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FACTS AND SPECULATIONS 
 
 ON THB 
 
 ORIGIN AND HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 BT 
 
 WJLIAAM. ANDREW CHATTO. 
 
 H0BO mihi charta nuces, haeo est mihi charta fcitillTia.— Mahtiau 
 
 With Cards I while my leisure hours away. 
 And cheat old Time; yet neither bet nor play. 
 
 ,A^i' 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, 
 
 4, OLD COMPTON STREET, SOHO SQUARE. 
 
 MDCCCXLVIIl. 
 
 C 
 

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 PLAYING CARDS 
 
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PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 

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 PRINTSD BT 0. AND J. ADLARD, BARTHOLOMIW 0LO8B. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Should a person who has never bestowed a thought on 
 the subject ask, '*What can there be that is interesting 
 in the History of Cards?" it is answered, "There may be 
 much/' There is an interest, of a certain kind, even in the 
 solution of a riddle, or the explication of a conundrum; and 
 certain learned men, such as Pere Daniel, and Court de 
 GebeJin, having assumed that the game of Cards was origi- 
 nally instructive, and that the figures and marks of the 
 suits are emblematic, speaking to the intelligent of 
 matters of great import, their amusingly absurd specula^ 
 tions on the subject — set forth with all the gravity of a 
 "budge doctor" determining ex cathedra — impart to the 
 History of Cards an interest which, intrinsically, it does 
 not possess. But putting aside all that may relate to their 
 covert meaning, Cards, considered with respect to what 
 they simply are — ^the instruments of a popular game, and 
 the productions of art — suggest several questions, the in- 
 vestigation of which is not without interest : Where and 
 when were they invented, and what is the origin of their 
 names ? When were they introduced into Europe ? What 
 has been their progress as a popular game ; and what 
 influence have they had on society? What changes have 
 they undergone with respect to the figures and the marks 
 of the suits ; and to what purposes have picture and fancy 
 cards been made subservient, in consequence of those in 
 common use being so generally understood? And lastly, 
 what have been the opinions of moralists and theologians 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 with respect to the lawMness of the game?— Such axe 
 the topics discussed, and questions examined, in the 
 following pages. 
 
 Of the works of previous writers on the origin of Cards 
 I have freely availed myself; usmg them as guides when 
 I thought them right, pointing out their errors when 
 I thought them wrong, and allowing them to speak for 
 themselves whenever they seemed instructive or amusing. 
 Having no wish to appropriate what was not my own, I 
 have quoted my authorities with scrupulous fidehty ; and 
 am not conscious of an obUgation which I have not 
 acknowledged. Should the reader not obtain from this 
 work all the information on Cards which he might have 
 expected, it is hoped that he will at least acquire from its 
 perusal a knowledge of the true value of such investigations. 
 Between being well informed on a subject, and knowing 
 the real worth of such information, there is a distinction 
 which is often overlooked, especially by antiquaries. 
 
 In the Illustrations will be found a greater variety of 
 Cards than have hitherto been given in any other work on 
 the same subject, not excepting the splendid pubUcation of 
 the Society of Bibliophiles Erangais, entitled ' Jeux de Cartes 
 Tarots et de Cartes Numerales du Quatorzieme au Dix- 
 huitieme Siecle.' All the cards — ^with the exception of 
 the French Valets, at p. 250, and the Portuguese Cheva- 
 liers, at p. 252,— have been copied by Mr. P. W. Fairholt; 
 and all the wood-engravings — with the exception of the 
 tail-piece, by W. J. Linton, at p. 330,— have been executed 
 by Mr. George Vasey. 
 
 W.A. C. 
 
 London ; 
 17M^j?n7, 1848. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Op TH2 Osionr AiTD Name Of Cabds . . . . . 1 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 iNTRODUCnOH OP CaBDS INTO EUKOPE . . . . 60 
 
 . CHAPTER m. 
 
 PB06BES8 OP CaSD-PlATINO . . • . . .92 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Op the dippebeni Kdtds of Caeds, and the Masks op the Suits . 189 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The MoKAUTT OP Cabd-Playino . . . . . . 879 
 
 Appendix . . . . . . . .331 
 
 Index . , . . . . . . . 337 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The " Honours" of an eight-snit pack of Hindostanee Cards . . 42 
 
 Specimens of Chinese Cards, of the kind called Tseen-wan-ch^-pie . . 67-8 
 A Card Party, from an illustration in a manuscript of the Cit^de Dieu, 
 
 apparently of the early part of the fifteenth century . . .71 
 
 Copies of Old Stencilled Cards in the British Museum, apparently of a 
 
 date not later than 1440 88-9 
 
 Fac-simile of one of Mumer*s Cards for teaching logic, 1509 . . 105 
 
 Copies of Four Small Cards, from Marcolini's Sorti, 1540 . . . 117 
 
 Wood-cut, " Thus of Old" and " Thus Now," from Samuel Ward's Woe 
 
 to Drunkards, 1627 131 
 
 The Knaves of Hearts and Clubs; and the Knaves of Spades and 
 
 Diamonds, from the Four Knaves, by Samuel Rowlands, 1610-13 133-6 
 Fac-similcs of four Heraldic Cards, from a pack engraved in England 
 
 about 1078 . . . . . . . . 152 
 
 Fac-similcs of the Signatures of Edmund Hoyle and Thomas Osborne , 170 
 Copy of a plate in Darly*s Political and Satirical History, showing the 
 
 Coat Cards for 1759 183 
 
 Copies of two of the painted cards, ascribed to Jacquemin Gringonneur, 
 
 preserved in theJ3ibliothbque du Roi at Paris . . 198 
 
 Copies of four French Cards, coloured, — the King of Diamonds; the 
 
 Queen and King of Spades ; and the King of Hearts,— of the latter 
 
 part of the fifteenth ccntuiy . . . . . . 212 
 
 Copies of the Four Knaves, coloured, — ^Lancelot, Hogier, Roland, and 
 
 Valery, — of the latter part of the fifteenth century. In the British 
 
 Museum ........ 214 
 
 Copies of Eight Circular Cards belongmg to a pack engraved on copper 
 
 about 1480, with Hares, Parroquets, Pinks, and Columbines as the 
 
 marks of the suits ... . . . . . 222 
 
 Four Cards of a pack en^ved on copper, apparently about the end of the 
 
 fifteenth century, with Swords, Clubs, Cups, and Pomegranates, as 
 
 the marks of the suits. In the British Museum . . . 225 
 
 The Sevens of a pack of Tarots, with Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money 
 
 as the marks of the suits . . . . . . 227 
 
 The Second Coat Cards of the suits of Acorns and Leaves— in a German 
 
 pack engraved on wood, 1511 . . . . . 236-7 
 
 The Sevens of a pack of German Cards, with Bells, Hearts, Leaves, and 
 
 Acorns, as tne marks of the suits . . . . . 239 
 
 Copies of Four Small German Cards, of the seventeenth century . . 239 
 
 The Valets of a pack of French Cards, of the time of Henry IV . . 250 
 The Chevaliers, or Valets, of a pack of Portuguese Cards, of the date 1693 252 
 Figure of " the real Spata," as shown in Baker's Eclectic Cards, 1813 . 261 
 Tail-piece, Cheating Time with Cards ..... 330 
 Cupid; from a cut relating to Prophecies and Fortune-telling, in Bagford's 
 
 Collection, HarleianMSS. 5966 336 
 
 The Four of Cups, from an old card, in the same collection . . 343 
 
ORIGIN AND HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 PLAYING CARDS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OF THE ORIGIN AND NAME OF CARDS 
 
 Man has been distinctively termed " a cooking animal ;** 
 and Dr. Franklin has defined him to be " a tooUmahing 
 animal." He may also, with equal truth, be defined to be 
 " a gambling animal ;" since to gamble, or venture, on 
 chance, his own property, with the hope of winning the 
 property of another, is as peculiar to him, in distinction from 
 other animals, as his broiling a fish after he has* caught it with 
 his hands, or making for himself a stone hatchet to enable 
 him to fell a tree. Whether this gambhng peculiarity is 
 to be ascribed to the superiority of his intellectual or of 
 his physical constitution, others may determine for them- 
 selves. 
 
 Other animals, in common with man, will fight for meat, 
 drink, and lodging; and will do battle for love as fiercely 
 as the ancient knights of chivahy, whose great incitements 
 to heroic deeds — in plain English, kilUng and wound- 
 ing — were ladye-love and the honour of the peacock. 
 There is, however, no well-authenticated account of any 
 of the lower orders of animals ever having been seen risking 
 
 1 
 
2 PLAYING CAEDS. 
 
 their property at ** odd or even/' or drawing lots for choice 
 of pasturage. No shepherd has ever yet succeeded in 
 teaching his sagacious colley to take a hand at cards with 
 hun on the hill side ; the most knowing monkey has never 
 been able to comprehend the mysteries of " tossing \' and 
 even the learned pig, that tells people their fortune by 
 the cards, is never able to learn what is trumps. 
 
 Seeing, then, that to gamble is exclusively proper to 
 man,^8ecun(Iu?n essentiani consecutive^ — and admitting 
 that, 
 
 " The proper study of mankind is man," 
 
 it plainly follows, that as Playing Cards are the instruments 
 of the most fascinating species of gambling that ever was 
 devised by the ingenuity of man, their origin and history 
 arc a very proper subject for rational discussion. The cook- 
 ing, tool-making, gambling animal displays its rationality, 
 according to Dr. Franklin, by its knowing how to find or 
 invent a plausible pretext for whatever it has an inclination 
 to do. 
 
 Judging from the manner in which the origin and history 
 of Playing Cards have been treated by various authors within 
 the last hundred and fifty years, it is evident that the sub- 
 ject, whatever they may have made of it, is one of great 
 " capabihty,'' to use the favorite term of a great designer 
 in the landscape-gardening line; and it seems no less 
 evident that some of those authors have been disposed to 
 magnify its apparent insignificance by associating it with 
 other topics, which are generally allowed to be both interest- 
 ing and important. In this respect they have certainly 
 shown great tact; for though many learned men have, at 
 difierent periods, written largely and profoundly on very 
 trifling subjects, yet it does seem necessary for a man, 
 however learned and discreet, to set forth, either in his 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. S 
 
 title-page or in his proemium, something Uke an apology 
 for his becoming the historiographer of Playing Cards, — 
 things in themselves slightly esteemed even by those who 
 use them most, and frequently termed by pious people 
 " the devil's books." i..e example which has thus been set 
 I am resolved to follow; for though, in the title-page, I 
 announce no other topic for the purpose of casting a bor- 
 rowed light on the principal subject, I yet wish the reader 
 to understand that I am writing an apology for it now ; 
 and in the progress of the work I doubt not that I shall 
 be found as discursive as most of those who have previously 
 either reasoned or speculated on Playing Cards. 
 
 A history of Playing Cards, treating of them in all their 
 possible relations, associations, and bearings, would fonn 
 nearly a complete cyclopaedia of science and art ; and would 
 still admit of being further enlarged by an extensive bio- 
 graphical supplement, containing sketches of the lives of 
 celebrated characters who have played at cards, — or at any 
 other game. Cards would form the centre — the point, 
 having position, but no space, — from which a radius of 
 indefinite extent might sweep a circle comprehending not 
 only all that man knows, but all that he speculates on. 
 The power of reach, by means of the point and the radius, 
 being thus obtained, the operator has his choice of topics ; 
 and can arrange them round his centre, and colour them 
 at his will, as boys at school colour their fancifid segments 
 of a circle. 
 
 To exemplify what has just been said about the capabiHty 
 of cards as a subject of disquisition :— One writer, Pere 
 Menestrier,^ preluding on the invention of cards, says, 
 apropos to the term Jeu — Indus, a game — ^that, to the 
 Supreme Being the creation of the world was only a kind 
 
 ' Bibliotlieque curieuse et instructive, torn, ii, chap. xii. Des Principes des 
 Sciences et des Arts, dispose en forme de Jeiix. Trevoux, 1704. 
 
4 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 of game ; and that schoolmasters with the Romans were 
 called Ludi Magistri — masters of the game or sport. Here, 
 then, is a fine opportunity for a descant on creation ; and 
 for showing that the whole business of human life, from 
 the cradle to the grave, is but a game ; that all the world 
 is a great " gaming-house," — to avoid using a word 
 ofiensive to ears pohte, — 
 
 "And all the men and women mereij players." 
 
 Illustrative of this view of human life, a couple of 
 pertinent quotations, from Terence and Plutarch, are sup- 
 plied by another brother of the same craft, M. C. Leber. ^ 
 
 According to Pere Daniel,^ — a reverend father of the 
 order of Jesuits, who wrote an elaborate history of the 
 French Military Establishments, — the game of Piquet is 
 symbohc, allegorical, military, political, and historical, and 
 contains a number of important maxims relating to war 
 and government. Now, granting, for the sake of argu- 
 ment, that the game, with respect to its esoteric principles, 
 is really enigmatic, it may be fairly denied that Pere Daniel 
 has succeeded in explaining it correctly ; his fancied disco- 
 veries may be examined in detail, and shown, with very 
 little trouble, to be the mere seethings of his own working 
 imagination ; others may be proposed, and, as a matter of 
 course, supported by authorities, ancient and modem, on 
 the origin, use, and meaning of symbols and allegories, and 
 
 * Ita vita est hominum quasi cum ludas Tesseris ; 
 Si illud, quod maximb opus est jactu, non cadit, 
 Illud quod cecidit forte, id arte ut corrigas. 
 
 Tekent. Adelph. act. iv, sc. 7. 
 
 "Ludo Tesserarum Plato vitam comparavit, in quo et jacere utilia oportet, 
 et jacientem uti bene iis qua ccciderunt." — Plut. Op. Moth. EpisL ad Paceium, 
 —Etudes Listoriques sur Ics Cartes a Jouer, par M. C. Leber, p. 63. 
 
 » In a paper entitled, L'Origine du Jeu de Piquet, trouv6 dans THistoire de 
 France sous la rcgne dc Charles VII, Printed in the M<$moires pour THis- 
 toure des Sciences, &c.~Trevoux ; in the vol. for May, 1720, p. 934-968. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 5 
 
 illustrated with maxims of war and state policy, carefully 
 selected from the bulletins, memoirs, and diplomatic corre- 
 spondence of the great military chiefs and statesmen of all 
 nations : thus a respectable volume — in point of size at 
 least — might be got up on the subject of Piquet alone, with- 
 out trenching on the wide field of cards in general. 
 
 Court de Gebelin,\a Gnostic, at least in the philosophic, 
 if not in the rehgious, sense of the word, finds in the old 
 Itahan Tarocchi cards the vestiges of the learning of the 
 ancient Egyptians, somewhat mutilated and disguised, in- 
 deed, by Gothic ignorance, which suspected not the profound 
 knowledge concealed in its playthings, but still intelligible to 
 the penetrating genius which initiates itself into all ancient 
 mysteries, is fond of exploring the profoundly obscure, and 
 becomes oracular, tallcing confidently of what it sees, when 
 it is only groping in the dark. Court de Gebelin's theory 
 suggests at once a general history of science and art, which, 
 as eveiybody knows, had their cradle in ancient Egypt, and 
 induces dim, but glorious visions of the ancient Egyptian 
 kings,— Sesonch, Rameses, and Amonoph: the chrono- 
 logers, Sanchoniathon, Manetho, and Berosus, follow, as 
 a matter, of course, whether originally known from Bishop 
 Cumberland, or from Mr. Jenkinson, in the 'Vicar of 
 Wakefield.' Then who can think of the knowledge of the 
 ancient Egyptians, and of its essence being contained in the 
 symbolic characters of a pack of cards, without hieroglyphic 
 
 » In a dissertation "Du Jeu de Tarots, ou Ton traitc de son origine, oil Ton 
 explique ses allegories, et oil I'on fait voir qu'il est la source de nos Cartes 
 modemes ^ jouer," &c. This dissertation is contained m his Monde primitif, 
 analyst et compart avec le Monde modeme.— Dissertations melees, torn, i, 
 p. 3G5-394. Paris, 1781. It is not unlikely that he was led to make this 
 discovery from the notices of a philosophic game of the ancient Egyptians, 
 quoted by Meursius, in. his treatise Dc Ludis Graicorum, p. 53. Lugduni 
 Batavorum, 1622. A summary of Court de Gebelin's conceits on the subject 
 of Tarots is to be found in Pcignot's Analyse do Recherches sur les Cartes ^ 
 jouer, p. 227-237., 
 
6 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 writing coining into his mind?^ and this subject, being once 
 started, leads naturally, in chronological order, to Clemens 
 Alexandrinus, Horapoilo, Athanasius Kircher, Bishop War- 
 burton, Dr. Thomas Young, and Mons. ChampoUion. To 
 write properly a history of Playing Cards in connexion with 
 the learning of the Egyptians, as suggested by the disser- 
 tation of Court de Gebelin, would require the unwearied 
 energy of one of those brazen-bowelled scholars who flou- 
 rished at Alexandria when ancient science and art, sinking 
 into a state of second childhood, had again found a cradle 
 in Egypt. Oh, Isis, mother of Horus, how is thy image 
 multiphed ! Though changed in name, milhons still wor- 
 ship it, ignorant of the type of that before which they bow.^ 
 All is symbol : the cards of the gamester are symbolic ; full 
 of meaning of high import, and yet he is ignorant of it, 
 cares not to know it, though Court de Gebelin would teach 
 him ; is indifferent about his soul, and prays only that he 
 may hold a good hand of trumps, — symbol again !^ 
 As cards are printed on paper, from engraved blocks of 
 
 * He shall have a bell, that's Abel; 
 
 And by it standing one whose name is Dee, 
 In a rug govni; there's D and Rug, that's Drug; 
 And right ancnst him a dog snarling er; 
 There's Bruggett -^bel Drugger. That's his sign. 
 And here's now Mystery and Hieroglyphic ! 
 
 The Alchemist, aet ii. 
 • See an image of Isis, homed, with the infant Horus on her knee; and note, 
 that antiquaries have not settled why the Virgin Mary is sometimes represented 
 with the crescent on her head. Isis was the protectress of seafaring people ; 
 and her image, as we learn from Petrouius and other writers, was frequently 
 placed in ships. 
 
 ' The hand occurs frequently in Egyptian hieroglyphics : it would be super- 
 fluous to tell the learned reader what it means. The hand holding a hammer, 
 in the hieroglyphic usually known as the Blacksmiths' Coat of Anns, is suffi- 
 ciently explained by the motto, 
 
 " By Hammer and Hand, 
 All Arts do stand." 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 7 
 
 wood, and as wood-engraving appears to have suggested 
 the art of typography, or printing from moveable types, 
 Breitkopf combines in one general essay his inquiries into 
 the origin of playing cards, the introduction of linen paper, 
 and the beginning of wood-engraving in Europe ;^ this essay 
 being but a portion of the author's intended History of 
 Printing. Singer^ follows very nearly the same plan as 
 Breitkopf; but though his Researches form a goodly quarto, 
 both in point of size and appearance, he yet has not looked 
 into every corner. The wide field of Playing Cards still 
 admits of further cultivation ; for, though often turned up 
 by the heavy subsoil plough of antiquarian research and 
 well harrowed by speculation, it remains undrained. 
 
 In the 'Nouvelles Annales des Voyages,'^ we find a disser- 
 tation by M. Rey, on Playing Cards, and the Mariner's 
 Compass ; apparently two incongruous things, yet indissolu- 
 bly connected by the fleur-de-Us, which is to be seen on the 
 drapery of some of the court or coat cards, and which also 
 forms an ornament to the north point. It appears that this 
 dissertation on cards and the compass is but a fragment of a 
 work composed by M. Rey, on the flag, colours, and badges 
 of the French monarchy. Judging of his talents, from this 
 " fragment," he appears to have been admirably fitted to 
 write a general history of cards ; and it is to be regretted 
 that he did not give to his so-called " fragment," that com- 
 prehensive title, and introduce the essay on the mariner's 
 
 » Versuch, den Urspnmg der Spielkaken, die Einfuhrung des Leinenpa- 
 pieres, und den Anfang der Holzschneidekunst in Europa zu erforschen. Von 
 J. G. I. Breitkopf. 4to. Leipzig, 1784. 
 
