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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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the patrons of the amusement of playing with cards say that they are indifferent whether they win or lose ? Why , then , risk any thing , even the lowest sum , if indifference is pleaded here ? But you do not believe a plea that offers violence to your senses : you have witnessed , as well as myself , the eager anxiety that is generally manifested among card-players about winning the game—that is , in other words , to covet the property of their associates ; and is this becoming the character of a Christian minister ? Is it worthy of your holy function to " become the associate of the profane and worthless at the cardtable , whose oaths and imprecations often eat as doth a canker ?
It really appears to me inconsistent with the character of a minister to encourage ^ by his presence and practice , a species of gaming that must disturb his own peace of mind , or that of his neighbours ; for it is in vain to plead indifference on such
occasions . The very essence of the temptation to sit at < cards isthe hope and wish of gain ! I say nothing here of the dishonourable means which are frequently employed in . order to obtain this end . I pass by the agitated state the mind is too often seen inf when the issue is doubtful , and of the settled gloom and distress when it proves unfavourable . And should a minister of Christ cherish a practice that he might easily avoid , which is certain to ruffle his mind , and disqualify him to attend to the several duties of his station ? A consistent minister of the New Testament abounds in prayer- Prayer—the Bible—and the card-table ! What an association ! The many evil passions excited at the latter unfits our attention to the former .
Ah , Sir ! there is no communion betwixt light and darknessthere is no concord betwixt the prayer of the righteous man and the card-table ! The one it is to be apprehended , will be generally relinquished where the other is retained . You shudder , I knowj at the alternative ; for you are devqut , and look to the life of your Master to sanction your own . I cannot , therefore ^ be so unfriendly to your moral feelings as to advise you to leara from your own experience , that the card-table is unfavourable to true religion : the danger is too great .
Hitherto I have only noticed a few personal inconveniences 'to a minister who is a lover of cards ; but this is not the only unfavourable view in which this amusementexhibits itself . You are about to enter into the social life . May you be happy in it ! But , to secure this happiness ^ you m ust follow the
ri ^ ht way . Regularity and order enter essentially into domestic bliss : but do we find this regularity , or this order , in the families where card-parties are prevalent ? Seldom ^ I believe How often do we find in these families the hour of prayer giving way \ o the finishing of a rubber ! Here Gqd is neglected 1
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536 On Dissenting Ministers playing , &t Cdrd $ *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1806, page 536, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1729/page/32/
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