentiousness" which are already here, and which Mr. Darwent is only so far expecting, ax contant with the establishment of lotteries.
The only portion of the community to be injured by the establishment of a lottery here, would be the very poor adult residents, who are fortunately in such a small minority that they are not necessarily a consideration. There are indeed
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.