 « Researches into the History of Playing Cards ; with Illustrations of the 
 Origin of Printing and Engraving on Wood. By Samuel Weller Singer. 4to. 
 London, 1816. 
 
 » Tome deuxieme de Tannde 1836. 'Origine rran9aise de la Boussole et des 
 Cartes a jouer.' Fragmens d'un ouvrage sous presse, intitule, 'Histoiredu 
 Drapeau, des Couleurs, et des Insignes de la Monarchic Fraufaise,* &c. Par 
 M. Rey. Livre X— Umversalit6 des Fleurs de Lis. 
 
8 PLAYING CAED8. 
 
 compass and the history of the French flag as incidental 
 illustrations of the fleur-de-lis, for certainly the fragment 
 on cards,— rent from a history of the French flag, — does 
 seem a little out of place, in a general collection of voyages 
 and travels, unless, indeed, it be there introduced as a 
 ' traveller's tale. 
 
 Mons. C. Leber, one of the most recent writers on 
 Playing Cards, ^ is an author, whom it is very difficult 
 to follow in his devious course ; for though he is always 
 picb'ng up something that appears to relate to his sub- 
 ject, he yet does not seem to have had any clear idea of 
 what he was seeking for. The grand questions, he says, 
 are, " Where do cards come from ; what are they; what do 
 they say; and what ought we to think of them ?" These 
 questions, however, Mons. Leber, by no means undertakes 
 to answer. He confines himself, as he says, to a very 
 narrow path — a veiy crooked one too, he might have added — 
 avoiding the wide and flowery field of conjecture, but dili- 
 gently amassing facts to guide other inquirers into the origin 
 and primary use of Playing Cards. He is certain that they 
 are of ancient origin, and of Eastern invention ; and that 
 primarily they constituted a symbolic and moral game. He 
 professes to be guided in his researches by the evidence of 
 cards themselves ; but though a diligent collector of cards of 
 all kinds, he does not appear to have been successful in ex- 
 tracting answers from his witnesses. They all stand mute. 
 In short, Mons. Leber, notwithstanding his diligence as a 
 collector of cards, and his chifibnier-like gathering of scraps 
 connected with them, has left their history pretty nearly the 
 same as he found it. In the genuine spirit of a collector, he 
 still longs for more old cards,— but then, how to find them ? 
 
 ' Etudes historiques sur les Cartes a joucr. Par M. C. Leber. Originally 
 printed m the sixteenth volume of the 'Memoires de la Society royale des Anti- 
 quaircs de Trance/ and subsequently published separately. Paris, 1842. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 9 
 
 Such precious reliques are not to be obtained by mere 
 labour ; they turn up fortuitously, mostly in the covers of 
 old books, and as none that have hitherto been discovered 
 explain their origin and presumed emblematic meaning, it is 
 a chance that the materials for a full and complete history 
 of Playing Cards will ever be obtained. " In the mean 
 time," says Mons. Leber, "we must wait till this work 
 of time and perseverance shall be accompUshed/'^ To 
 interpret his words from his own example, " to wait," 
 may mean, to keep moving without advancing, like a 
 squirrel in a wheel. Notwithstanding all the old cards 
 that have been discovered, and all that has been collected 
 on the subject, from both tale and history, "how far are we 
 from possessing,'^ exclaims Mons. Leber, " and who shall 
 ever amass, all the elements necessary for a positive history 
 of playing cards."^ Thus much may serve by way of intro- 
 duction, and as evidence of the " capability" of the subject. 
 Man, as a gambling animal, has the means of indulging 
 in his hopeful propensity, as soon as he has acquired a pro- 
 perty either real or personal, and can distinguish odd from 
 even, or a short straw from a shorter. The first game that 
 he played at, in the golden age of happy ignorance, would 
 naturally be one of pure chance. We have no positive 
 information about this identical game in any ancient or 
 modern author ; but we may fairly suppose, for no one can 
 
 I " . . . . Ce n'est pas I'affaire de quelques armies, ni des travaux, ni 
 des sacrifices d'line seule vie, que de rassembler tant de cli^tifs debris, de pieces 
 egarees, souill6es, mutilees, iuformes, et dont la decouverte n'est plus souvent 
 qu'un caprice du hasard, une bonne fortune plutot qu'une bonne action. H 
 faut done attendre que cette oeuvre du temps et de la perseverance soit accom- 
 plie."— Etudes Historiqnes, p. 60. 
 
 a Catalogue des Livres imprimis, Manuscrits, Estampes, Dessins, et Cartes 
 a jouer, composant le Bibliotlieque de M. C. Leber, torn, i, p. 238. Paris, 
 1839. This library, the Catalogue of vi^hich consists of three volumes, now 
 belongs to the city of Rouen. The cards are described in the first volume, 
 pp. 237-48. 
 
10 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 prove the supposition to be false, that it was either "drawing 
 lots/' or guessing at " odd or even/'* Imagination suggests 
 that the stakes might be acorns, or chesnuts ; and though 
 reason may " query the fact," yet she cannot controvert it. 
 It is evident that at either of the two simple games above 
 named, a player, when it came to his turn to hold, might 
 improve his chance of winning, by means of a little dexterous 
 management, vulgarly called cheating, and thus, to a certain 
 extent, emancipate himself from the laws of blind Fortune, — 
 a personification of chance which a gambler, most assuredly, 
 first elevated to the rank of a divinity.^ That cheating is 
 nearly coeval with gaming, cannot admit of a doubt ; and it 
 is highly probable that this mode of giving an eccentric 
 motion to Fortune's wheel was discovered, if not actually 
 practised, at the first regular bout, under the oaks of Dodona, 
 or elsewhere, before the flood of Thessaly.* 
 
 Man, having left the woods for the meadows, progressing 
 from the sylvan or savage state to that of a shepherd, now 
 not only roasts his chesnuts, but also eats a bit of mutton 
 to them ; and after having picked the leg clean, forms 
 of the small bones, between the shank and the foot, new 
 instruments of gaming. Taking a certain number of those 
 bones, three for instance, he makes on four sides of 
 
 * With the Latins, Ludere par impar ; with the Greeks, 'apuaZeiv; nai^eiv, 
 'apTia'ijiripiTra. "Nempe ludentes, sumptis m manu talis, fabis, nucibus, 
 amygdalis, interdum etiam nummis, intcrrogantes alterum divinare jubebant, 
 *'apTia 'tj trepiTTai* paria, nempe, an imparia haberent." — Meursius, de Ludis 
 Gracorum, p. 5, edit. 1C22. 
 
 * Fortune is a parvenue, m the Olympian circle,— of great means, but no 
 family : 
 
 Di chi figluola fusse, b di che seme 
 Nasccsse, non si sa; ben si sa certo 
 Ch'infino a Giove sua potentia teme. 
 
 IkLLCCHiAVELLi, Capitolo di Fortuna. 
 
 * Dr. Thomas Hyde is inclined to think that the game of Astragali was 
 known from the time of the general Deluge.— De Ludis Oricntalibus. Oxon. 
 1G91. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 11 
 
 each a certain number of marks: on one side a single 
 point, and on the side opposite six points ; on another side 
 three points, and on the opposite four. Putting these 
 bones into a cow's horn, he shakes them together, and 
 then throws them out ; and accordingly, as the points may 
 run high, or as the cast may be of three different niunbers, 
 so does he count his game.^ Conventional rules for playing 
 are now estabhshed; definite values, independent of the 
 number of points, are assigned to different casts ; some 
 being reckoned high, while others are counted low, and some- 
 times positively against the player, although the chance 
 of their turning up be the same as that of the former. The 
 game now becomes more compUcated; and the chances 
 being more numerous, and the odds more various, a know- 
 ing gamester who plays regularly, and makes a calculation 
 of the probability of any given number, or combination of 
 points, being thrown, either at a single cast, or out of a 
 certain number, has an advantage in betting over his more 
 simple-minded competitors. " Luck is all !" exclaims the 
 novice, — and guesses; the adept mutters, "Knowledge 
 is power," — and counts. 
 
 The cutting of bones into cubes, or dice, and numbering 
 them on all their six sides, would probably be the next 
 step in gaming; and there are grounds for supposing that 
 the introduction of dice was shortly followed by the in- 
 vention of something hke backgammon ; a game which 
 affords greater scope for calculation than dice, and allows 
 also of the player displaying his skill in the management 
 of his men. Should it be asked, what has any of those 
 games to do with the origin of cards? I answer, in the 
 
 ' The ancient Greek game of Astragali or Astragalismos— the Tali of the 
 Bomans— appears to have been played in a manner similar to that described in 
 the text. The names given to the different casts are to be found in Meursius, 
 De Ludis Grrecorum, under the word ASTPAI'AAISMOS. 
 
12 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 words of an Irish guide, when pointing out to a traveller 
 several places which he was not wanting to find, — " Well, 
 then, none of them's it." 
 
 The next game, which it seems necessary to notice, is 
 the UtTTua of the Greeks, and the Latrunculi of the Latins ; 
 as in the sequel it may perhaps be found to have some 
 positive, though remote, relation to the game of eards. 
 It would be superfluous here to inquire if the game of 
 UiTTtia, or Latrunculi, were really that which was invented 
 by Palamedes during the Trojan War; it may be sufficient 
 to remark, that it is mentioned by Homer, who, in the 
 first book of the Odyssey, represents Penelope's suitors 
 playing at it : 
 
 " Before the door they were amusmg themselves at tables, 
 Sittmg on the skins of oxen which they themselves had killed." * 
 
 In whatever country the game may have been invented, 
 or however it may have been originally played, it was 
 certainly not a game of chance. It was a scientific game 
 
 ' nt990nn irpoirapotOt Ovpautv Ovfiov Irtpirovi 
 
 *Efitvot Iv pivoiffi (iouv ove Uktuvov &vroi. — Odt/$i, A. 107. 
 
 The word used by Homer, 7r£<r<rot, — ^which properly means the pebbles or 
 pieces employed in the game,— is he^e translated tables ; a term, which having 
 now become nearly obsolete as signifying draughts, may be used to denote an 
 ancient cognate game. 
 
 It might be plausibly urged by a commentator fond of discovering Homer's 
 covert meanings, that the poet intended to censure the games of Astragalismus 
 and Pettcia,— the former as a cause of strife, and the latter as a fitting amuse- 
 ment for idle and dissipated persons, like the suitors of Penelope. In the 
 twenty-tliird book of the Iliad, v. 87, Patroclus is represented as having killed, 
 when a boy, though unintentionally, a companion with whom he had quarrelled 
 when playing at Astragali or Tali : 
 
 . . . • iratda Karuravov 'Afx^iiafiavroe, 
 "Stjmoe, &K 'i9i\uv, 'aynp 'iorpayaXoKri xo\u9iic. 
 
 It is not imlikely that an ancient piece of sculpture, in the British Museum, 
 —representing a boy biting the arm of his companion, with whom he has quar- 
 relled at Tali — ^rchites to this passage. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. IS 
 
 requiring the exercise of the mind, and wholly dependent 
 as to its result on the comparative skill of the two players ; 
 he who displayed the greatest judgment in moving his 
 pieces, according to the rules of the game, being the winner.^ 
 This game appears to have been similar to that de- 
 scribed in Strutt's 'Sports and Pastimes,' under the 
 name of Merrels, which is still played in many parts of 
 England, and which was, and may be still, a common 
 game in almost every country in Europe. It appears to 
 have branched out into several species, with the Greeks and 
 Romans ; and though, in some of them, the game was very 
 intricate, it yet never attained with those people to the 
 perfection of chess. One of those varieties of Petteia, or 
 Latrunculi, seems to have been very like the game of 
 draughts; it was played with pieces or men, of two 
 different colours, placed on a board divided into several 
 squares, and a man of one party could be taken by the 
 opponent when he succeeded in inclosing it between two 
 of his own.^ 
 
 Whatever may have been the origin of chess, it seems to 
 be generally admitted that the game, nearly the same in its 
 prmciples as it is now played, — with its board of sixty-four 
 squares, and men of different grades, — ^was first devised in 
 India; and, without giving implicit credit to the well- 
 known account of its invention by an Indian named Sissa, 
 we may assume that the date assigned to it, namely, about 
 the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era, is 
 sufficiently correct for all practical purposes : a difierence 
 of two or three hundred years, either one way or the other, 
 
 » See a work by the late Mr. James Christie— more generally known to the 
 world as an auctioneer than as a man of learning and of great research— entitled 
 "An Enquiry into the ancient Greek game supposed to have been invented by 
 Palamedcs antecedent to the Siege of Troy; with Reasons for believing the 
 Game to have been known from remote antiquity in China, and progressively 
 improved into the Chinese, Indian, Persian, and European Chess." London, 
 ,1801. 
 
 ' Julius Pollux, Onomasticon, lib. ix, cap. 7. 
 
14 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 is of very little importance in a conjecture abo^t the game, 
 as connected with Playing Cards. Having now arrived at 
 Chess, we fancy that we see something Uke " land," though 
 it may be but a fog-bank after all. To speak without figiu-e, 
 it seems likely that the game of cards was suggested by 
 that of chess. 
 
 The affinity of the two games, and the similarity between 
 the coat cards and the principal pieces in the game of 
 chess, have already been pointed out by Breitkopf ;^ and 
 he is so copious oii the latter topic, that he has left but little 
 for any of his successors to do, in this respect, except to 
 condense his diffuse notes; for, as was said of William 
 Prynne, his brains are generally to be found scattered about 
 the margin of his works, and not in the text. 
 
 A side, or suit, of chessmen consists of six orders, which 
 in the old oriental game were named — 1, Schach, the king; 
 2, Pherz, the general;, 3, Phil, the elephant; 4, Jspen^ 
 mar, the horseman, or chevalier; 5, ^wc^, the camel; and, 
 6, Beydel or Beydak, the footmen or infantry. In this suit 
 there was no queen, as the introduction of a female into a 
 game representing the stratagems of war would have been 
 contrary to the oriental ideas of propriety ; and long after 
 the introduction of chess into Europe, the second piece, now 
 called the Queen, retained its Eastern name under the form 
 of Fierce, Fierche, or Merge, even after it had acquired a 
 feminine character.^ Fierge at length becomes confounded 
 
 * " As the militaiy grotmdwork of the game of cards, and its similarity to 
 chess, cannot be denied; so a closer examination of this affinity may readily 
 lead to the origin of the change in their figures and colours." — ^Breitkopf, 
 Ueber den Ursprung der Spielkarten, s. 30. 
 
 « "Le traducteur du PoiJme de la Vielle, end^crivant les Echecs, s'exprime 
 ainsi; 
 
 * La Reyne, que nous nommous Fierge, 
 Tient de Venus, et n'est pas Vierge ; 
 Aimable est ct amoureuse.* " &c. 
 — L'Origine du Jeu des Echecs, par Mons. Ereret. Hist, de TAcad^mie des 
 Inscriptions, torn, y, p. 255. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 16 
 
 with the French Tierge, a maid ; and finally, the piece is 
 called Bame^ the lady, and so becomes thoroughly European, 
 both in name and character. With respect to the changes 
 which the other pieces have undergone in the European 
 game of chess, it is only necessary to observe that Pliil^ 
 the elephant, is now the Fol or Fou of the French, and the 
 Bishop of the English ; Aspen-mar, the horseman, is the 
 French Chevalier , and the English Knight; Much, the camel, 
 is the French Tb^^r, and the English J?oo^ or Castle; and 
 the Beydel or Beydak, the footmen, are now the French 
 Pions, and the English Pawns, 
 
 Now the very same change that has taken place in the 
 second piece in chess — ^namely, from a male to a female — 
 has also happened to the second principal figure in French 
 and English cards. Among the oldest numeral cards that 
 have yet been discovered no Queen is to be found; the 
 three principal figures or coat cards being the King, the 
 Knight, and the Valet or Knave. There was no Queen in 
 the old Spanish pack of cards ; nor was there usually in the 
 German in the time of Heineken and Breitkopf. In the 
 Spanish, the coat cards of each suit were the King (-B^), 
 the Knight {Cavallo), and the Knave, groom, or attendant 
 {Sota) \ in the German, the King {K6nig\ a chief officer 
 {Oher\ and a Subaltern (JJnter)} The Italians, instead of 
 making any change in the old coat cards, sometimes added 
 the Queen to them, so that they had four instead of three, 
 namely. Re, Beina, Cavallo, and Fante, 
 
 The following extracts from an Essay on the Indian 
 Game of Chess, by Sir William Jones, printed in the second 
 volume of the * Asiatic Researches,' seem to estabUsh more 
 
 * " Comme c'est un jeu militaire, il y a dans chaque couleur un roi, nn officier 
 supdrieur ou capitaine, nomm^ Ober, et un bas-officier appel^ Unter. On ap- 
 pelait encore de nos jours dans rEmpire, oil les mots Franjois ne sont pas en 
 vogue, les officiers sup^rieurs OherUute, et les bas-officiers Unterkute"'^ 
 Heineken, Id<ie Gen^rale d'une Collection d'Estampes, p. 241. Leipsic, 1771. 
 
16 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 clearly than anything that has been expressly written on 
 the subject, either by Breitkopf or others, the affinity be- 
 tween cards and chess : " If evidence be required to prove 
 that chess was invented by the Hindus, we may be satisfied 
 with the testimony of the Persians ; who, though as much 
 inclined as other nations to appropriate the ingenious in- 
 ventions of a foreign people, unanimously agree, that the 
 game was imported from the west of India, together with 
 the charming fables of Vishnusarman in the sixth century 
 of our era. It seems to have been immemorially known 
 in Hindustan by the name of Chatur-anga, that is the four 
 angoBy or members of an army, which are said, in the 
 Amaracosha, to be elephants, horses, chariots, and foot- 
 soldiers ; and in this sense the word is frequently used by 
 epic poets in their descriptions of real armies. By a natural 
 corruption of the pure Sanscrit word, it was changed by 
 the old Persians into Chatrang ; but the Arabs, who soon 
 after took possession of their country, had neither the initial 
 nor final letter of that word in their alphabet, and conse- 
 quently altered it further into Shatranj} which found its . 
 way presently into the modern Persian, and at length into 
 the dialects of India, where the true derivation of the name 
 is known only to the learned. Thus has a very significant 
 word in the sacred language of the Brahmans been trans- 
 ferred by successive changes into Axedras, Scacchi, Echecs, 
 Chess ; and, by a whimsical concurrence of circumstances, 
 given birth to the English word check, and even a name 
 to the Exchequer of Great Britain. 
 
