SECT. 7.] Insurance and Gambling. 377 



stakes for which they play are moderate in comparison with 

 their fortune, this uncertainty from the nature of the case 

 begins to diminish. The thoroughly practised gambler, if 

 he possesses more than usual skill (in games where skill 

 counts for something), must be regarded as a man following 

 a profession, though a profession for the most part of a risky 

 and exciting kind, to say nothing of its ignoble and often 

 dishonest character. If, on the other hand, his skill is below 

 the average, or the game is one in which skill does not tell 

 and the odds are slightly in favour of his antagonist, as in 

 the gaming tables, one light in which he can be regarded 

 is that of a man who is following a favourite amusement; 

 if this amusement involves a constant annual outlay on his 

 part, that is nothing more than what has to be said of most 

 other amusements. 



7. We cannot, of course, give such a rational expla 

 nation as the above in every case. There are plenty of 

 novices, and plenty of fanatics, who go on steadily losing in 

 the full conviction that they will eventually come out win 

 ners. But it is hard to believe that such ignorance, or such 

 intellectual twist, can really be so widely prevalent as would 

 be requisite to constitute them the rule rather than the ex 

 ception. There must surely be some very general impulse 

 which is gratified by such resources, and it is not easy to see 

 what else this can be than a love of that variety and con 

 sequent excitement which can only be found in perfection 

 where exact prevision is impossible. 



It is of course very difficult to make any generalization 

 here as to the comparative prevalence of various motives 

 amongst mankind; but when one considers what is the 

 difference which most quiet ordinary whist players feel 

 between a game for love and one in which there is a 

 small stake, one cannot but assign a high value to the 



