cunctatio longa est.[15]

[15] Aelian, Var. Hist. lib. XLIV. c. xiii.; Juvenal, Sat. vi.



Tolomnius, King of the Veii, happened to be playing at dice when

the arrival of Roman ambassadors was announced. At the very



instant he uttered the word KILL, a term of the game; the word

was misinterpreted by the hearers, and they went forthwith and



massacred the ambassadors. Livy suggests that this was an excuse

alleged AFTER the commission of the deed; but gamesters are



subject to such absence of mind that there is really nothing

incredible or astonishing in the act. 'Sire,' exclaimed a



messenger to the Caliph Alamin, 'it is no longer time for play--

Babylon is besieged!' 'Silence!' said the caliph, 'don't you see



I am on the point of giving checkmate?' The same story is told

of a Duke of Normandy.



Wars have arisen from very trivial causes--among the rest

gambling. Henry, the son of William the Conqueror, was playing



at chess with Louis, the son of Philip, King of France. The

latter, perceiving that he was losing the game got into a



passion, and calling Henry the son of a bastard, flung the chess-

board into his face. Henry took the chess-board and struck Louis



with it so violently that he drew blood, and would have killed

him if his brother, who happened to come in, had not prevented



him. The two brothers took to flight, but a great and lasting

war was the consequence of the gambling fracas.



A gaming quarrel was the cause of the slap in the face given by

the Duc Rene to Louis XII., then only Duc d'Orleans. This slap



was the origin of a ligue which was termed 'the mad war.' The

resentment of the outraged prince was not appeased until he



mounted the throne, when he uttered these memorable words:--'A

King of France does not avenge insults offered to a Duke of



Orleans.'

Many narratives of suicide committed by desperategamblers are on



record, some of which I now adduce.

SIR JOHN BLAND, OF KIPPAX PARK.



Sir John Bland, of Kippax Park, flirted away his whole fortune at

Hazard. 'He, t'other night,' says Walpole, 'exceeded what was



lost by the late Duke of Bedford, having at one period of the

night (though he recovered the greater part of it) lost two and



thirty thousand pounds.' Sir John Kippax shot himself in 1705.

LORD MOUNTFORD.



Lord Mountford came to a tragic end through his gambling. He had

lost money; feared to be reduced to distress; asked for a



government appointment, and determined to throw the die of life

or death on the answer received from court. The answer was



unfavourable. He consulted several persons, indirectly at first,

afterwards pretty directly, on the easiest mode of finishing



life; invited a dinner-party for the day after; supped at

White's, and played at Whist till one o'clock of the New Year's



morning. Lord Robert Bertie drank to him 'a happy new year;' he

clapped his hand strangely to his eyes. In the morning, he sent



for a lawyer and three witnesses, executed his will, made them

read it over twice, paragraph by paragraph, asked the lawyer if



that will would stand good though a man were to shoot himself.

Being assured it would, he said--'Pray stay, while I step into



the next room;' went into the next room and shot himself, placing

the muzzle of the pistol so close to his head that the report was



not heard.

A SUICIDE ROBBING PETER TO PAY PAUL.



Gamblers have been known to set as coolly and deliberately about

blowing out their brains as if they had only been going to light



their cigars. Lord Orford, in his correspondence with Horace

Walpole, mentions two curious instances.



One of the fashionable young men of Lord Orford's day had been

unhappily decoyed into a gambling house, where his passion for



play became so great that he spent nearly the whole of his time

in throwing the dice. He continued to gamble until he had not



only lost a princely fortune, but had incurred a large amount of

debt among his tradesmen. With the loss of his money, and the



utter beggary which stared him in the face, the unfortunate

• midnight [´midnait] n.午夜；漆黑 (初中英语单词)


• ambition [æm´biʃən] n.雄心，野心；企图 (初中英语单词)


• desperate [´despərit] a.拼死的；绝望的 (初中英语单词)


• atmosphere [´ætməsfiə] n.大气；空气；气氛 (初中英语单词)


• admiration [,ædmə´reiʃən] n.赞赏，钦佩 (初中英语单词)


• occasionally [ə´keiʒənəli] ad.偶然地；非经常地 (初中英语单词)


• lightning [´laitniŋ] n.闪电 a.突然的 (初中英语单词)


• career [kə´riə] n.经历；生涯；职业 (初中英语单词)


• anxiety [æŋ´zaiəti] n.挂念；渴望；焦虑的事 (初中英语单词)


• virtue [´və:tʃu:] n.美德；贞操；长处 (初中英语单词)


• advanced [əd´vɑ:nst] a.先进的；高级的 (初中英语单词)


• temple [´tempəl] n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词)


• torture [´tɔ:tʃə] n.&vt.折磨；痛苦；拷问 (初中英语单词)


• slumber [´slʌmbə] v.&n.睡眠；沉睡状态 (初中英语单词)


• phrase [freiz] n.短语；词组；措词 (初中英语单词)


• maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)


• sentence [´sentəns] n.判决 vt.宣判；处刑 (初中英语单词)


• arrival [ə´raivəl] n.到达；到达的人(物) (初中英语单词)


• absence [´æbsəns] n.不在，缺席；缺乏 (初中英语单词)


• flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)


• consequence [´kɔnsikwəns] n.结果；后果；推断 (初中英语单词)


• origin [´ɔridʒin] n.起源；由来；出身 (初中英语单词)


• prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)


• distress [di´stres] n.痛苦 vt.使苦恼 (初中英语单词)