 » It would appear that the etymology of this name was a matter of great 
 uncertainty even among people of oriental race. According to some, it was 
 Sad-rengh, the hundred turns, or wiles of the players ; according to others, it was 
 Sad-rangiy the hundred vexations of the game. A third derivation was from 
 Shesh-rengh, six colours, as if each of the six orders of pieces had beien distin- 
 guished by a separate colour.— Hyde, De Ludis Orientalibus. Par. 1. Historia 
 Shahiludii, cap. De Nomme Shatrangi. Oxon. 1694. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 17 
 
 " Of this simple game, so exquisitely contrived, and so 
 certainly invented in India, I cannot find any account in 
 the classical writings of the Brahraans. It is indeed con- 
 fidently asserted that Sanscrit books on Chess exist in this 
 country; and if they can be procured at Benares, they 
 will assuredly be sent to us. At present, I can only exhibit 
 a description of a very ancient Indian game of the same 
 kind ; but more complex, and, in my opinion, more modem 
 than the simple chess of the Persians. This game is also 
 called Chaturanga, but more frequently Chaturaji, or the 
 Four Kings, since it is played by four persons, representing 
 as many princes, two allied armies combating on each side. 
 The description is taken from the Bhawishya Puran, in 
 which Yudhist'hir is represented conversing with Vyasa, 
 who explains, at the king's request, the form of the fictitious 
 warfare, and the principal rules of it. ' Having marked 
 eight squares on all sides,' says the sage, 'place the red 
 army to the east, the green to the south, the gellow to the 
 west, and the blackio the north.' "^ — It is worthy of remark, 
 that these colours form the ground of four of the suits of one 
 of the divisions of an eight-suit pack of Hindostanee cards. 
 
 It appears that in this game the moves were determined 
 by casts with dice, as in backgammon, so that it was one of 
 chance as well as skill. On this point Sir WilUam Jones 
 observes ; " The use of dice may, perhaps, be justified in a 
 representation of war, in which fortune has unquestionably a 
 great share, but it seems to exclude Chess from the rank which 
 has been assigned to it among the sciences, and to give the 
 game before us the appearance of Wldst, except that pieces 
 are used only instead of cards, which are held concealed." 
 
 • That the suits of cards were formerly distinguished by an emblem which 
 was suggestive of a particular colour, as well as representing a particular form, 
 is certain. The Germans still call two of their suits Roth and Grim^rcd and 
 green — and the emblems are a heart and a leaf. 
 
 2 
 
]8 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 Though Sir WilUam Jones mentions Whist in particular, 
 it is yet apparent, from his own description, that the simi- 
 larity of Chaturaji to any other game of cards played by 
 four persons is precisely the same. This evidence of the 
 similarity, between a game of cards and an ancient Indian 
 game of chess, is the more important, as the fact appears to 
 have forced itself upon the notice of the writer, rather than 
 to have been sought for. 
 
 It may here be observed, that in the wardrobe accounts of 
 Edward I, there is an item, of money paid for the use of 
 the king for playing at the Four Kings — Quatuor Reges — 
 and that it has been conjectured that the game was cards. 
 The Hon. Daines Barrington, who appears to have been of 
 this opinion, says: "the earliest mention of cards that I 
 have yet stumbled upon is in Mr. Anstis's History of the 
 Garter, where he cites the following passage from the 
 Wardrobe Rolls, in the sixth year of Edward the First, 
 [1278]: * Waltero Sturton, ad opus regis ad ludendum ad 
 quatuor reges viii^. v^.' From which entry Mr. Anstis with 
 some probability conjectures, that playing cards were not 
 unknown at the latter end of the thirteenth century ; and 
 perhaps what I shall add may carry with it some small 
 confirmation of what he supposes."^ As this is not the 
 place to discuss the question, if playing cards were known 
 in England so early as the reign of Edward I, it may be 
 sufficient to remark that the substance of what Mr. Barring- 
 ton has adduced in confirmation of Anstis's conjecture 
 consists in a statement of the fact of Edward having been 
 in Syria, and that he might have learned the game of cards 
 there^ — taking it for granted that cards were of Eastern 
 
 ' Observations on the Antiquity of Card-playing in England. In the Archseo-" 
 logiji, vol. viii. 
 
 « " Edward the First, when Prince of Wales, served nearly five years in Syria, 
 and therefore, whilst military operations were saspended, must naturally have 
 wished some sedentary amusement. Now, the Asiatics scarcely ever change 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 19 
 
 invention, and known in Syria at that period,— and in a 
 second-hand reference to Breitkopf for a passage in the 
 
 Giildin Spil, wherein it is stated that a certain game 
 
 cards being unquestionably meant — ^first came into Germany 
 about the year 1300. 
 
 From Sir William Jones's account of the game of Chatur- 
 anga or, more specifically, chaturaji — the Four Rajas, or 
 Kings— there can scarcely be a doubt that the game of the 
 Four Kings played at by Edward I, was chess, and that 
 this name was a literal translation of the Indian one. 
 Assuming this, then, as an established fact, we have evi- 
 dence of the number four being associated in Europe at 
 that period with the game of chess, which, as has been pre- 
 viously shown, bore so great a resemblance to a game pf cards. 
 
 Now, whatever may have been the origin of the name of 
 cards, it is undeniable that the idea of the number four is 
 very generally associated with them; there are four suits, 
 and in each suit there are four honours, reckoning the ace ; 
 — to say nothing of the very old game of All Fours, which 
 may have originally meant winning in each of the four 
 Angas or divisions, now represented by High, Low, Jack, 
 and the Game. It is also certain that, in this country, cards 
 were called the Books of the Four Kings, long before the 
 passage relating to the game of Quatuor Beges, which might 
 have suggested the name, appeared in Anstis's History of the 
 Garter. They are so called by Sir Thomas Urquhart, in his 
 translation of Rabelais, in chapter 22, book i, which contains 
 an account of the games that Gargantua played at: "After 
 supper, were brought into the room the fair wooden gospels, 
 and the books of the Four Kings, that is to say, the tables 
 
 their customs : and as they play at cards, though in many respects different 
 from ours, it is not improbable that Edward might have been taught this game, 
 ad quatuor reges, whilst he continued so long in this part of the globe." — 
 Archaeol. viii, p. 135. 
 
20 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 and cards."^ Cards are not indeed called the Books of the 
 Four Kings in the original text of Rabelais ; though it is 
 certain that they were known in France by that name, and 
 that the Valets or Knaves were also called fom — a term 
 which, as Peignot remarks, corroborates Breitkopf 's theory 
 of the analogy between chess and cards.^ Mrs. Piozzi, 
 speaking of cards, in her Retrospection, published in 1801, 
 says, " It is a well-known vulgarity in England to say, 
 ' Come, Sir, will you have a stroke at the history of the 
 Four Kings ?' meaning, Will you play a game at cards ?'' 
 A writer in Eraser's Magazine, for August, 1844, also calls 
 cards the books of the Four Kings, as if they were well 
 known by that name. 
 
 Now as cltaliar, cliatur, or, as the word is sometimes 
 written in English, chartah, signifies four in the Hindos- 
 tanee language, as it enters into the composition of 
 cliaturanga, and as chess probably suggested the game of 
 cards, I am incKned to think that both games were invented 
 in Hindostan, and that chahar or chatur in the language 
 of that country formed a portion of the original name of 
 cards. The common term for cards in Hindostan, is Taj 
 
 * "Apr^s soupcr vcnoicnt en place Ics bcaulx Evangilcs dc bois, c*est-a-dire 
 force tablicrs, ou Ic beau flux, ung, deux, trois." — Rabelais, livre i, chap. 22. 
 
 ' The following verses relating to this point are quoted by Peignot, in his 
 Analyse de Rccherchcs sur les Cartes ^ Jouer, from a poem intituled "La 
 Magdeleine au Desert de la Samte-Baume en Provence, Pocme spirituel et Chre- 
 tien, par le P. Pierre de St. Louis, religieux Carme." Lyons, 1668. 
 
 '* Voila quant a Teglise : aliens a la maison 
 Pour voir apres cela si ma rime a raison. 
 Les livres que j*y voy de diverse peinture, 
 Sont les LiVEES des Roys, non pas de TEscriture. 
 J*y remarque au dedans dilTcrcntes couleurs. 
 Rouge aux Carreaux, aux Cocurs, noir aux Piques, aux Fleurs ; 
 Avecque ces beaux Roys, je vois encore des Dames, 
 De ces pauvrcs maris les ridicules femmes. 
 Battez, battez les bien, battez, battez les tons, 
 N'^pargnez pas les Roys, les Dames, ni les POUS." 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 21 
 
 or Tas; and its primary meaning, as I am informed, is a 
 leaf, folium. But as it is also used in a figurative sense to 
 signify a diadem or crown, and as the term signifying a 
 crown is frequently used in most languages to signify regal 
 authority, the compound term c/ia/iar-taj, or c/ia/tar-tas, 
 would be suggestive of nearly the same idea as " the Four 
 Kings," and be almost identical in sound with the Latin 
 cliartcB or chartas. The name, whatever it might be, 
 would be liable to change in passing from Hindostan, 
 through other countries, into Europe ; in the same manner 
 as we find Chaturan(/a, the Sanscrit name of chess, trans- 
 formed into the Persian Cliatrangy the Arabic Shatranj, the 
 Greek Zatrikion, the Spanish Axedrez, the Italian Scacchi, 
 the German Schach^ the French Echecs, and the Enghsh 
 Chess, 
 
 The name given to cards by the earhest French and 
 German writers who mention them, is, respectively. Cartes 
 and Karten — in Latin, Chartce; but as Charta signifies 
 paper, and as cards are made of paper, it has generally 
 been supposed that they received their name from that 
 circumstance. But if a part of their original name signified 
 the number four, whether derived from an eastern root, or 
 from the Latin quarta, it can scarcely be doubted that they 
 acquired the name of charta, not in consequence of their 
 being made of paper, but because the Latin word which 
 signified paper had nearly the same sound as another word 
 which signified four, — in the same manner as Pherz, the 
 General, in chess, found a representative in Fier(;ie, and 
 subsequently became confounded with V%erge\ the ideal 
 change of Vierge into Dame, the wife of the king, followed 
 of course, like " wooed, — an' married an' a'." 
 
 It is deserving of remark, that in several old French 
 works, written within fifty years of the time when we have 
 positive evidence of the game of cards being known in 
 
22 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 France, the word is sometimes spelled quartz or quartea, as 
 if, in the mind of the writer, it was rather associated with 
 the idea oi four than with that oi paper. The possible 
 derivation of cards from quarta, was suggested by Mr. 
 Goiigh, in his Observations on the Invention of Cards, in 
 the eighth volume of the ' Archoeologia,' though he was of 
 opinion that they obtained their name from the paper of 
 which they were made. *' Perhaps,'* says he, '* it may be 
 too bold a conjcctiure that the * quarieSt ludus quartarum 
 sive cartarum,' by which Junius [in his Etymologicon] 
 explains cards, may be derived from quarta, which, Du 
 Cangc says, is used simply for the fourth part of any thing, 
 and so may be referred to the quatuor reges ; but as Du 
 Cangc expressly says, that quarta and carta are synonymous, 
 I lay no stress on this, but leave it to the critics.*' 
 
 To carry still further this speculation on the Indian 
 origin of Playing Cards, — both name and thing, — it is to be 
 observed that cards are called Naihiy by the earliest Italian 
 writers who mention them ; and that they have alvvays been 
 called Naypes, or Naipes^ in Spain, since the time of their 
 first introduction into that country. Now in Hindostan, 
 where we find the word Chahar, Chatur, or Chartah, they 
 have also the word Na-eeb, or Naib, which, judging from the 
 sound only, appears at least as likely to have been the original 
 of naibi and naipCf as it is of the English Nabob} This word 
 Na-eeb signifies a viceroy, lieutenant, or deputy, who rules 
 over a certain district, as a feudatory who owes allegiance 
 to a sovereign. Now, as the game of chess was known in 
 Hindostan by the name of the Four Kings, if cards were 
 suggested by chess, and invented in the same country, 
 
 * *'Tlic b and v in Persian are constantly used for each oilier; one instance 
 will suffice — the plural of na-eeby a viceroy, is equally pronounced nu-vaub and 
 nu-baub, or, according to our pronunciation, nabob" — A Personal Narrative of 
 a Journey from India to England, by Captain the Hon. George Keppcl, vol. ii, 
 p. 80. Second edit. 1827. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 23 
 
 the supposition that they might have been called Chatur- 
 Nawaub — the Four Viceroys, as the cognate game of chess 
 was called the Four Kings — and that this name subsequently 
 became changed into Chartah-Naib, is, at least, as probable 
 as the derivation of Naipes from N. P., the initials of Nicolas 
 Pepin, their supposed inventor. Though this last etymology 
 has very much the appearance of a conundrum, propounded 
 in jest for the purpose of ridiculing a certain class of ety- 
 mologists who always seek for roots at the siu-face, it is 
 nevertheless that which received the sanction of the royal 
 Spanish Academy, and which is given in their Dictionary.^ 
 Several Spanish writers, however, of high reputation for 
 their knowledge of the formation of their native language, 
 have decidedly asserted that the word Naipes, signifying 
 cards, whatever it might have originally meant, was 
 derived from the Arabic ; and if the testimony of Covclhizzo, 
 a writer quoted in Bussi's History of the City of Viterbo, 
 could be rcUed on, the question respecting the word Naibi 
 or Naipes, and cards themselves, having been brought into 
 Europe through the Arabs, would appear to be determined. 
 His words are ; " Anno 1379, fu rccato in Viterbo el Gioco 
 DELLE Carte, che venne de Seracinia, e chiamisi tra 
 loro Naib.''^ That is, " In the year 1379, was brought 
 
 * "Naipe, carton, &tj. Tamarid quicre que sea nombre Arabigo, y lo mismo 
 el Broccnsc \ pero comunamcntc so juzga que sc los did cste nombre por la 
 primer cifra que se las puso, que fue una N y una P, con que se siguificabacl 
 nombre de su inventor, Nicolao Pepm : y de ahi eon pcquena corrupcion se 
 dixo Naipe." — Diccionario de la Academia Espauolo, edit. 1734. 
 
 » Istoria dclla Citta di Viterbo, da Pcliciano Bussi, p. 213. Roma, 1743. 
 The passage relating to cards appears to have been first pomted out by Leber, 
 in his Etudes Historiques sur les Cartes a jouer, p. 43. "Though we have 
 no information respecting the precise date of Govelluzzo's birth or death," says 
 Mons. Leber, in a note at p.. 17 of Mens. Duchesne's Precis Historique, "it 
 is yet certain that this chronicler, whose name is properly Giovanni de Juzzo de 
 Covelluzzo, wrote in the fifteenth century, and that what he relates about cards 
 being brought into Viterbo in 1379, was extracted from the chronicle of Nicholas 
 
24 PLAYING CARDS, i 
 
 into Viterbo the game of cards, which comes from the 
 country of the Saracens, and is with them called Naib." 
 It may be observed, that the very word here given as 
 the Arabic name for cards still signifies in Arabia a deputy 
 of the Sultan. Even though it may not be a word of 
 Hindostanee origin, it may have been introduced into that 
 language when a great portion of Hindostan was subjected 
 to the Mahometan yoke, and when many of the Rajahs of 
 native race were superseded by the Naibs or deputies of a 
 ]\Ialiomctan sovereign.^ There appears reason to believe 
 that the word Naipe or Naipes, as applied to cards, did not 
 primarily signify cards generally, but was rather a designa- 
 tion of the game played with cards ; in the same manner as 
 " the Four Kings" signified the game at cards, in conse- 
 quence of a king being the chief of each of the four suits. 
 In Vieyra's Portuguese Dictionary, 1773, one of the expla- 
 nations of the word " Naipe" is, " a Suit of Cards ;" and 
 the phrase, " Nao tenho nenhuma daquelle naipe," is trans- 
 lated, " I have none of that suit/' , 
 
 It is not unlikely that the Greek word x«P^vc, — Latin, 
 Charta, paper, — was derived from the East, and that it was 
 originally associated with the idea of " four," as expressive of 
 a square — quarrc — of paper, in contra-distinction to a long 
 strip of paper or parchment, which, when rolled up, formed 
 an '(viiXtfia, or volume. In middle-age Greek, the word 
 yraprapiov, OX y^apriov,^ — which is Unquestionably derived 
 from the same root as x^p^'/c, — appears to have been used 
 
 dc Covclluzzo, one of liis ancestors, who, as well as liimself, was an inhabitant 
 of Viterbo, and who possibly might have resided there at the period when cards 
 were first introduced." 
 
 ' Mahmoud, the Gasnevide, first invaded Hindostan in a. d. 999. 
 
 ^"Xaprapiov; Gallicum, qnartier; scutulum quadratura. Extat. apudCo- 
 dinum dc Ofiic. aulie Constantinop. x«P''*o»'> idem quod x<^Pf^piov" — Meursii 
 Glossarium Grajco-Barbarum, 4to, Lugd. Batavor., 1605. — Quartier de dots, A 
 quarter, or square piece of timber.— Cotgrave's Frencli and English Dictionary. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 25 
 
 to convey the idea of a square, or four-sided piece of wood, 
 and to have specifically signified a square wooden trencher: 
 the top of the trencher-cap worn at the Universities of 
 Oxford and Cambridge, and at some of our pubUc schools, 
 may be considered as a representative of the general form 
 of the thing. It is curious to trace how a word primarily 
 expressive of the nxxmher four has, in Greek, Latin, French, 
 and EngUsh, been employed to signify either paper gene- 
 rally, or a portion of paper. From the French Ca/iier or 
 cayer^ — which may be traced through carre or quarre, to 
 the Latin quarfus, from quatuor — we have the old English 
 quair, a little paper book consisting of a few sheets; and 
 the modern quire, now signifying a definite number of 
 sheets of paper. 
 
 In Hindostanee the word c/iit signifies, I believe, a note 
 or letter, and is in this sense synonymous with the Latin 
 Episfola, and the German Brief e. Should it also signify 
 paper,^ either in general, or of a particular kind, and 
 be cognate with chahar, chaiur, or chartah^ — " four," — 
 
 » " Cayer, A quire of written paper ; a piece of a written book, divided 
 into equal parts." — Cotgrave. The cayer appears to have been sjnonjmous 
 with the j55c/fl of monkish writers. It may be Observed that from chartary a 
 Persian word literally signifying * four-strings," the Rev. Stephen Weston has 
 traced the descent of Ki9apa; cithara; chitarra; and guitar. To these de- 
 rivates the old English gittern may be added."— Specimens of the Conformity of 
 the European Languages, especially the English, with the Oriental languages, 
 especially the Persian. By Stephen Weston, B. D. 12mo, 1802. 
 
 * It may be here noted that the word Wuruk or Wumq, used by the Moslems 
 in Hindostan to signify a card, signifies also the leaf of a tree, a leafoi paper, 
 being in the latter sense identical with the Latin folium. See Richardson's 
 Arabic Dictionary, word "Card;" and the word " Wuruf in the list of terms 
 used at the game of cards as played at Hindostan, given in a subsequent page. 
 
 3 Should I be told that the correct word for "/o/^r," in Hindostanee, is chatur^ 
 chatta, or cattah,— not chartah.—d.ndi be required to account for the p in x«f>»'ic» 
 supposing the latter word to be derived from the same root, I should answer 
 by giving a case in point — the derivation of quartus from quatuor, — leavmg 
 others to assign the reason. I subjoin here, by way of contrast, a different 
 etymology of (?«;•/«— Epistola, a letter. "Quieren algunos que.este nombre 
 
2G PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 the preceding speculations on the primary meaning of 
 Xa^Trjg, c/iaria, and cards, will be materially corroborated. 
 I leave, however, the investigation of this point to those 
 who understand the Hindostanee language, as all the 
 knowledge that I have of the word in question, is derived 
 from one of Theodore Hook's tales, Passion and Principle, 
 in the first series of ' Sayings and Doings.' Wlierever he 
 might have picked it up, the effect with which he uses it is 
 peculiarly his own. 
 
 Breitkopf, who is decidedly of opinion that cards are of 
 Eastern invention, and of great antiquity, considers that the 
 name Naibc, or Naipcs, by which they were first known to 
 the Italians and the Spaniards, is derived from an Arabic 
 word — ]Va6aa — signifying divination, foretelling future 
 events, fortune-telling, and such like. In this opinion he 
 says he is confirmed by the exposition of the Hebrew word 
 Naihes, which he seems to think cognate with the Arabic 
 Nabaa.* He, however, produces no evidence to show that 
 cards were known either to the Arabians or the Jews by the 
 name of Naibe, and from a subsequent passage in his work, 
 it is evident that the conjecture was suggested merely from 
 the circumstance of cards being occasionally employed for 
 the purposes of fortune-telling. 
 
 Heineken, who contends that cards were invented in 
 Germany, alleges the name — Briefe — given to them in that 
 
 Casicllano, Carta, se derivassc dc la ciudad dc Carta insigne por aver sido cuiia 
 de la rcyna Dido, y atribuycn a esta ciudad la ctimologia, por aver sido la pri- 
 mcra que dib materia en que las Cartas sc cscriviesscn." — Seneca impugnado 
 dc Seneca, &c. Por Don Alonzo Nunez dc Castro, p. 220, -Ito. Madrid, IGGl. 
 — Is there any evidence to show that the form of ancient Carthage \.'as Square ? 
 ' " Im Arabischen heist Nahaa : er hat einen leisen Ton, wie die Zauberer 
 thun, von sieh gegeben ; davon Iifada, die Zaubertrommel, uhd Nadi, cin Pro- 
 plict, Wahrsager, hcrkommt. Eiclihorn crkliirt, in der Einleitung zum A. Tcs- 
 tamente, die hebriiischen Wortc Nadi, Nabiini, durch gottliehe Eingebung, uud 
 durch Lcute, die durch gottliehe Elugebuug liandelu." — Ueber den Ursprung 
 dcr Spiclkarten, s. 15. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 27 
 
 country in support of the presumed fact. " Playing Cards," 
 he observes, " were called with us Brief e^ that is letten, in 
 Latin, Bpistola^ and they are called so still. The common 
 people do not say, 'give me a pack of cards,' but 'a Sjpiel 
 Brief e (un jeu de lettres) ; and they do not say ' I want a 
 card,' but * I want a Brief (a letter). We should, at least, 
 have preserved the name cards y if they had come to us from 
 France ; for the common people always preserve the names 
 of all games that come from other countries."^ This argu- 
 ment is contradicted by the fact of cards having been called 
 Karten in Germany, before they acquired there the name of 
 Briefe ; and this very wovd Brief e, which is merely a trans- 
 lation of the Latin C/iarta, is presumptive evidence of the 
 Germans having obtained their knowledge of cards from 
 either the French or the ItaUans, with whom the name 
 cards, when " done" into Latin, had the same meaning as 
 the German word Briefe, 
 
 With respect to the term Naibes, or Naipes, there are two 
 etymologies which seem deserving of notice here ; the one 
 propounded by Bullet, in his ' Recherches Historiques sur 
 les Cartes a jouer ;' and the other by Eloi Johanneau, in 
 his * Melanges d'Origines Etymologiques.' Mons. Bullet 
 thinks that cards are of French origin, and that they were not 
 invented before the introduction of linen paper, — his chief 
 reason for fixing this epoch as a ne-plus-ultra being evidently 
 founded on their Latinised name, c/iarfa. From France he 
 supposes that they passed into Spain by way of Biscay, and 
 acquired in their passage the name of Naipes. This word, 
 according to Mons. Bullet, is derived from the Basque term 
 napa, signifying "plat, plain, uni," which very properly 
 designates cards, and corresponds with the Latin charta. 
 This ety:-iology is fanciful rather than felicitous ; if charta 
 
 • Hcinekcn, Idee Gcncrule d'liuc complete Collection d'Estampes, p. 210. 
 Lcipsic, 1771. 
 
28 TLAYINO CARDS. 
 
 • 
 
 were synonymous with ^nensa, — a table, — the Basque term 
 napa would appear to correspond more nearly with it. But 
 the Basque language, like the Celtic, is one peculiarly 
 adapted for etymological speculation ; a person who under- 
 stands a little of it, may readily grub up in its wild fertility 
 a root for any word which he may not be able to supply 
 with a radical elsewhere.^ 
 
 Mons. Eloi Johanneau is of opinion that cards are of 
 much higher antiquity than they are generally supposed to 
 be , and with respect to then* Spanish name, Naipes, the 
 origin of it, is, to him, too plain and simple to require the 
 aid of any scarce or voluminous works to prove it ; it is, in 
 short, one of those truths which, to be perceived, requires 
 only to be enounced. This incontestable truth is, that the 
 word naipey a card, comes from the Latin inappa, the in 
 being merely changed into an n. Of this antithesis, or 
 change of a letter, several examples are produced ; as the 
 French najjpe, a table-cloth, also from mappa; nefle and 
 nejlier from mespilum ^\A mespilus ; and faire la Sainte 
 Mitouche, for faire la Sainte Nitouche, Then naipe and 
 mappa have an analogous meaning. Naipes, Playing Cards, 
 scarcely differ from a mapy — which is a geographic card, — 
 or, except in point of size, from a nappey which is spread 
 
 ' » The Abb6 Bullet, previous to the appearance of his little book on Cards, in 
 1757, had commcneed the publieation of a Celtie Dictionary. In the former 
 tlicre are many traces of his mind having acquired a bent from his Celtic re- 
 searches. He finds the origin of the term as or ace in the Celtic as; and in the 
 same language he finds the true meaning of the names of the Queens of Clubs 
 and Hearts, Argine and Judith. Argine is formed otar, la, the, and ^//2, 
 belle, beautiful; and Judith is a corruption of Judic, — which is formed oijud, 
 a queen, and dye, twice. Both tliose queens, according to liis fancy, are in- 
 tended to represent Anne of Bretagnc, wife of Charles VIII and Louis XII. 
 According to Perc Daniel, Argine is an anagram of Rcgina, and is meant for 
 Mary of Anjou, wife of Charles VII ; and Judith is not the lieroine of the Old 
 Testament, but the wife of Louis-le-Debonnairc. Though those doctors dis- 
 agree, yet each appears to have equallii good reasons for his opinions. The 
 consequence is that we can put no faith in either. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 29 
 
 like a chart on the table. In ancient times, too, mappa 
 signified the tessara, or signal, which was displayed at the 
 games of the circus. Tertullian, speaking of those games in 
 his ' Diatribe De Spectaculis,' says : " Non vident missum 
 quid sit. Mappam putant ; sed est diaboli ab alto prseci- 
 pitati gula," — " They perceive not what is displayed. They 
 think it the mappa, but it is the jaws of the devil." It is 
 evident from this, that in Tertullian's estimation, there was 
 something very wicked in the mappa ; and the bad odour 
 which, even at that early period, the word was in, appears 
 to have been retained by its presumed derivative, naipes, 
 ever since : Servavit odorem diu. But then for the grand 
 discovery : Mons. Johanneau finds, in Ducange's Glossary, 
 a passage cited from Papias,^ lexicographer of the eleventh 
 century, which proves that the word mappa then signified a 
 Playing Card, and that the game of cards was known at 
 least three centuries previous to the period assigned to its 
 invention by the Abbe Rive.^ "Mappa," according to 
 Papias, " is a napkin; a picture, or representation of games, 
 is also called mapa ; whence we say mapa mundi,"— a map 
 of the world. An ancient Latin and French glossary, also 
 cited by Ducange, explains the passage from Papias to the 
 following effect: " Mapamundi, a mapemunde (or geographic 
 map) ; and it is derived from mapa, a nappe, a picture or 
 representation of games."^ Though it may be admitted 
 
 * The Abb^ Rive, grounding his opinion on an interpolated passage in 
 Gutenys French translation of Guevara's Epistles, ascribes the invention of 
 cards to the Spanijirds, and places it about the year 1330. With respect to the 
 origm of the name Naipes, he adopts the N P etymology of the Spanish Aca- 
 demy. The Abb6*8 brochure on cards is entitled *Eclaircissemcnts Historiques 
 ct Critiques sur llnvcntion dcs Cartes & joucr.* Paris, 1780. 
 
 * "Mappa, dit Papias, togillay (c-cst-ii-dirc, touaille, nappe); Mapa ctiam 
 dicitur PiCTURA vel Porma Ludorum, unde dicitur Mapamuudi. Un vieux 
 glossaire latm-franpais de la Bibliothbque de Saiut-Germain-des-Pres, cit6 par 
 Ducange, reproduit et explique ainsi ce passage precieux, en le traduisant : 
 * Mapamundi, mapemunde; et dicitur a Mapa, nappe ou picture, ou form de 
 
30 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 that nappe, a table-cloth, or napkin, is derived from mappa, 
 and that the latter word was sometimes used to signify a 
 picture of some kind of game ; it yet does not appear to be 
 incontrovertibly true, either that mappa, as explained by 
 Papias, signified a card, or a game of cards, or that the 
 word naipes was derived from it. What Mons. Johanneau 
 considers to be a self-evident truth, appears in reality to be 
 no better than one of those confident assertions entitled, by 
 courtesy, moral truths, in consequence of the sincerity of 
 the author's belief. A great many truths of this kind pass 
 current in the business of life, and maintain their nominal 
 value, long after their real character is known, upon the 
 credit of the indorscrs. 
 
 Wherever cards may have been first invented, and what- 
 ever may be the etymology of the words charta and naipes, 
 or naihi, it is certain that cards are now well known in 
 Hindostan, where they form the amusement of the natives, 
 both Hindoos and Moslems. That they were invented there, 
 may be a matter of dispute ; but that they have been known 
 there from an early period, and were not introduced there 
 from Europe, appears to be undeniable. The Hindoo cards 
 arc usually circular ; the number of suits is eight, and in 
 some packs ten ; and the marks of the suits, though in some 
 instances showing an agreement with those of European 
 cards, are evidently such as are peculiar to the country, and 
 identified with the customs, manners, and opinions of the 
 people. They coincide with the earliest European cards in 
 having no queen, the two coat cards — being a king and his 
 principal minister or attendant — and in the suits being dis- 
 tinguished by the colour as well as by the form of the mark 
 or emblem. 
 
 It appears necessary here to notice an objection, which 
 
 jcux.' " — Melanges d'Origines Etymologiques ct dc Questions Grnmmaticalcs. 
 Par M. Eloi Johanneau, p. 40. Paris, 1818. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 31 
 
 readily suggests itself to the supposed derivation of charta, 
 cards, from a word of eastern origin, signifying "four." 
 It is this : if the ancient Hindoo pack consisted of eigJd or 
 even ten suits, would it not be preposterous to derive the 
 European name from a word which implies that there were 
 ovA.yfoiir. Facts most assuredly are stubborn things, and no 
 speculation, whether lame of a leg, or going smoothly on 
 " all fours,'^ can stand against them. It is not, however, 
 proved that the most ancient Hindoo cards consisted of eight 
 or ten suits ; and till this be done, the speculation must 
 just pass for what it is worth. Whether there were eight, 
 ten, or twenty suits, the derivation of y^a^rnQ, charta, paper, 
 from a word of Eastern origin, would still be unaffected. 
 If the game of cards were suggested by that of chess, I am 
 inclined to think that the earliest pack would consist of 
 only two suits, and that more were subsequently added to 
 satisfy the wants of " busy idleness," for a more complicated 
 game. Be this as it may, cards did not arrive at Europe 
 from Hindostan "per saltum;" it is probable that their 
 pi-ogress through the intervening countries was comparatively 
 slow ; and even if they left home with a " suite" of eight, it 
 is not impossible that they might lose half of them by the 
 way. But, to meet the objection by a fact : from a description 
 of a pack of Hindostanee cards to be subsequently noticed^ 
 and of the game played with them, it appears that the ei^ht 
 suits are not considered as a single series, but as two di- 
 visions oifoiir suits each.^ This partition corroborates both 
 the theory of the game of cards being suggested by that of 
 chess, and of the name being derived from a word primarily 
 signifying the number four. 
 
 On the supposition, then, that cards were invented in the 
 East, it feeems advisable to first give some account of the 
 
 » The description alluded to will bo found at p. 41. 
 
32 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 cards now used in Hindostan, before entering into any inves- 
 tigation of the period when the game was first brought 
 into Europe. A high antiquity, indeed, no less than a 
 tliousand years, is claimed for one of the packs subsequently 
 described ; but rejecting this as a pure fiction, which the 
 apparent newness of the cards themselves contradicts, it 
 may be fairly assumed, seeing that in the East customs are 
 slowly changed, that the figures and symbols, or marks, on 
 those cards are, in their forms and signification generally, of 
 at least as early a date as those which are to be found on 
 the oldest European cards. 
 
 There is no collection of Hindostanee cards in the Mu- 
 scum of the East India Company ; the purveyors, it would 
 seem, not considering them likely to be interesting even to 
 the Lady Proprietors, who, though they have no voice, at 
 least in Leadenhall Street, yet have considerable influence, 
 by their votes, in the choice of Directors. The natives of 
 Hindostan always speak of "the Company" as if, in the 
 abstract, the great body of proprietors were a female, — 
 " Mrs. Company ;"* and it would appear that the " direc- 
 tion*' of things at home, is rapidly approximating to a pure 
 Gynccocracy.^ 
 
 • The 8CX of the Company appears to be a matter of interest even witli the 
 ladles of AlTghanistan. "At night the ladies of Maliomed Shah Khan, and 
 other eliicfs who were travelling in our company, invited Mrs. Eyre to dinner. 
 She found them exeeedingly kind in manner and prepossessing in outward 
 appearance, being both well-dressed and good-looking. • They asked the old 
 question as to the gender of the Company." — Lieut. Eyre*8 Journal of Impri- 
 sonment in Affghanistan. 
 
 * "Apropos debottes,"— "Now you speak of a Gun :" Moore, in his Life of 
 Sheridan, observes that but a very imperfect report of Sheridan's celebrated 
 speech on the impeachment of Warren Hastings is preserved. The foUowing 
 piquant passage relating to the East India Company, as then constituted and 
 actings occurs in a report of the speech published in an old Magazine, for 
 February, 1787. "He remembered to have heard an honourable and learned 
 gentleman (Mr. Dundas) remark, that there was something in the first frame 
 and constitution of the Company, which extended the sordid principles of their 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 83 
 
 In the Museum of the Royal Asiatic Society, there are 
 three packs of Hindostanee cards, one of them consisting of 
 ten suits, and the other two of eight suits each. In each 
 suit, when complete, the number of cards is twelve ; that is 
 two coat cards, or honours, and ten others, whose numerical 
 vdue is expressed by the number of marks upon them, in a 
 mode similar to that by which English cards, from the ace 
 to the ten, are distinguished by the number of the " pips." 
 The cards of all the packs are circular ; the diameter of the 
 largest is 2f inches, and of the smallest about 2g inches. The 
 material of which they are formed would appear to be 
 canvas,* but so stiffened with varnish, that each single card 
 feels like a piece of wood. All the figures and marks 
 appear to be executed by hand, not printed nor stencilled ; 
 each pack is contained in an oblong box, the cards being 
 placed on their edges; and on the top and sides of the box, the 
 marks or emblems of the several suits are depicted. From 
 the style of their execution, I should conclude that card- 
 painting in Hindostan, was a regular profession, though 
 possibly combined with some other, to " make ends meet," 
 just as card-painting was combined with wood-engraving 
 generally, in Germany in the latter part of the fifteenth 
 century; or just as shaving and hair-cutting might, in 
 
 origin over all their suecessive operations, connecting with their civil policy, 
 and even with their boldest achievements, the meanness of a pedlar and the 
 profligacy of pirates. Alike in the political and the military line could be 
 observed auctioneering ambassadors and trading generals; and thus we saw a 
 revolution brought about by affidavits j an army employed in executing an arrest; 
 a town besieged on a note of hand; a prince dethroned for the balance of 
 an account. Thus it was they exhibited a government which united the 
 mock majesty of a bloody sceptre, and the little traffic of a merchant's 
 counting-house, wielding a truncheon with one hand and picking a pocket 
 with another." 
 
 » It is expressly stated that the cards of one of the packs are made of can- 
 vas, in a memorandum wluch accompanies them. This is the pack which is 
 said to be a thousand years old. On first handling them they seemed to me to 
 be made of thin veneers of wood. 
 
84 PLAYING CARDS, 
 
 former times, afford a decent subsistence when eked out 
 with a little surgery, such as blood-letting, tooth-drawing, — 
 " Qiice prosunt omnihm artes" 
 
 In giving a separate description of each of those packs, 
 it seems most proper to begin with that for which the 
 highest antiquity is claimed. This pack is one of the two 
 which consist of eight suits; and, from a memorandum 
 which accompanies it, I have obtained the following par- 
 ticulars respecting a former possessor and the presumed 
 antiquity of the cards. They formerly belonged to Captain 
 D. Cromhne Smith, to whom they were presented, about 
 the year 1815, by a high-caste Bramin, who dwelt at 
 Guntoor, or some other place in one of the northern Sircars 
 of Southern India. The Bramin considered them to be 
 a great curiosity, and informed Capt. Smith that they had 
 been handed down in his family from time immemorial. 
 He supposed that they were a thousand years old, or more ; 
 he did not know if they were perfect, but believed that 
 originally there were two more colours or suits. He said 
 they were not the same as the modem cards ; that none 
 knew how to play at them ; and that no books give any 
 account of them. Such is the sum of the Bramin's infor- 
 mation. The writer of the memorandum,— looking at the 
 costume of the figures and the harness of the animals, and 
 considering that the Mahometans do not tolerate painted 
 images,'— concludes that these cards are Hindostanee. 
 
 The pack consists of eight suits, each suit containing 
 two honours and ten common cards — in all ninety-six cards. 
 In all the suits the King is mounted on an elephant ; and 
 in six, the Vizier, or second honour, is on horseback; but 
 in the blue suit, — the emblem or mark of which is a red 
 
 ' Though Mahometans might object to paint figured cards, it appears that 
 tliey do "tolerate" them, and that very amply, by using them. See a descrip- 
 tion of the Gunjcefu, or cards used by the Moslems, at page 41. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 85 
 
 spot with a yellow centre — ^he rides a tiger ; and in the 
 white suit, — the mark of which appears like a grotesque 
 or fiendish head, — he is mounted on a bull. The backs of 
 all the cards are green. The following are the colours of 
 the ground on which the figures are painted in the several 
 suits, together with the difierent marks by which the suits 
 and the respective value of the common cards were also 
 distinguished. 
 
 COLOUES. MAUKS. 
 
 1. Fawn . . . Something like a pineapple in a shallow cup. 
 
 2. Black . . . A red spot, with a white centre. 
 
 3. Brown . . . A " tulwar," or sword. 
 
 4. White ... A grotesque kind of head. 
 
 5. Geeen , . . Something like a parasol without a handle, and with 
 
 two broken ribs sticking through the top. 
 
 6. Blue .... A red spot, with a yellow centre. 
 
 7. Bed . . . .A parallelogram with dots on it, as if to represent 
 
 writing (shortest side vertical). 
 
 8. Yellow ... An oval. 
 
 On every one of the common cards there is also depicted, 
 in addition to the mark of their respective suits, something 
 like a slender leaf, tapering upwards, but with the top 
 curving down. Of this pack of cards I have nothing further 
 to observe here than that if they are even a hundred years 
 old, they must have been preserved with great care ; and 
 that I am inclined to think that the Bramin, who gave 
 them to Capt. Smith, had over-rated their antiquity and 
 rarity in order to enhance the value of his present. 
 
 In a second pack, consisting, like the preceding, of eight 
 suits of twelve cards each, the King appears seated on a 
 throne ; while the Vizier, as in the former, is on horseback, 
 except in three of the suits where he appears mounted on 
 an elephant, a single-humped camel, and a bull. Though 
 there be a diSerence between this pack and the former, in 
 
86 . PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 the marks of some of the suits, there can be no doubt that 
 the same game might be played with each. In the pack 
 now under consideration the backs of all the cards are red. 
 The following are the colours of the ground and the marks 
 of the several suits. 
 