• strangely [´streindʒli] ad.奇怪地；陌生地 (初中英语单词)


• lawyer [´lɔ:jə] n.律师；法学家 (初中英语单词)


• paragraph [´pærəgrɑ:f] n.段；节 vt.将…分段 (初中英语单词)


• pistol [´pistl] n.手枪 vt.用手枪射击 (初中英语单词)


• passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)


• amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)


• unfortunate [ʌn´fɔ:tʃunit] a.不幸的，运气差的 (初中英语单词)


• recovery [ri´kʌvəri] n.重获；获得；恢复 (高中英语单词)


• regain [ri´gein] vt.收回；恢复 (高中英语单词)


• crisis [´kraisis] n.转折点；危机 (高中英语单词)


• breathless [´breθlis] a.屏息的 (高中英语单词)


• courtesy [´kə:tisi] n.礼貌；殷勤；好意 (高中英语单词)


• lordship [´lɔ:dʃip] n.贵族权力；阁下 (高中英语单词)


• surrounding [sə´raundiŋ] n.周围的事物 (高中英语单词)


• anguish [´æŋgwiʃ] n.(极度的)痛苦；苦恼 (高中英语单词)


• celestial [si´lestiəl] a.天空的，天的 (高中英语单词)


• appeal [ə´pi:l] vi.&n.请求；呼吁；上诉 (高中英语单词)


• ransom [´rænsəm] n.赎金；勒索 vt.赎 (高中英语单词)


• repose [ri´pəuz] v.&n.(使)休息；安息 (高中英语单词)


• chamber [´tʃeimbə] n.房间；议院；会议室 (高中英语单词)


• senate [´senit] n.参议院；上院 (高中英语单词)


• execution [,eksi´kju:ʃən] n.执行；演奏；表演 (高中英语单词)


• specially [´speʃəli] ad.专门地；特别地 (高中英语单词)


• whilst [wailst] conj.当…时候；虽然 (高中英语单词)


• pronounced [prə´naunst] a.发出音的；显著的 (高中英语单词)


• memorable [´memərəbəl] a.难忘的；重大的 (高中英语单词)


• forthwith [fɔ:θ´wið] ad.立刻 (高中英语单词)


• commission [kə´miʃən] n.委任(状) vt.委任 (高中英语单词)


• astonishing [əs´tɔniʃiŋ] a.令人惊讶的 (高中英语单词)


• conqueror [´kɔŋkərə] n.征服者，胜利者 (高中英语单词)


• violently [´vaiələntli] ad.强暴地；猛烈地 (高中英语单词)


• throne [θrəun] n.宝座；王位 (高中英语单词)


• avenge [ə´vendʒ] vt.替…报仇 (高中英语单词)


• suicide [´su:isaid, ´sju:-] n.&a.自杀(者)(的) (高中英语单词)


• tragic [´trædʒik] a.悲剧的；悲惨的 (高中英语单词)


• deliberately [di´libərətli] ad.故意地；慎重地 (高中英语单词)


• correspondence [,kɔri´spɔndəns] n.通信；符合；相当 (高中英语单词)


• fashionable [´fæʃənəbəl] a.流行的，时髦的 (高中英语单词)


• gamble [´gæmbəl] v.&n.赌博；投机；冒险 (高中英语单词)


• bodily [´bɔdili] a.身体的 ad.亲自 (英语四级单词)


• coolly [´ku:li] ad.冷(静地)，沉着地 (英语四级单词)


• blight [blait] n.打击 vt.摧残 (英语四级单词)


• accursed [ə´kə:sid] a.被诅咒的；可憎的 (英语四级单词)


• exhaustion [ig´zɔ:stʃən] n.用完；精疲力尽 (英语四级单词)


• experienced [ik´spiəriənst] a.有经验的；熟练的 (英语四级单词)


• haggard [´hægəd] a.憔悴的 (英语四级单词)


• luminous [´lu:minəs] a.发光的；明晰的 (英语四级单词)


• respective [ri´spektiv] a.各自的，各个的 (英语四级单词)


• readiness [´redinis] n.准备就绪；愿意 (英语四级单词)


• unworthy [ʌn´wə:ði] a.不值得的；不足道的 (英语四级单词)


• hereditary [hi´reditəri] a.遗传的；世袭的 (英语四级单词)


• incidentally [,insi´dentəli] ad.顺便一提；偶然地 (英语四级单词)


• deliberation [dilibə´reiʃ(ə)n] n.仔细考虑；商量 (英语四级单词)


• arisen [ə´rizn] arise的过去分词 (英语四级单词)


• trivial [´triviəl] a.琐碎的；不重要的 (英语四级单词)


• muzzle [´mʌzəl] n.枪口，炮口 (英语四级单词)


• princely [´prinsli] a.王候般的；高贵的 (英语四级单词)


• cannibal [´kænibəl] n.吃同类动物的 (英语六级单词)


• inability [,inə´biliti] n.无能，无力 (英语六级单词)


• cravat [krə´væt] n.领带；围巾 (英语六级单词)


• recourse [ri´kɔ:s] n.求助；依靠 (英语六级单词)


• insolence [´insələns] n.傲慢；无礼 (英语六级单词)


• calling [´kɔ:liŋ] n.点名；职业；欲望 (英语六级单词)


• bastard [´bæstəd] n.私生子 a.私生的 (英语六级单词)


• indirectly [,indi´rektli] a.间接地；迂回地 (英语六级单词)


• assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)