 COLOUES. 
 
 
 MABKS. 
 
 1. Yellow . 
 
 
 , Apparently a flower. 
 
 2. Black . 
 
 
 . A red spot, with a white centre. 
 
 3. Red 
 
 
 - A "tulwar," or sword. 
 
 4. Red 
 
 
 . Man's head and shoulders. 
 
 6. Bbown . 
 
 
 . (UnintelHgible.) 
 
 6. Gbeen . 
 
 
 . A circular spot. 
 
 7. Green 
 
 
 . A parallelogram (longest side vertical). 
 
 8. Yellot^ . 
 
 
 . An oval. 
 
 The third pack of Hindostanee cards in the possession of 
 the Royal Asiatic Society, to whom it was presented by the 
 late Sir John Malcolm, is much more curious and interesting 
 than cither of the other two previously noticed. It con- 
 sists of ten suits, of twelve cards each ; and the marks of 
 the suits are the emblems of the ten Avatars, or incarnations 
 of Vichnou, one of the three principal divinities in the 
 religious system of the Hindoos. The King is represented 
 by Vichnou, seated on a throne, and in one or two instances 
 accompanied by a female ; and the Vizier, as in most of the 
 suits of the other two packs, is mounted on a white horse. 
 In every suit two attendants appear waiting on the second 
 as well as on the principal " honour." The backs of all 
 the cards in this pack are red; and the colours of the 
 ground and marks of the several suits are as follows : — ^ 
 
 * In a note to the article on Wliist, in the Foreign Quarterly Review, No. 48, 
 previously referred to, this pack of cards is noticed, and the suits are thus enu- 
 merated : " While this article was in the press, we have been favoured with a 
 sight of two packs of cards in the possession of the Royal Asiatic Society : and, 
 as truth is more strange than fiction, one of these, consisting of Ten Suits, cer- 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 37 
 
 COLOUBS. MABKS. 
 
 1. Red , . . . .A fish. 
 
 2. Yellow . . . • . . A tortoise. 
 
 3. Gold . . .A boar. 
 
 4. Green , . . .A lion. 
 
 6. Bhottnish Gbxen . A man's head. 
 
 6. Red . . .An axe. 
 
 7. Brownish Gbeen . An ape. 
 
 8. Pr.-^B . . , A goat or antelope. 
 
 9. Brick Red . .A cattashal or umbreUa. 
 
 10. Green . . .A white horse, saddled and bridled. 
 
 The following description of the ten Avatars, or incar- 
 nations, of Vichnou, as represented in a series of drawings,^ 
 will explain the meaning of neariy every one of the marks of 
 
 tainly does represent the Ten Avatars or incarnations of the Vistnof, or Vish- 
 nava^ sect The suits are : 
 
 1. The Fish. 6. The Hatchet. 
 
 2. The Tortoise. ^ 7. The UmbreUa (or Bow.) 
 . 3. The Boar. 8. The Goat. 
 
 4. The Lion. 9. The Boodh. 
 
 5. The Monkey. 10. The Horse. 
 
 "The Dwarf of the 5th Avatar is substituted by the Monkey ; the Bow and 
 Arrows of the 7th by the Cattashal or Umbrella, which gives precisely the same 
 outline ; and the Goat there, as often elsewhere, takes the place of the Plough." 
 
 On the pack of eight cards, which was probably one of those previously 
 noticed in the present volume, the writer of the article makes the following 
 observations : " The other pack has eight suits, of eight cards and two court cards 
 each ; eighty in all. [The number of cards, inclusive of the honours, in each 
 suit, is twelve, as has been previously observed.] The Parallelogram, Sword, 
 Mower, and Vase, answer to the Carreau, Espada, Club, and Copa of European 
 suits : the Barrel (P), the Garland (?), and two kinds of Chakra (quoit) complete 
 the set." — ^The Sword is plain enough, and so is the parallelogram. The Flower 
 and the Cup, I confess, I have not been able to make out ; and I question much 
 if the Parallelogram — which in another pack, subsequently described, represents 
 a royal diploma or mandate — be the original of the Carreau or Diamond on 
 European cards. The " two kinds of Chakra" are simply two circular marks. 
 
 * Engravings of those subjects, as well as their description, will be foimd in 
 'Religions de 1* Antiquity considerdes principalement dans leurs formes sym- 
 boliques et mythologiques ; ouvrage traduit de TAllemand du Dr. Frederic 
 Creutzer, par J. D. Guigniant.' Planches, premier cahier, p. 11, 8vo; Paris, 
 1825. 
 
S8 • PLATING CARDS. 
 
 the ten suits of cards. The only suits which do not exactly 
 correspond with the Avatars, as represented in the drawings, 
 are those numbered 8 and 9, the emblems of which are a 
 goat and an umbrella. It is, however, to be observed that 
 Hindoo authors do not agree in their accounts of the 
 different Avatars of Vichnou, though they generally concur 
 in representing them as ten in number, that is, nine passed 
 and one to come. It is also possible that the goat — which 
 appears couchant as if giving suck — and the umbrella, which 
 in the east is frequently the sign of regal dignity, may be 
 symbolical of the eighth and ninth Avatars in the descrip- 
 tion of the drawings. Though the Bramin Dwarf, in the 
 fifth Avatar of the drawings, carries an umbrella, there 
 can scarcely be a doubt that the Man's head, in No. 5 of 
 the cards, is the symbol of this Avatar. 
 
 THE TEN AVATAES OF VICHNOU. 
 
 1. Matsyavatara. The first Avatar of Vichnou, as a 
 Fish ; represented as the body of a man with the tail of a 
 fish. The human part is coloured blue ; the rest is white. 
 In two of his four hands he holds the ChaJcra, or Soudarsana, 
 which here appears something like a quoit with rays pro- 
 ceeding from it.^ In the palm of another of his hands the 
 diamond — carre mystique — is displayed. According to the 
 Bhagavat Purana, the precious stone or diamond called 
 Cdstrala, is a sort of talisman which illuminates all things, 
 and in which all things are reflected. It is the perfect 
 mirror of the world, and Vichnou generally wears it on his 
 breast, or holds it in the palm of that hand which is raised 
 in the act of benediction. 
 
 ' " Esp^ce de roue cnflammde, symbole de la force vivante qui p6ii^tre et 
 meut ruiiivcrs." 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 39 
 
 2. KouRMAVATARA. The second Avatar, as a Tortoise ; 
 the upper part of the figure, man, the lower, tortoise. The 
 Cliakra appears poised on the fingers of one of the hands. 
 
 3. Varahavatara. The third Avatar of Vichnou, as a 
 Ferraty or wild boar, to destroy the giant Hiranyakcha. 
 Vichnou appears with the head of a boar, but with the 
 body and limbs of a man. In the cards, the head of the 
 boar is blue. 
 
 4. Narasinhavatara. The fourth Avatar of Vichnou, 
 as a Lion, to destroy the giant Hiranycasyapa. Vichnou 
 appears with a lion's head, but with a human body, holding 
 the Chakra in one of his hands. 
 
 5. Vamanavatara. The fifth Avatar of Vichnou, as a 
 Bramin Dwarf, to avenge the gods on the giant Bali. In 
 one hand he holds a kind of narrow-necked pot, with a 
 spout to it, and in another a cattashal, or umbrella. 
 
 6. Parasou-Rama. The sixth Avatar of Vichnou, as a 
 Bramin, armed with an axe, to chastise kings and warriors. 
 The colour of the figure is green, and in one of his hands 
 he holds either a flower, or a kind of leaf. 
 
 7. Sri-Rama, or Rama-Ichandra. The seventh Avatar 
 of Vichnou, in the family of the Kings of the race of the 
 Sun, to avenge the gods and men of the tyranny of Havana, 
 King of Lanka or Ceylon. The figure of Vichnou in this 
 Avatar, is blue or green ; and he is seated on a couch or 
 throne with his wife Sita beside him, while monkeys appear 
 ofiering him adoration. In the cards, the colour of Vichnou 
 is blue, and a female shares his throne, which is veiy much 
 like a font or shallow bath. Monkeys also appear before 
 him. 
 
40 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 8. Chrishna. The Eighth Avatar of Vichnou, as an 
 Infant suckled by his mother Devaki. Rays of glory sur- 
 round the heads of the mother and child. 
 
 9. Bouddha, the Son of Maya. The ninth Avatar of 
 Vichnou, who appears richly dressed, seated in an attitude 
 of meditation on a throne, the back of which is of a shell- 
 like form — "espece de conque'^ — and is adorned with 
 Lotus flowers. 
 
 - 10. CalkI'AVatara. The tenth, and future Avatar of 
 Vichnou, as a Horse, or Man-horse, armed with sword and 
 buckler, to destroy the world at the end of the present age. 
 The figure has a human body, and a horse's head. 
 
 As there are different accounts of the incarnations of 
 Vichnou, as has been previously observed, the following is 
 given with the view of throwing a little more light on the 
 subject: "Vichnou, the second person in the Hindoo 
 trinity, is said to have undergone nine successive incarna- 
 tions to deliver mankind from so many perilous situations. 
 The first, they say, was in the form of a lion; the second of 
 a hog ; the third a tortoise; the fourth a serpent ; the fifth 
 that of a Bramin (a dwarf, afoot and a half high) ; the sixth 
 a monster, namely, half man half lion; the seventh a dragon; 
 the eighth a man born of a virgin ; and the ninth an ape. 
 Bemier adds a tenth, which is to be that of a great cavalier. 
 (Voyage, vol. ii, p. 142.) A very particular and a very 
 different account of these transformations is given by Mr. 
 Sonnerat (Voyages, vol. i, p. 158), with curious representa- 
 tion of each of them."* In this account we have both a lion, 
 
 * The Institutions of Moses and those of the Hindoos compared. By Joseph 
 Priestly, LL.D. p. 56. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1799. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 41 
 
 and a man Jion, which are probably symbols of the same 
 Avatar ; and a dragon and a serpent, also probably symbols 
 of the same thing, though neither of them occur in the cards, 
 nor in the description of the drawings. 
 
 I shall now present the reader with a description of 
 another pack of Hindostanee cards, and of the game played 
 with them: it forms an article entitled 'Hindostanee 
 Cards,' in the second volume of the Calcutta Magazine, • 
 1815; and is accompanied with two plates, fac-similes of^ 
 which are here given. 
 
 '' The words Gunjeefu and Tas are used in Hindostanee 
 to denote either the game, or a pack of cards. I have in 
 vain searched the * Asiatic Researches,' ' Asiatic Annual 
 Register,' Sir William Ouseley's * Oriental Collections,' and 
 the ' Oriental Repertory,' by Dalrymple, for some account or 
 description of the mode of playing the cards in use among 
 the natives of Hindostan; and further, from the total silence 
 of the French and English Encyclopaedias, conclude that 
 they have never engaged the attention of any inquirer. A 
 description of the gunjeefu, or cards, used by the Moslems, 
 may therefore be acceptable to oiir readers. 
 
 " In the ' Dictionary, Hindostanee and English,' edited 
 by the late Dr. Hunter, the names of the eight suits are 
 to be found under the word Taj, the name of the first 
 suit. 
 
 ''The pack is composed of ninety-six cards, divided into 
 eight suits. In each suit are two court cards, the King, 
 and the Wuzeer. The common cards, like those of Europe, 
 bear the spots from which the suits are named, and are ten 
 in number. 
 
 "Four suits are named superior,* and four the inferior^ 
 suits. 
 
 ' Beshbur 
 
 * Kumbur. . 
 
42 
 
 
 PLAYING 
 
 CARDS. 
 
 
 SUPBEIOE SUITS. 
 
 
 
 IVFEEIOB SUITS. 
 
 Tflj.« 
 
 Soofed. 
 
 Shumsher. 
 
 Gholam. 
 
 
 
 Chung. 
 Soorkh. 
 Burat. 
 Quimash. 
 
 "Plate I represents the [honours of the] four superior 
 suits, called Beshbur; and Plate II, the inferior, Kumbur. 
 The kings are easily distinguished, and are here numbered 
 from 1 to 8. 
 
 "In the superior suits, the ten follows next in value to 
 the king and wuzeer ; and the ace is the lowest card. In 
 the inferior suits, the ace has precedence immediately after 
 the wuzeer, then the deuce, and others in succession, the 
 ten being of least value. 
 
 "The game is played by three or six persons : when six 
 play, three take the superior, and three the inferior suits. 
 The pack being divided into parcels after the cards are well 
 mixed, the players cut for the deal ; and he who cuts the 
 highest card deals.^ When three play, the cards are dealt 
 by fours. In the first and last round the cards are exposed, 
 and thus eight cards of each person's hand are known to 
 the adversaries. The cards are dealt from ri^Jd ixyleft, the 
 reverse of the European mode. 
 
 " The Lead. When the game is played by day, he who 
 holds the red king, {Soorkh, the sun,) must lead that and 
 any small card. Should ho play the king alone, it is seized 
 by the next player. The adversaries throw down each two 
 common cards, and the trick is taken up. When the game 
 
 * The names of the suits are thus explained : Taj, a crown. Soofed, white, 
 abbreviated from the original appellation, zur-i-soofed, a silver coin ; figuratively, 
 the moon. Shumsher, a sabre. Gholam, a slave. CAnn^, a harp. Soorhh, red, 
 or zur-i-ioorhh, gold coin; figuratively, the sun. Burat, a royal diploma, or 
 assignment. Quimash, merchandize. 
 
 « In cutting for the deal, Taj is the highest suit, and the rest have precedence, 
 after that suit, in the order above recited. 
 
Plate I 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 43 
 
 is played by nighty the white king, {Soofed, the moon,) is 
 led in like manner. The cards are then played out at the 
 option of him who leads, the adversaries throwing away 
 their small cards, and no attention is paid to the following 
 suit, unless when one of the adversaries, having a superior 
 card of the suit led, chooses to play it to gain the trick. 
 
 " In order to guard a second-rate card which may enable 
 you hereafter to recover the lead, it is customary to throw 
 down a small one of that suit, and call the card you are 
 desirous to have played. With this call the adversaries 
 must comply. As in Whist, when the person who has the 
 lead holds none but winning cards, they are thrown down. 
 After the cards have been aU played, the parties shuifle their 
 tricks, and the last winner, drawing a card, challenges one 
 of his adversaries to draw out any card from the heap be- 
 fore him, naming it the fourth or fifth, &c. from the top or 
 bottom. The winner of this trick in like manner challenges 
 his right-hand adversary. The number of cards in the 
 possession of each party is then counted, and those who 
 have fewest are obliged to purchase from an adversary to 
 make up their deficiency of complement. The greatest 
 winner at the end of four rounds has the game. 
 
 "The following terms used in the game may be accept- 
 able to those who desire to understand it when played by 
 natives : I think they unequivocally prove that Gunjeefu is of 
 Persian or Arabian origin. 
 
 " Zubur-dust, the right-hand player. 
 Zer-dust, the left-hand player. 
 Zurb, a trick. 
 Ser, a challenge. 
 Ser-k'hel, the challenging game. 
 Ekloo, a sequence of three cards. 
 Khurch, the card played to one led; not a winning card. 
 
44 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 N 
 
 Kliel Java, to lay down the winning card at the end of a 
 
 deal. 
 Chor, the cards won at the end of a deal ; the sweep. 
 Ghulutee, a misdeal. 
 Wuruq, a caxd. 
 Durhum-kuma, to shuffle. 
 Wuruq-turashna, to cut the cards. 
 
 " From my observation of the game when played, I do 
 not think it sufficiently interesting to cause its being pre- 
 ferred by Europeans to the cards in vogue in Europe. The 
 number of the suits are too great, and the inconvenient 
 form of the cards (the size and shape of which are repre- 
 sented by the plates^) are great objections. The Hindoos- 
 tanee cards are made of paper, well varnished ; the figures 
 appropriately painted, and the ground and backs of every 
 suit of one colour. The Slave standing before the King in 
 No. 3, is the figure used as the spot or crest on all the 
 common cards of that suit The tradition regard- 
 ing the origin of the Hindoostanee cards is, that they were 
 invented by a favorite sultana, or queen, to wean her hus- 
 band from a bad habit he had acquired of pulling or eradi- 
 cating his beard.'^ 
 
 With respect to the word Gunjeefu, which, according to 
 the preceding account, appears to be a general name for 
 cards, I am informed that it is of Persian origin, and that it 
 signifies both a pack of cards and the game. In Bengal, 
 cards are more generally known by the name of Tas, which 
 is a Hindoo word, than that by Gunjeefu, or Gangeefah, as 
 it is otherwise written. Prom the reference, in the pre- 
 ceding account, to the 'Dictionary, Hindoostanee and 
 
 * "By an oversight of the engraver, a native Bengalee artist, the Moon in 
 No. 2, Plate I, is represented as crescent instead of full. [The error has been 
 faithfully retained in our fac-similes.] The price of the pack was two rupees." 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 45 
 
 English/ edited by the late Dr. Hunter/ I am inclined to 
 think that Taj and- Tas have the same signification, with 
 reference to cards; and that the only difierence between 
 them consists in the pronmiciation and mode of spelling. 
 Now, the word Taj is said to signify a crown ; but if it be 
 also used figuratively for a king, the wearer of a crown — 
 just as "crown" is figuratively used to signify empire 
 or regal power — the Hindoo name for cards would be 
 synonymous with " Kings/' That cards were known in 
 England by the name of the " Four Kings" has been already 
 shown; and if my speculations on the terms Chartce and 
 Naipes be correct, it was by a name originally signifying 
 four kings, or four viceroys, that cards were first known in 
 Europe. 
 
 With regard to the game described in the preceding 
 account, it appears to bear some resemblance to that which 
 the French call "TOmbre a trois," — three-handed Ombre.* 
 In both games the suits appear to be considered as ranged 
 in two divisions : in the Hindostanee game, as the Red 
 and the White ; and in the European, as the Red and the 
 Black. In the Hindostanee game there are eight suits, 
 and six or three players ; and when three play, the cards 
 are dealt by fours. In the European game of four suits 
 
 * " In the Dictionary Hindostanee and English, edited by the late Dr. 
 Hunter, the names of the Eight Suits of Cards are to be found under the word 
 Taj, the name of the first suit."— On the authority of a gentleman of eminent 
 attainments in Hindostanee literature, I am informed that there is no Sanscrit 
 word for Playing Cards. 
 
 * A particular account of the mode of playing the game of "L*Hombre k 
 trois," will be found in the first volume of the 'Academic des Jeux.' The au- 
 thor observes, "D est inutile de s'arreter a I'etymologie du jeu de I'hombre; 11 
 suffit de dire que les Espagnols en sont les auteurs, et qu'il se sent du flegme 
 de la nation dont il tire son origine." According to the same authority, "Z<i 
 Cluadrille n*est, a proprement parler, que I'hombre a quatre, qui n*a pas, a la 
 verite, la beaute, ni ne demande pas une si grande attention que I'hombre a 
 trois; uiais aussi faut-il convenir qu'il est plus amusant et plus recrdatif." 
 
46 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 and forty cards — the tens, nines, and eights being omitted — 
 there are three players, and the cards are dealt by threes. 
 A person who can play at Ombre will scarcely fail to perceive 
 several other points of similarity between the two games. 
 From the terms used in the game of Ombre — Spadillo, 
 Basto, Matador, Punto, &c. — there can scarcely be a doubt 
 that the other nations of Western Europe derived their 
 knowledge of it from the Spaniardji. The Hon. Daines 
 Barrington, in his ' Observations on the Antiquity of Card 
 Playing in England,' derives the names of the game from 
 tlic Spanish, " hombre," a man ; and there is reason to 
 bcUeve that it was one of the oldest games at cards played 
 at in Europe. If the game of cards were introduced into 
 Europe by the Arabs, it is in Spain that we might first 
 expect to find them. Pietro della Valle, in his Travels in 
 the East, between 1614 and 1626, speaks of the people 
 playing at cards, though differing from ours in the figures 
 and number of suits; and Niebuhr, in his Travels, also 
 speaks of the Arabians playing at cards, and says that the 
 game is called Lab-el-Kammer.^ It is, however, to be 
 observed, that the game of cards is not once nientioned in 
 the Arabian Nights ; and from this silence it may be con- 
 cluded that at the time when those tales were compiled card- 
 playing was not a popular pastime in Arabia. The com- 
 pilation, it is believed, is not earlier than about the end of 
 the fifteenth century, though many of the tales are of a 
 much higher antiquity. 
 
 Leaving out of consideration the pack of ten suits, with 
 the emblems of the ten incarnations of Vichnou, as being 
 of a mythological character, and probably not in common 
 use for the purposes of gaming, it is evident from the other 
 three packs, of eight suits each, that the cards known in 
 
 ' Barringtou's Observations on <hc Antiquity of Card-playing in England.— 
 Arcbacologia, vol. viii, 1787. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 47 
 
 Hindostan are not unifonn in the marks of the dijQTerent 
 suits, though it is obvious that any game, — depending on 
 sequences and the conventional value of the several cards, — 
 which can be played with one of the packs, may be also 
 played with either of the other two. The dijSference in 
 the marks is, indeed, much less than is to be observed 
 in old French, Spanish, and German cards, which present 
 so many differences as to render it impossible to derive 
 them from one original type. The mere mark or emblem, 
 whatever it might originally signify, appears to have had no 
 specific meaning or value, beyond what might be assigned 
 to it by the conventional rules of the game; whether it 
 were a sword or a chalice, a club or a piece of money, 
 a heart or a diamond, a green leaf or a hawk's bell, in 
 playing and counting the game, it was a *'pip/' and no- 
 thing more. 
 
 Whether the two packs of eight suits each, in the pos- 
 session of the Royal Asiatic Society, are considered by the 
 natives of Hindostan as consisting of two divisions of four 
 suits each, as in the pack described in the extract from the 
 * Calcutta Magazine,* I have not been able to ascertain. 
 In all the. three packs the sword is to be found as the mark 
 of one of the suits ; and the soofed and soorhh of the one 
 pack — silver coin and gold coin, figuratively the moon and 
 the sun — I consider to be represented by the circular marks 
 in the other two ; and the oval in these is not unHke the 
 mark of the suit named Quimash — merchandise — in the 
 former. The mark of the suit Burat, see Plate II, No. 7 — 
 which is said to mean a royal diploma or assignment, cor- 
 responds very nearly with a parallelogram containing dots, 
 as if meant for writing, in the pack formerly belonging to 
 Capt. D. Cromline Smith; but though a parallelogram — 
 crossed by two lines, and with the longest side vertical — 
 also occurs in the other pack, its agreement with the Burat 
 
48 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 is by no means so apparent. The marks of the suits Taj, 
 a Crown, and C/iupjf, a Harp.* (sec Plate I, fig. 1, and 
 Plate II, fig. 5,) I am unable to recognise, either by name 
 or figure, in the other two packs ; though I am inclined to 
 think that, in one of them, the place of the Taj is supphed 
 by a kind of fruit, and in the other by a flower. It will 
 be observed that, in the plate, the mark of the suit called 
 C/imff, a harp, is a bird. In the other two packs, the 
 suits which I consider to be the substitutes of the C/iunff 
 have a mark which I have not been able to make 
 out ; but in one of them the Vizier, as in the C/iunffy is 
 mounted on a single-humped camel. In the suit called 
 G/iolam, a slave — Plate T, fig. 4 — I cannot make out what 
 is intended for the mark,— whether the Ma/iut, who appears 
 guiding the elephant, or the kind of mace carried by the 
 Vizier ; whatever may be the mark, I consider the suit to 
 be represented by that with a white ground in Capt. D. C. 
 Smith's cards, the mark of which is a grotesque head, as 
 in both suits the Vizier is mounted on a bull. The cor- 
 responding suit in the other pack I conceive to be the one 
 which has for its mark a man's head. 
 
 With respect to the marks of the several suits, in the 
 different packs of Hindostanee cards, previously described, 
 — what objects they graphically represent, what they might 
 
 ' Chung is also the Chinese name for a kiud of harp. — ^In three othor packs 
 of Hindostanee cards, of the same kind, which I have had an opportunity of 
 examining, the harp occurs both in the honours and the numeral cards. I 
 suspect that the bird has been substituted through a mistake of the native artist 
 who engraved the cards. In one of the packs just alluded to, the cards arc not 
 circular, but rectangular, like European cards, but of much smaller size. In 
 another pack of Hindostanee cards which I have seen, the marks in all the eight 
 suits are birds ; in four of the suits, they are all of the same form— something 
 like that of a starling— but differing in their colour ; in three others they are 
 all geese, and of the same colour, so that the suit is only to be distinguished by 
 the ground on which they are painted. The mark of the eighth suit is a 
 peacock. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 49 
 
 have been intended to signify by the person who devised 
 them, and what allegorical meanings may have assigned to 
 them by others, — much might be said ; and a writer of quick 
 imagination, and hieroglyphic wit, like Court de Gebelin, 
 might readily find in them not only a summary of all the 
 knowledge of the Hindoos — theological, moral, political, and 
 scientific — but also a great deal more than they cither knew 
 or dreamt of. As I feel my inability to perform such a 
 task, or rather to enjoy such pleasures of imagination ; and 
 as the present work does not afford space for so wide a 
 discursus, I shall confine my observations to such marks 
 as appear to have, both in their form and meaning, the 
 greatest affinity with the marks to be found on early 
 European cards. The marks in the pack consisting of ten 
 suits, representing the incarnations of Vichnou, I shall only 
 incidentally refer to, as I am of opinion that those cards are 
 not such as either are or were generally used for the 
 purposes of gaming, but are to be classed with those emble- 
 matic cards which have, at different periods, been devised 
 in Europe for the purpose of insinuating knowledge into the 
 minds of ingenious youth by way of pastime. 
 
 In referring to any of the marks to be found in the three 
 eight-suit packs of Hindostanee cards, which appear to be 
 intended for the purposes of play only, it seems imnecessary 
 to specify the particular pack to which they belong, as my 
 object is merely to call attention to the apparent agreement 
 between some of the marks of Hindostanee cards, and those 
 which are either known to have been the marks of the 
 earliest European cards, or are to be found on such old 
 cards as are still preserved in public libraries, or in the 
 collections of individuals. 
 
 In the early European cards, which have cups, swords, 
 pieces of money, and clubs or maces for the marks of the 
 
50 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 four suits/ the sword and piece of money of the Hindostanee 
 cards are readily identified ; and if we are to suppose that 
 in these cards certain emblems of Vichnou were formerly 
 represented — ^but which are not to be found either on the 
 ordinary Playing Cards, or on those displaying the ten 
 incarnations of Vichnou — it would not be difficult to account 
 for the cups, and clubs or maces ; for, according to Dr. 
 Frederick Creutzer,^ the mace or war club is frequently to 
 be seen in one of the hands of Vichnou; and Count von 
 Hammer-Purgstal remarks, that *^ the sword, the club, and 
 the cup, are frequent emblems in the Eastern Ritual."^ As 
 the marks in European suits, cups, or chalices, swords, money, 
 and clubs, have been supposed to represent the four principal 
 classes of men in a European state, to wit. Churchmen ; 
 Swordmen, or feudal nobiUty ; Monied men, merchants or 
 traders ; and Club-men, workmen, or labourers, — it is just as 
 easy to run a parallel in the four superior suits of one of the 
 packs of Hindostanee cards, given in Plate I ; there may.be 
 found Taj, a crown, royalty; Soofedy^As^x money, merchants; 
 ShwrnheTy a sword, fighting men, seapoys ; and Gholam, a 
 slave, the coolies both of hill and plain. It may not be un- 
 necessary here to obsen^e that the four great historical castes 
 of the Hindoos are, 1, Bramins, priests; 2, Chetryas, soldiers; 
 3, Vaisyas, tradesmen and artificers ; and 4, Sudras, slaves, 
 and the lowest class of labourers. Of these four castes the 
 Bramins alone remain unmixed ; the other three, as distinct 
 
 * These are still the marks of the suits in Spain : " Copas, Espadas, Oros, y 
 Bastos." The "Oros," literally golden money, are also called Dineros, that 
 is, money in general. The same marks are also to be found on old Italian 
 cards, and the names for them were, Coppe, Spade, Danari, and Bastoni. The 
 discrepancy between the names, Spades and Clubs, and the marks of those suits, 
 in English cards, will bo noticed in its proper place. 
 
 * Religions de I'Antiquitd ; traduction Fran^aiso de Guigniant. 
 
 * Von Hammer's Mines of the East. 
 
ORIOIN AND NAME. 51 
 
 castes, exist only in name, for they have become so inter- 
 mixed, that the subdivisions can neither be ascertained nor 
 reckoned by the learned pundits themselves.^ 
 
 In the oldest stencilled, or printed, European cards, which 
 are probably of as early a date as the year 1440, the marks 
 of the suits are bells, hearts, leaves, and acorns ; and in the 
 Hindostanee cards we find a leaf or a flower, as the mark of 
 one of the suits ; and I am inclined to think that, in the 
 latter, the figures of the oval, and of that which appears 
 something like a pine-apple in a shallow cup, were the types 
 of the bells and the acorns. When those marks are com- 
 pared, without reference to their being representations of 
 specific objects of which the mind has already a preconceived 
 idea, the general agreement of their forms is, to the eye, 
 more apparent. For the heart, I have not been able to 
 discover any corresponding mark in the Hindostanee cards. 
 Should I be told that the form of the heart might be sug- 
 gested by that of the leaf, I have to observe that the 
 form of the leaf in Hindostanee cards, is not the same 
 as that which occurs in European, and that in the latter, the 
 colour of the so-called heart appears always to have been 
 red. 
 
 Between the marks of the suits on old French cards, — 
 Coeur, Carreau, Trefle, and Pique,— and those to be found 
 on Hindostanee cards, 1 shall not venture to make any direct 
 comparison. It, however, may be observed that the form of 
 
 ' This is Mr. Colebrooke's conclusion. Sir John Malcolm gives a different 
 account, the correctness of which may be very justly doubted, both as regards 
 the present time and the past : " The four divisions of Hindoos, viz. the priests, 
 soldiers, merchants, and labourers, appear to have existed in every human society, 
 at a certain stage of civilization; but in India alone have they been maintained 
 for several thousand yean with prescriptive vigour."-'Essay on the BhiUs (Beels) 
 by Sir John Malcolm, in the Transactions of the Koyal Asiatic Society, vol i, 
 p. 65, 1824. 
 
52 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 the Pique— the spade in English cards— is almost precisely 
 the same as that of the leaf in other European packs; and 
 that the Trefle — the club, in English cards— in its out- 
 line bears a considerable likeness to the acorn. Those who 
 please may derive the Carreau, or diamond, from the Cos- 
 traluy or mystic diamond, worn on the breast, or held in 
 the palm of the hand of Vichnou ; it does not, however, 
 occur as the mark of a suit in any of the Hindostanee cards 
 that have come imder my observation ; and the mark to 
 which it bears the greatest resemblance is that of the suit 
 Burat, as shown in Plate II, No. 7. An examination of a 
 greater variety of Hindostanee cards, and more extensive 
 knowledge of the names and significations of the marks of 
 the suits, and of the different games played, would probably 
 lead to the discovery of more points of resemblance than I 
 have been able to perceive. 
 
 The different things signified by marks, apparently agree- 
 ing in their general forms, on Hindostanee and European 
 cards, may be partly accounted for on the following 
 grounds, which will also in some degree serve to explain 
 the difference, both in form and name, of the marks of the 
 suits in different packs of old European cards. 
 
 Graphic forms of all kinds, whether symbolic, or positive 
 jepresentations of specific objects, which are readily under- 
 stood, both in their figurative meaning and direct significa- 
 tion, by the people with whom they originated, are, when 
 brought into a different coimtry without their explanations, 
 often interpreted by that people according to their knowledge 
 and opinions ; and forms for which they have no correspond- 
 ing originals, or which they fail to identify, are referred to 
 objects of similar shape with which they are familiar, and 
 are called by their names. Similar changes in the meaning 
 of symbolic figures also take place with the same people, in 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 53 
 
 consequence of the original meaning becoming obsolete, 
 through change of customs and opinions, in the course of time. 
 In this manner a figure of the homed Isis, with the young 
 Horus in her lap, appears to have been taken for arepresen- 
 tation of the Virgin Mary, with the crescent moon on her 
 head, nursing the infant Jesus; and thus the figures of 
 Jupiter and Minerva have passed for those of Adam and Eve. 
 In the sixteenth century it appears that in Italy the suit of 
 Bastoni — clubs, or maces, proper — was also called ColonnSy 
 pillars ; and the suit of Danari — ^money — SpeccU, mirrors ;^ 
 merely because the club or mace as depicted on the suits, bore 
 some resemblance to a slender pillar, and that the form of 
 Danari, like that of an ancient mirror, was circular. Among 
 the pitmen in the neighbourhood of Newcastle-on-Tyne, the 
 diamonds on the cards are frequently called Picks ^ from 
 their similarity to the head of a pick, the tool with which 
 they dig the coals ; a writer Uke Court de GebeUn, might 
 discover in this connexion between picks and " black 
 diamonds" " a type with a pair of handles." It may be 
 here observed, that the suit which the French term piques, 
 is that which we, improperly, call spades. 
 
 But, even admitting the agreement, both in figure and jm 
 signification, of several of the marks of the suits in early ^ 
 European cards, and those which occur in the cards now 
 used in Hindostan, it may be said that this fact by no 
 means proves either that cards were invented in the East, 
 or that the marks of suits on the Hindostanee cards were 
 actually the models of those resembling them which are to 
 be found on early European cards ; for cards might find 
 their way into the East from Europe as well as into Europe 
 from the East. When St. Francis Xavier was in the East 
 
 ' Innocentio Einghieri, Cento Giuochi liberali et d'Ingegno, p. 132. 4to. 
 Bologna, 1551. 
 
54 PLATING CAEDS. 
 
 Indies, — ^from 1541 to 1552, — card-playing was a common 
 amusement with the European residents and traders;^ 
 and it is very Ukely that the first Portuguese ship that 
 arrived there, about half a century before, had a pack of 
 cards on board. That European cards were sent to the 
 East, among other articles of merchandise, towards the end 
 of the sixteenth century, appears evident from a passage in 
 a narrative of the first voyage of the English, on a private 
 account, begun by Captain George Rajrmond, and finished 
 by Captain James Lancaster;* and we learn from Sir 
 Alexander Bumes, that commerce has imported cards into 
 the Holy City of Bokhara, that the pack consists of thirty- 
 six cards, and that the games are strictly Russian.^ 
 
 Looking, however, at all the circumstances,— the proba- 
 bihty of Cards having been suggested by Chess, the names 
 ChartcB and Naipes, the marks to be found on them, and 
 the tradition of their having been known in Hindostan 
 from a very early period, — ^the balance of evidence appears 
 decidedly in favour of the conclusion that cards were in- 
 vented in the East. The writer of an article on Cards, in 
 No. xlviii of the ' Foreign Quarterly Review,' previously 
 referred to, speaks confidently of the great antiquity of 
 
 * The Life of St. Francis Xavier, by Father Bouhours: translated by John 
 Dryden, pp. 71, 203, 697. 
 
 • "The Cth October, [1592] they met with a Malacca ship of 700 tons, 
 which, after her main-yard was shot through, yielded. .... They found 
 on board fifteen pieces of brass cannon, 300 butts of Canary and Nipar or Pahn- 
 wine, with very strong raisin wine; all sorts of haberdashery-wares, as hats, red 
 knit caps, and stockings of Spanish wool; velvets, taffeties, camblets, and silks; 
 abundance of suckets, rice, Venice glasses, counterfeit stones (brought by an 
 Indian from Venice, to cheat the Indians), Playing Cards, and two or three 
 packs of French paper." The prize was taken in the Straits of Malacca; and 
 the articles of European manufacture appear to have been brought to Malacca 
 by the Portuguese.— The Naval Clironicle ; or Voyages of the most celebrated 
 English Navigators, vol. i, p. 392. Svo. 1760. 
 
 » Barnes's Travels into Bokhara, vol. ii, p. 169. Second edit. 1835. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. ' 55 
 
 cards in Hindostan, but does not give any authorities for 
 the fact. " We know," he says, " that the Tamuli have 
 had cards from time immemorial ; and they are said to be 
 of equal antiquity with the Brahmins, who unquestionably 
 possess them still, and claim to have invented them." The 
 statement of the Bramin who gave the cards to Captain 
 D. Cromline Smith, though certainly not true with re- 
 spect to that individual pack, may yet be received as con- 
 firmatory of the traditional evidence in favour of cards 
 generally having been known in Hindostan from a veiy 
 early period.^ 
 
 Playing Cards appear to have been known from an early 
 period in China. In the Chinese dictionary, entitled 
 Cldng-tsze-tung, compiled by Eul-koung, and first published 
 A.D. 1678, it is said that the cards now known in China as 
 Teen4sze-pae^ ox dotted cards, were invented in the reign 
 of Seun-ho, 1120 ; and that they began to be common in 
 the reign of Kaou-tsung, who ascended the throne in 
 1131.^ — According to tradition, they were devised for the 
 amusement of Seun-ho's numerous concubines. M. Abel 
 
 • Card-playing appears to be a very common amusement in Hindostan.— 
 "I could remind or perhaps inform the fashionable gamesters of St. James's 
 Street, that before England ever saw a dice-box, many a main has been won 
 and lost under a palm-tree, in Malacca, by the half-naked Malays, with wooden 
 and pamted dice ; and tliat he could not pass through a bazaar in this country 
 [Hindostan] without seeing many parties playing with cards, most cheaply 
 supplied to them by leaves of the cocoa-nut or pahn*trce, dried, and their dis- 
 
 tinctive characters traced with an iron style At the comer of 
 
 every street you may see the Gentoo-bearers gambling over chalked-out squares, 
 with small stones for men, and with wooden dice ; or Coolies playing with cards 
 of the palm-leaf. Nay, in a pagoda under the very shadow of the idol, I have 
 seen Brahmins playing with regular packs of Chinese cards."— Sketches of 
 India: written by an Officer for Pireside Travellers at Home, pp. 68 and 100. 
 Fourth edition, 1826. 
 
 ' For the reference to the Ching-tsze-tung, and the explanation of the 
 passage relating to cards, I am indebted to Mr. 8. Birch, of the British 
 Museum, 
 
66 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 Remusat, probably on the authority of the Ching-tsze-tung, 
 has also observed that cards were invented by the Chinese 
 in 1120.^ Mons. Leber, however, considers it to be more 
 likely that they got their first cards from Hindostan ; and 
 that, like the Europeans, they merely changed or modified 
 the types, and invented new games. 
 
 The general name for cards in China is Che-pae, which 
 literally signifies "paper tickets/' At first they are said to 
 have been called Ya-pae, bone or ivory tickets, from the 
 material of which they were made. A pack of dotted cards 
 consists of thirty-two pieces, and the marks — small circular 
 dots of red and black — are placed, alternately, at two of 
 the comers; for instance, in a card containing eight dots, 
 four are placed in one comer and four in the other diagonally 
 opposite to it. Ten of those cards are classed in pairs ; the 
 first pair are called Che4mn, — "the most honorable," — 
 and are superior to all the others ; these may be considered 
 as coat cards, as the one contains the figure of a woman, 
 and the other that of a man ; both these cards are also 
 marked with black and red dots, — ^that of the woman with 
 six, and that of the man with twelve. The second pair are 
 called Tien-pae, — " celestial cards;" each contains twenty- 
 four dots of black and red, corresponding with the twenty- 
 four terms in the Chinese year. The third pair are called 
 Te-pae, — " terrestrial cards ;" each contains four red dots 
 corresponding with the four cardinal points of the compass. 
 The fourth pair are called Jin-pae, — " human cards ;" each 
 contains sixteen red dots, relating to benevolence, justice, 
 order, and wisdom in a four-fold degree. The fifth pair are 
 called IlO'pae; each card contains eight black dots, relating 
 to a supposed principle of harmony in nature extending 
 
 • " Second U6mo'iro sur Ics Relations politiqucs dcs Hois do Prance avec Ici 
 Hinpercurs Mongols," dans Ic Journal Asiatiquc, dc Scptcmbre, 1822, p. 02. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 
 
 57 
 
 itself towards all points of the compass. The remaming 
 twenty-two cards have distinct names, which it is needless 
 here to give : the aggregate of the dots upon them is said 
 to have reference to the number of the stars. 
 
 The cards most commonly used in China, are those called 
 Tseen-wan-che-pae, — " a thousand times ten thousand 
 cards." There are thirty cards in a pack ; namely, three 
 suits of nine cards each, and three single cards which are 
 superior to all the others. The name of one of the suits is 
 Kew-ko-wan; that is, the nine ten-thousands, or myriads of 
 Kwan — strings of beads, shells, or mpney. The name of 
 the other suit is Kew-ho-ping, — " nine units of cakes ;" and 
 that of the third is Kew-ko-so, — " nine units of chains." 
 The names of the three single cards are, Tseen-wan, a 
 thousand times ten thousand; Hunff-hwa, \hQ red flower; 
 and Pih'hway the white flower. 
 
 In the annexed specimens of Chinese cards, Nos. 1 and 2 
 are the first and third of the suit of nine myriads of Kwan ; 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
58 
 
 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 
 r^oooco 
 
 jJM^MttiMii MtJii II I 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
ORIGIN AND NAME. 59 
 
 Nos. 8 and 4 are the one and the three of the suit of cakes ; 
 No. 5 is the one of the suit of chains ; and No. 6 is that of 
 the three superior cards, which is called the white flower. 
 
 Besides those above described, the Chinese have several 
 other varieties of cards : one pack or set is called Pih-Uze-^ 
 pae, the hundred boys' cards ; another, Tseen-wan-jin-pae, — 
 "a thousand times ten-thousand mens' names cards," contain- 
 ing the names of persons famous in Chinese history ; and a 
 third has the same name as Chinese Chess, Keu-ma-'paou^ 
 chariots, horses, and guns. This latter name corroborates 
 what has been previously said about the probability of the 
 game of cards having been suggested by that of chess. 
 
 The marks to be found on Chinese cards scarcely afford 
 a gleam of light by which we might judge of their relation 
 to the cards of other countries : in a pack of such as are 
 chiefly used in Cochin China, I have observed the form of 
 the diamond nearly the same as it appears on English cards; 
 and in a pack of the Chinese cards called Tseen-wan-che-pae, 
 the mark of the suit of Nine Cakes is nearly the same as 
 that of the old Italian Danari, which Galeottus Martius— 
 in his treatise 'DeDoctrinapromiscua,' written about 1488 
 — considers to have been meant for a loaf. 
 
 The cards commonly used in China, are much narrower 
 than ours ; an idea of their size may be formed from the 
 specimens given, making allowance for a small margin of 
 white paper all round, but rather wider at the top and 
 bottom than at the sides. The Chinese name for a card, 
 considered singly, or as one of the pieces of a pack or set, 
 appears to be Shen, a fan. 
 
60 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 INTRODUCTION OF CARDS INTO EUROPE. 
 
 At what period Playing Cards first became known in 
 Europe, — whether as an original invention, or introduced 
 from some other quarter of the world, — ^has not yet been 
 ascertained. From the silence, however, of all authorities 
 by whom we might expect to find them distinctly named 
 if they had been in common use, it may be fairly concluded, 
 that, though they possibly might be known to a few persons 
 before the year 1350, they did not begin to attract notice 
 nor come into frequent use till towards the latter end of the 
 fourteenth century. Packs of cards are distinctly mentioned 
 by the name which they still retain in France — Jeux de 
 Cartes — in an entry made in his book of accounts, about 
 1393, by Charles Poupart, treasurer of the household to 
 Charles VI of France. Considering, then, this entry as an 
 established fact in the history of cards, I shall now proceed 
 to lay before the reader some of the grounds and evidences 
 on which it has been asserted that cards were well known 
 in Europe before that period. 
 
 Several writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 
 in discussing the lawfulness of card-playing, gratuitously 
 assuming that the game was included under the general 
 term Alea} have spoken of cards as if they had been known 
 
 i "Alese nomeh quamvis pro omni ludo, qtii in varietate fortunse consistat, 
 suini qucat juxta sententiam, vel opinionem aliquot scriptorum ; quorum ^ nu- 
 mero est Joannes Azorius in tertia parte Institutionum Moralium, dicens: 
 'Alcai ludus comprehendit Ludum Chartarum Lusoriarum, Taxillorum, Tabu- 
 larum, et Sortium.' Proprie tamen, ut ait Jacobus Spiegelius, accipi solet pro 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 61 
 
 from time immemorial. The easy mode of deriving aliquid 
 de diquo by means of a comprehensive genus ^ is of frequent 
 use with those decisive characters who deh'ght in settling 
 cases of conscience with a strong hand ; and who, enveloped 
 in the dust of the Schools, lay vigorously about them, both 
 right and left, with weapons borrowed from '^ the old Horse 
 Armoury of the Fathers," and re-ground, for present use, 
 on the Decretals. He who can discover cards, implicite, as 
 Olearius has it,^ in St. Cyprian's tract, De Aleatoribus, or 
 in the injunctions against gaming in the canons of any 
 Council or Synod previous to 1390, will have no difficulty 
 in finding " Roulette" and " E or O," impKed under the 
 general term Tahulce. Having thus indicated the value of 
 the hypothetic evidence in favour of cards being known in 
 early times, — ^because the game was subsequently compre- 
 hended under a schoolman's definition of the term Alea^ — it 
 may be left to pass for what it is worth. 
 Mons. Eloi Johanneau's proof that cards were known in 
 
 Tesseris, quae Tali etiam, vel Taxilli, et vulgo Dadi vocitantur : Tesserae autem. 
 Tali, vel Taxilli, et Cubi, vel Dadi, sunt idem, diversi vero quantum ad nu- 
 
 menun lateram et punctorum. Non desunt alii, qui Alea 
 
 nomen pro Chartis Lusoriis passim intelligendum esse velint, ut Polydorus 
 Virgilius, et alii scribunt."— Commentarius contra Ludum Alearum, Chartarum 
 scilicet ac Taxillorum ; a Fratre Angelo Roccha, Episcopo Tagastensi, p. 2, 4to. 
 Romse, 1616. 
 
 * "Bishop of Bamberg. What do you say is the name of the emperor who 
 wrote your Corpus Juris? 
 
 Olearius. Justinian. 
 
 Bishop. A clever prince ! — I drink to his memory. It must be a grand book. 
 
 Olearius. It may indeed be styled the book of books : a collection of all 
 laws, ready for the decision of every case ; and whatever is now obsolete or 
 doubtful is expounded by the comments with which the most learned men have 
 enriched this most admirable work. 
 
 Bishop. A collection of all laws! The deuce !— Then the Ten Commandments 
 are there P 
 
 Olearius. Implicite, they are ; e:cplicile, not. 
 
 Bishop. That is just what I mean ;— there they are, plainly and simply, with 
 out explication."— G^o^^r von Berlichingen, a Play, by Goethe, act i. 
 
62 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 the eleventh century, from the testimony of Papias, pre- 
 viously noticed, neither requires, nor indeed admits of serious 
 refutation. If it could be shown that the word Naijpe or 
 Naibe was ever used in Spain or Italy to signify a painted 
 cloth or a picture, before it was used to signify a Playing 
 Card, its afiinity with Nappe and Mappam\^i be admitted 
 to be clearly established. John of Salisbury, who was bom 
 in the early part of the twelfth century, says not a word in 
 his work 'De Nugis Curialiiim'— on the Trifling of Courtiers 
 — ^which might indicate a knowledge of cards, although one 
 of the chapters is especially devoted to an examination of 
 the use and abuse of gaming.* Had cards formed one 
 of the common pastimes of the courtiers of his age, it is 
 highly probable that he would have mentioned them, by 
 some name or other, so as to distinguish them from the 
 other games which he enumerates. 
 
 The 38th canon of the Council of Worcester, held in 
 1240, contains the following prohibition: "Prohibemus 
 etiam clericis, ne intersint ludis inhonestis, vel choreis, vel 
 ludant ad aleas vel taxiUos; nee sustineant ludos fieri de 
 Rege et Regina, nee arietes levari, nee palaestras publicas 
 fieri:'* that is, "We also forbid clergymen to join in dis- 
 reputable games or dancings, or to play at dice ; neither 
 
 » John of Salisbury — Joannes Saresberiensis — ^fi^& bom in England about 
 1110. He went to France when he was about seventeen years old, and re- 
 mained in that country several years. He subsequently visited Eome in a 
 public capacity. On Ms return to England, he became the chaplain and acquired 
 the friendship of Thomas Ik Becket. After the murder of \ Becket— of which 
 he was an eye-witness — ^he withdrew to France, in order to shun the hostility 
 of his patron's enemies. From his attachment to a Becket, no less than from 
 his reputation as a learned and pious man, he was elected Bishop of Chartres, 
 where he died in 1182. The work by which he is principally known is that 
 referred to in the text. The general title of it is, 'Policraticus sive de Nugis 
 Curialium, et Vestigiis Philosophorum, libri octo.*. The chapter on gaming, 
 " De Alea, et usu et abusu illius," is the fifth of the first book. Edit. Leyden, 
 1639. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 63 
 
 shall they allow games of King and Queen to be acted 
 
 [fieri], nor permit ram-raisings, nor public wrestlings."^ 
 
 Ducange, who quotes the passage in his Latin Glossary, 
 
 under the word Ludi, is inclined to think that the game de 
 
 Bege et Eegina — King and Queen — might have been the 
 
 game of cards. There are not, however, any just grounds for 
 
 entertaining such an opinion. The conjecture seems to have 
 
 been suggested merely from the circumstance of there being 
 
 a King and Queen in the cards with which the writer was 
 
 most familiar \ but had he known that no Queen is to be 
 
 found in the earliest European cards, he probably would not 
 
 have made so bad a guess. Besides, looking at the context, 
 
 there can scarcely be a doubt that the games — not game — 
 
 of King and Queen were a kind of mumming exhibitions 
 
 which the clergy enjoyed as spectators, not as performers. 
 
 Payments to minstrels and mummers for their exhibitions 
 
 for the amusement of the monks, and eke of the lord Abbot 
 
 himself, are not of unfrequent occurrence in the account 
 
 books of old monasteries. In the same clause, the clergy 
 
 are enjoined not to allow of ram-raisings nor public wrest- 
 
 hngs — sports in which they were as unlikely to appear as 
 
 actors as in the games of the King and Queen. What 
 
 may have been meant by ram-raising — arietes levari — the 
 
 cimous reader is left to find, if he can, in the pages of 
 
 Strutt and Fosbroke. 
 
 The next passage, supposed to relate to Playing Cards, 
 which demands attention, is that which occurs in the Ward- 
 robe accounts of Edward I, anno 1278, and which has 
 been already quoted in the first chapter. It appears neces- 
 sary to give it here again, together with the Hon. Daines 
 Barrington's remarks on it, in the chronological order of 
 evidences adduced in favour of the antiquity of Card Plajing 
 
 > Archaeologia, vol. viii, 1787. 
 
64 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 in Europe. " The earKest mention of cards that I have yet 
 stumbled upon, is in Mr. Anstis's ' History of the Garter' 
 (vol ii, p. 307), where he cites the following passage from 
 the Wardrobe rolls, in the sixth year of Edward the First : 
 ' Waltero Sturton ad opus regis ad ludendum ad quatuor 
 lieffes,yiii.s.y.d.'; from which entry Mr. Anstis, with some 
 probability conjectures, that Playing Cards were not un- 
 known at the latter end of the thirteenth century; and 
 perhaps what I shall add, may carry with it some small 
 confirmation of what he supposes." 
 
 The simple fact that the game of cards was known, both 
 in France and England, by the name of the Four Kings, 
 long before we had any special dissertations respecting its 
 origin, is of more weight, in corroboration of Anstis's sup- 
 position, than Mr. Barrington's supplemental conj(3ctures. 
 The first question to be determined, is the identity of the 
 game of cards, and that of the Quatuor Reges ; but, without 
 adducing the slightest evidence, he assumes the fact, and 
 then proceeds to speculate where Edward might have learnt 
 the game. But even admitting that cards were meant by the 
 term Quatuor lieges, it is just as likely that Edward learned 
 the game from his Queen, Eleanor of Castile, as that ho 
 learned it from the Saracens in the Holy Land; for, admitting 
 it to be of Eastern origin, and that Europeans first obtained 
 a knowledge of it from the Saracens, or a people of Arab 
 race, it may be fairly supposed that Spain would be one of 
 the countries in which cards would be earliest introduced. 
 In the cards now in use in England, there are certain 
 peculiarities in the names of two of the suits, as compared 
 with the marks, which seem to intimate that we obtained 
 our first knowledge of the game from Spain, although sub- 
 sequently we might import our cards from Franpe. 
 
 Seeing that chess was known in the East by a term 
 signifying the Four Kings, and that it was a favorite amuse- 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 65 
 
 ment with the higher classes in Europe in the reign of 
 Edward I, there can scarcely be a doubt that this was the 
 game to which Walter Sturton's entry relates. » If cards 
 were indeed known in Europe in the early part of the 
 reign of Edward the First, the silence respecting them, of 
 all contemporary writers, for about a century afterwards, 
 must be admitted as conclusive, though negative, evidence 
 of their not being in common use. Petrarch, though 
 he treats of gaming in one of his dialogues, never mentions 
 them ; and though Boccacio and Chaucer notice various 
 games at which both the higher and lower classes of the 
 period were accustomed to play, yet there is not a single 
 passage in the works of either,, which can be fairly con- 
 strued to mean cards. 
 
 From the following passage, which occurs in a work on 
 the * Government of a Family,' in manuscript, composed by 
 Sandro di Pipozzi,^ in 1299, it has been concluded by 
 Breitkopf that cards were at that period well known in Italy: 
 " Se giuchera di denaro, ocosi, o alle carte, gli apparecchieria 
 la via, &c." Zani, however, opposes to the authority of 
 the manuscript, the negative evidence of Petrarch, who 
 flourished at a subsequent period, and who, ho thinks, would 
 not have failed to have mentioned cards if they had then 
 been known among the various games which he enumerates 
 in the first dialogue of his treatise * De Remediis utriusque 
 Fortuna3/^ Mons. Duchesne also remarks, in his ' Obser- 
 vations sur Ics Cartes a joucr,' that, as the copy of Sandro 
 di Pipozzi's work, cited by Taraboscbi, and examined by 
 
 ' Mons. Leber, in his Etudes Historiqucs sur Ics Cartes & jouer, remarks that 
 Singer refers to this author as Pipozzi di Sandro, and that the name thus trans- 
 posed has been copied by other writers on the subject of cards. It is, however, 
 to be observed that Breitkopf twice gives the name in the same manner as 
 Singer. 
 
 * Materiali per servire alia Storia dell' Origine et de* Progressi dell* Incizioni 
 in rame, inlegno, &c. p. 159. 8vo. Parma, 1802. 
 
 5 
 
06 VLAYING CARDS. 
 
 Zani, is not of an earlier date than 1400, there is reason to 
 believe that the express mention of cards in it, was the 
 interpolation of a transcriber. That such interpolations were 
 frequently made both by printers and transcribers, will 
 appear evident from the following observations on several 
 works, both printed and mannscript, which have been cited 
 in proof of the antiquity of card-playing in Europe.^ 
 
 The Abbe Rive, who ascribes the invention of cards to 
 Spain, endeavours to show that they were known there in 
 the early part of the fourteenth century. The evidence of 
 this is, according to his statement, to be found in the 
 Statutes of the military order of the Band, promulgated by 
 Alphonso, King of Castile, where there is a passage expressly 
 forbidding the members to play at cards. Whether cards are 
 expressly mentioned in any old Spanish manuscripts of the 
 Statutes in question, has not been ascertained; but of all 
 the different editions, original and translated, of Guevara's 
 ' Golden Epistles,' the work from which the Abbe Rive 
 obtained his information, the first in which cards are ex- 
 pressly named, is that of the French translation by Gutery, 
 published at Lyons in 1558.^ As the word is not to be 
 found in the original Spanish editions, nor in the Italian 
 translations made from them, there cannot be a reasonable 
 doubt of its being an interpolation of Gutery, who probably 
 thought that a general prohibition of gaming necessarily 
 included cards ; and thus, " par consequent," the Abbe 
 
 » Those observations have been chiefly derived from Mons. Duchesne's paper 
 on cards above referred to, and from a letter written by Mons. Paulin Paris, 
 assistant keeper of the MSS. m the Bibliothtique du Roi, in answer to certain 
 queries submitted to him through a friend of the writer. 
 
 * Tlie original Spanisli edition of Guevara's Epistles was printed at Valladolid 
 in 1539, and the work was several times reprinted in Spain and in Flanders. The 
 letters were also translated into Italian and French ; and several editions were 
 published before the year ICOO. There is an English transition by Geffery 
 Fenton, 1582; and another by Edward Hellowcs, 1584. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 67 
 
 Rive is furnished with positive evidence that the game of 
 cards was common in Spain in 1332. Another authority, 
 referred to by the Abbe Rive in favour of the antiquity of 
 Spanish cards, is of the same kind. In a collection of the 
 'Laws of Spain,' printed in 1640, he finds the following 
 passage in an Ordonnance issued by John I, King of 
 Castile, in 1387 : "We command and ordain that none of 
 our subjects shall dare to play at dice or at cards {Naypes) 
 either in pubhc or in private, and that whoever shall so play, 
 &c."* There can, however, be no doubt that the word 
 cards (Naypes) is an interpolation ; for it is not to be found 
 in the same Ordonnance as given in the collection entitled 
 'Ordenangas Reales de Castilla,' printed at Medina del 
 Campo, 1*541. In this earlier edition, playing at dice and 
 tables for money is indeed forbidden — " de jugar juego de 
 dados ni de tables, a dinero'* — but cards are not mentioned. 
 Jansen, in his 'Essai sur TOrigine de la Gravure en 
 Bois et en Taille-douce,' cites the four following verses from 
 the romance of Renard le Contrefait, pointed out to him 
 by the late Mons. Van Praet, in evidence of cards being 
 known in France at least as early as 1341, the year in which 
 the romance was finished: 
 
 " Si comme fols et foUes sont, 
 Qui pour gagner, au bordcl vont ; 
 Jouent aux dez, aux cartes, aux tables, 
 Qui a Dieu no sont delectables." 
 
 The manuscript containing the verses as they are here 
 given is in the Bibliotheque du Roi ; but certainly it is 
 not of earlier date than 1450 ; while in another manuscript, 
 of the same romance, apparently about a hundred years 
 older, also preserved in the Bibliotheque du Roi, the word 
 
 * " Mandamos y ordenamos q ningunos de los de nucstros reynos, sea osados 
 de jugar dados ni naypes, en publico no en escodido, y qualquier q los jugare," 
 &c.— Recopilacion de las Leyes destos Regnos, &c. Edit. 1640. 
 
68 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 " Cartes" is not to be found in the corresponding verse, 
 which is as follows: 
 
 " Jouent k geux de dez ou de tables." 
 
 Meerman^ imagined that he had discovered a positive 
 date for the early use of cards in France, in the work known 
 as the Chronicle of Petit-Jehan de Saintre, but which was, 
 in fact, written by Antoine de Lassale, in 1459.^ Saintre 
 had been one of the pages of Charles V, and on his being 
 appointed carver to the King on account of his good conduct, 
 the governor of the pages is represented as giving them a 
 lecture on their bad courses : " Observe your companion 
 here, who, through his good conduct, has acquired the 
 favour of the King and Queen, and of all ; while you are 
 dicers and card-players, keeping bad company, and haunting 
 taverns and cabarets."^ The fact of the work having been 
 composed in 1459, however, renders it of no authority on 
 the question ; and even if it had been written by Jehan 
 Saintre himself, there cannot be a doubt that the term 
 " Caries' is an interpolation. 
 
 The term **joueucc de cartes,*' card-players, is indeed to 
 be found in the earliest printed editions of the work, and 
 
 ' Meerman, Origines Tjpograpliic», vol. i, p. 222. Edit. 1765. 
 
 * " Tout le monde sait que ce charmant ouvrage a 6t^ compost en 1459 par 
 Antoine de Lassalle." — Duchesne, Precis Historique sur Ics Cartes a jouer, 
 p. 5, prefixed to the * Jcux de Cartes Tarots/ &c. Mons. Duchesne himself 
 does not appear to have known " what all the world knows" when he wrote his 
 * Observations sur les Cartes a jouer/ printed in the Annuaire Historique, 1837 ; 
 for he there seems to admit that the work was composed by a person who lived 
 at the period to which it relates, and refers to two manuscripts in which the 
 word "cartes" is not to be found. He says that a third manuscript, which 
 contains it, appears to have been transcribed about the end of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, but does not inform the reader that the work itself is a mere romance, 
 written in 1459. 
 
 » " Vcez ci vostre compaignon qui, pour estrc tel, a acquis la grace du Roy et 
 de la Royne et de tons, et vous qui estes noiseux tijoueux de caries et de dez, 
 ct sieuv^s dcshonnestes gens, tavemiers, et cabarets." 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 69 
 
 also in a manuscript preserved in the Bibliotheque du Roi ; 
 but then this manuscript does not appear to be of an earlier 
 date than the latter end of the fifteenth century, and there 
 is also reason to believe that it is the identical manuscript 
 from which the vrork was first printed. The word Cartes, 
 however, is not to be found in a manuscript copy of the 
 work in the library of the Sorbonne, nor in another in the 
 library of St. Germains. The latter is much older than 
 either of the others. Mons. Duchesne says that, in 1583, 
 it belonged to Claude d'Expilly, and that these two verses, 
 which show that it was even then considered an old manu- 
 script, are written in the first folio : 
 
 "Ce livre soit gard^ non tant pour sa beauts. 
 Que pour le saint respect de son antiquity." 
 
 "From this examination," says Mons. Duchesne, "we 
 may conclude that the word Cartes is an interpolation made 
 by a transcriber a century later : consequently it cannot 
 be admitted as a proof that cards were known in 1367."* 
 
 In an edition of William de Guilleville's allegorical poem, 
 entitled ' Le Pelerinaige de THomme,'^ printed at Paris by 
 Verard in 1511, the following verses, in which cards are 
 named, were pointed out to me by my friend Mr. N. Hill, 
 of the Royal Society of Literature, to whom I am greatly 
 indebted for much curious and interesting information 
 relating to the Origin and History of Playing Cards. 
 
 At folio xlv, a, Oysivete tempts the pilgrim to quit the 
 
 * Peignot considers the passages in which Cards are mentioned genuine, both 
 in the Chronicle of Petit-Jehan de Saintr6 and in the romance of Renard le 
 Contrefait. He had taken the passages just as he found them in Meerman and 
 Jansen, and made no further inquiry. Saint-Foix appears to have been the 
 first person in France who pointed out the passage relating to cards in the 
 Chronicle of Petit-Jehan de Saintr^. See Peignot's Recherches sur les Danses 
 dcs Morts, et sur TOrigine dcs Cartes a joucr, pp. 211-262, 315. 
 
 • Tliis work was composed about 1330 
 
70 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 right way by recounting to him the pleasures enjoyed by 
 those who place themselves under her guidance : 
 
 ** , . . Je meyne gens au bois, 
 Et la leur fais-je vcoir dnnscurs, 
 Jeux de bastcaulx et de jougleurs, 
 Jeux de tables et ddschiquiers, 
 De boulles et mercilliers. 
 De cartes, jeux de tricherie, 
 Et de mainte autre muserie." 
 
 At folio Ixxii, a, Quartes — for so the word is there 
 spelled — is noticed as a prohibited game : 
 
 ** Mains icux qui sont denyez, 
 Aux mcrcllcs, quartes, ct dcz," &c. 
 
 As there was reason to suspect that the word Cartes 
 or Quartes, in the printed copies of De Guilleville's poem, 
 was an interpolation, the same as it was found to be in 
 other works examined by M. Duchesne, M. Paulin Paris, 
 assistant-keeper of the manuscripts in the Bibliotheque du 
 Eoi, was requested by a friend of Mr. Hill, to compare the 
 printed text ^\ith that of the earliest manuscript copies of 
 the poem preserved in the collection under his care. The 
 result of the collation was that the suspected words had 
 been interpolated. The following is a translation of a por- 
 tion of M. Paulin Paris's letter on the subject. 
 
 "I have compared the verses of our MSS. of the Pil- 
 grimage of Human Life with the printed editions, and 
 have found the latter very inexact. Cards are neither 
 named nor alluded to in the MSS. ; and in them the first 
 passage, pointed out by your friend Mr. N. Hill, stands 
 thus : 
 
 Ja leur fais je veoir baleurs, 
 Gieux de bastiaux et de jugleurs, 
 De tables et de eschcquiers, 
 De boulcs et de mereliers, 
 De dcz ct d*ciitrcgsterie, 
 Et de raaiiitc autre muscrie. 
 
 MS, 0988, fol. 44, verso. 
 
 (No. 2), fol. 47, veno. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 
 
 71 
 
 " The other passage referred to is, in both MSS. as 
 follows : 
 
 Tant Taime quo je en suis sote, 
 Et quo en pers souvent ma cote, 
 A mains jcux qui sont dcviScs, 
 Aux merelles, tables, et dez." 
 
 As all the different interpolations referred to appear to 
 have been made in good faith, — not for the purpose of 
 showing the antiquity of card-playing, nor with any view 
 of deceiving the reader, but merely to supply what the 
 transcriber, looking at the manners of his own age, felt to 
 be an omission, — ^they afford good grounds for concluding 
 that, at the time when the several works were first written, 
 cards were not a common game in either France or Spain ; 
 for, had they then been well known in those countries, it is 
 just as likely that they would have been mentioned by the 
 original writers as that they should have been interpolated 
 by later transcribers. 
 
 In an article on Cards, in the 'Magasin Pittoresque' for 
 April, 1836, an illustration is given, of which the annexed 
 
72 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 cut is a fac-simile. The writer of the article says that 
 it is exactly copied from a miniature in a MS. of the 
 Cite de Bieu, translated from St. Augustine by Raoul de 
 Presle, who began the translation in 1371, and finished it 
 in 1375. The writer, considering the MS. to be of the 
 same date as the translation, says that the miniature repre- 
 sents persons of distinction of the reign of Charles V.^ As 
 he adduces, however, no evidence to show that the MS. 
 is of so early a date, his so-called demonstration that cards 
 were well known in 1375, is essentially defective; for, in 
 transcripts of books, nothing is more common than to find, 
 in the illustrations, things which were unknown when the 
 works were first written. The costume, indeed, appears 
 more like that of persons of distinction about the latter 
 end of the reign of Charles VI, 1422, than of the reign of 
 Charles V, 13G4— 1380. From the kind of cards which 
 the parties are seen playing with, no safe conclusion can be 
 drawn with respect to the age of the manuscript; for it is 
 not positively known what kind of cards were chiefly used 
 in France between 1392 and 1440. But, whatever may 
 be the date of the manuscript, it is evident that numeral 
 cards marked with " pips" and honours, similarly to those 
 now in common use, were known in France at the time 
 when the drawing was made. 
 
 The following account of the introduction of cards into 
 Viterbo, in 1379, previously referred to in Chapter I, is 
 
 * ** ... Voici une demonstration concluante : c'est \g fac-simile d*une 
 miniature dn manuscrit de la traduction de la Cite de Lieu de Saint Augustin, 
 par Raoul de Preslcs, qui le termina en 1375. Cette miniature represente des 
 personnages de distinction du regne de Charles V, debout autour une table ronde 
 et jouant aux cartes. Nous devons cette miniature a Tobligeance de M. le Comte 
 H. de Vicl-Castel, qui nous I'a communiqude, ainsi que d*autres documens qu'il 
 avait rdunis sur les cartes. Le manuscrit d*ou on a tir6 la miniature, acliev6 en 
 1375, avait ^t^ commence en 1371." — Magasin Pittoresque, Quatrieme Annee, 
 Avril, 1836, p. 131. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 78 
 
 here given as it is to be found in Leber's ' Etudes Histo- 
 riques sur les Cartes a jouer/ " Feliciano Bussi relates, in 
 his * History of Viterbo/^ a work but little known, that in 
 1379, the epoch of the schism caused by the opposition of 
 the anti-pope Clement to Urban VI, the mercenary troops of 
 each party com'mitt 3d all manner of annoyances and spolia- 
 tions in the Roman States, and that a great number of 
 cattle, which had been stolen by the marauders, and driven 
 to Viterbo for the provisionment of that city, were there 
 seized, and carried off in a moment. ' And yet,' adds the 
 historian, ' who could believe it ! In this same year of 
 so much distress there was introduced into Viterbo the 
 game of cards, or, as I would say, playing cards, which pre- 
 viously were not in the least known in that city \ the words 
 of Covelluzzo, are, folio 28, verso: 'In the year 1379, 
 was brought into Viterbo the game of cards, which 
 comes from the country of the Saracens, and is with them 
 called Naib! " As the introduction of cards into Viterbo 
 is here directly recorded as a historical fact, there can be 
 little doubt, if the passage in Covelluzzo be genuine, that 
 cards were known to the Italian condottieri in 1379. In 
 the chronicle of Giovan Morelli, of the date 1393, Naihi is 
 mentioned as a kind of game ; and, from the context, it has 
 been concluded that it was one at which children only 
 played.^ At any rate it appears there as a game at which 
 older people might play without reproach. Long after cards 
 were condemned by-synods and civic ordinances, as a game 
 of hazard, grave writers allowed that sober, decent people 
 might enjoy the game provided that they played purely for 
 
 * Istoria deUa Citta di Viterbo, p. 213. Folio, Koma, 1742. 
 
 * " Non giuocare a zara, ne ad altro giuoco di dadi, fa de' giuochi che usano i 
 fanciulli; agli aliossi, alia trottola, a* ferri, a' Naihi, fH coderone, e simili," — 
 Cronica di Giovan. Morelli, in Malespini's Istoria Fiorentina, p. 270. 4to, 
 Florence, 1728. 
 
74 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 the sake of recreation, and not for the chance of winning 
 their neighbour's money. 
 
 Heineken quotes from the ' Giildin Spil/ a book written 
 about the middle of the fifteenth century by a Dominican 
 friar, of the name of Ingold, printed at Augsburg, by 
 Gunthcr Zainer, in 1472, the following passage relating 
 to cards :^ " Nun ist das Spil vol untrew ; und, als ich 
 gelesen han, so ist es kommen in Teutschland der ersten 
 in dem iar, da man zalt von Crist geburt, tausend dreihun- 
 dert iar." That is : " The game is right deceitful ; and, as 
 I have read, was first brought into Germany in the year 
 1300.'' The title of ' Guldin Spil,'— the Golden Game,— 
 appears to have been given to the work by the author, on 
 account of its being a kind of pious travesty of the principal 
 games in vogue in Germany at the period when he wrote : 
 having given each game a moral exposition, that which was 
 formerly dross is converted into gold : the " old man" is 
 put off, and the reformed gambler, instead of idling away 
 his precious time at tric-trac, dice, or cards for beggarly 
 groschen, "goes" his whole soul at the ' Guldin Spil' 
 
 That the author had read somewhere of cards having 
 been first brought into Germany in 1300, may be admitted 
 without question ; for to suppose that he told an untruth, 
 would require to be backed by a supplementary conjec- 
 ture as to his motives for falsifying, — a mode of eliciting 
 the "truth," in frequent use indeed with philosophic 
 historians when discussing questions of great import in the 
 history of nations, but not exactly suitable for determining 
 a trifling fact in the history of Playing Cards. Having 
 admitted the good faith of the author of the ' Guldin Spil/ 
 the next question that presents itself is, whether what he had 
 read about the introduction of cards into Germany was in 
 
 ' Idee Geuerale d'unc Collection complete d'Estampcs, p. 240. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 75 
 
 itself true ; it is, however, unnecessary to discuss it here, 
 for even if cards were known in Germany at so early a 
 period, there is no satisfactory evidence of their having 
 been common in that country until about a century later. 
 
 Von Murr, who also cites from the * Giildin Spil' the 
 preceding passage relating to cards, thinks that the epoch 
 assigned, 1300, is at least fifty years too early/ He, however, 
 states that he found cards — Carten — mentioned in an old 
 book of bye-laws and regulations of the city of Nuremberg, 
 to which he assigns a date between 1380 and 1384. The 
 word occurs in a bye-law relating to gaming — ' Vom SpiT — 
 from the penalties of which the following games are, under 
 certain circumstances, excepted :" Horse-racing, shooting 
 with cross-bows, cardsy shovel-board, tric-trac, and bowls, at 
 which a man may bet from two pence to a groat." Whether 
 the date assigned by Von Murr be correct or not, I am 
 unable to determine. His reason for concluding that it \vas 
 between the years 1380 and 1384, is as follows : " There is 
 indeed no date to this bye-law, but it is written in the same 
 hand as a law relating to the Toll-houses before the New 
 Gate ; and at folio 4 there is a precise date, namely the 
 second day before Walpurg's day, 1384.'' The reason is not 
 a very good one ; for, even admitting the identity of the 
 hand-writing in the ordinance relating to gaming, and in the 
 act of 1381 relating to the toll-houses, yet both might have 
 been copied into the book at a subsequent period. It is also 
 to be observed, that, according to Von Murr's own account, 
 the date 1384 occurs in the fourth folio, while the ordinance 
 in which cards are mentioned, is in the sixteenth folio. But 
 though the date assigned by Von Murr to the Nuremberg 
 regulation, may be a few years too early, there is good 
 reason to believe that cards were well known in Germany 
 
 ' C. G. von Murr, Journal zur Kunstgcschiclitc, 2tcr Thcil, s. 98. 8vo, 
 Nuremberg, 1776. 
 
76 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 towards the conclusion of the fourteenth century. Accord- 
 ing to Mons. Neubronner, administrator at Ulm, (about 
 1806,) there was in the archives of that city an ancient 
 parchment volume, called the Red Book, on account of its 
 red initial letters, which contained a prohibition against 
 Card Playing, dated 1397.' 
 
 Having now laid before the reader the principal autho- 
 rities which have been alleged by various writers, — ^whether 
 for the purpose of showing the antiquity of card-playing in 
 Europe generally, or with the design of supporting their 
 own opinion as to the invention of cards in some particular 
 country — it is now time to enter on what may be termed 
 the positive history of cards, beginning from the year 1393. 
 
 Charles VI of France lost his reason in consequence of a 
 coup'de-soleily in 1392; and during the remainder of his 
 life continued insane, though with occasional lucid intervals. 
 In either the same or in the following year, 1393, this 
 entry occurs in the accounts of his treasurer, Charles 
 Poupart, or, as he is named by Monstrelet, Charbot Poupart : 
 " Given to Jacquemin Gringonneur, painter, for three packs 
 of cards, gilt and coloured, and variously ornamented, for the 
 amusement of the king, fifty^six sols of Paris."^ Menestrier, 
 who was the first to point out this passage, concluded from 
 
 * Jansen, Essai sur TOrigme de la Gravnre en Bois, &c., quoted by Peignot, 
 p. 256. 
 
 * ** Donnd h Jacquemin Gringonneur, pcintre, pour trois jeux de cartes a or 
 et h. diverses couleurs, om^s de plusieurs deviaes, pour porter devers le Seigneur 
 Roi, pour son Abatement, cinquante-six sols parisis." — Menestrier, Bibliothcque 
 curieuse et instructive, torn, ii, pp. 168-91. 12mo, Trevoux, 1704. According 
 to Barrois, the name Gringonneur signified a maker of Grangons. " Ce nom a 
 fait prendre le change ; il signifie faiseur de grangons. * Grangium certus tesse- 
 rarum Indus.* Voir Glossarium de Ducange, Supplement, t. ii, col. 651. Les 
 premieres cartes se vendaient h Paris, chez Jacquemin, gringoncur, fabricant de 
 dds, parce que les d^s et les cartes s*employaient simultandmcnt. (Voir Minia- 
 ture de notre cabinet dans TAbusd en Court, manuscrit de XV sicclc.) D'oii 
 d^gringolcr, roulcr en sautillant comme les dcs." — ^Ei^mcns Cariovingicns, lin- 
 guistiqucs ct litt^raircs, p. 265. 4to, Paris, 1846. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 77 
 
 it that the game of cards was then first invented by 
 Gringonneur for the purpose of diverting the king's melan- 
 choly; and his account of the invention long passed as 
 authentic in the politely learned world. That the game of 
 cards was invented by Gringonneur is in the highest degree 
 improbable ; for the general tenor of the passage in which 
 they are named by Poupart implies that the game was then 
 already known, though from the notice of the gilding and 
 colouring of the cards, it may be supposed that Gringonneur 
 had a special order for them, and that they were not then 
 in general use. 
 
 " If," says Piegnot, " Pere Menestrier had paid attention 
 to the manner in which the passage is drawn up, he would 
 have perceived that the expression ' for three packs of cards,' 
 • — ^ pour trois jeux de cartes — clearly announces, from its 
 very simplicity, that cards were already known, and that 
 their invention was of a much earlier date. The writer 
 would not have mentioned so simply a collection of figures, 
 just conceived and painted by Gringonneur on small pieces 
 of paper, and very remarkable, as well from their symmetry 
 and regularity, as from the characters represented on them."^ 
 The Hon. Daines Barrington, in his ' Observations on the 
 Antiquity of Playing Cards in England,' doubts if Poupart 's 
 
 » The following " slirewd reply," which owes its point to Menestrier's account 
 of the invention of cards, appeared in a weekly journal about three years ago. 
 " Sir Walter Scott says, that the alleged origin of the invention of cards pro- 
 duced one of the shrewdest replies he had ever heard given in evidence.^ It was 
 made by the late Dr. Gregory, at Edinburgh, to a counsel of great eminence at 
 the Scottish bar. The doctor*s testimony went to prove the insanity of the 
 party whose mental capacity was the point at issue. On a cross-interrogation 
 he admitted that the person in question played admirably at whist. *And do 
 you seriously say, doctor,* said the learned counsel, 'that a person having a 
 superior capacity for a game so difficult, and which requires, in a pre-eminent 
 degree, memory, judgment, and combination, can be at the same time deranged 
 in his understanding?' 'I am no card-player," said the doctor, with great 
 address, *but I have read in history that cards were invented for the amuse- 
 ment of an insane king/ The consequences of this reply were decisive." 
 
78 TLAYINO CARDS. 
 
 entry actually relates to Playing Cards. He is of opinion 
 that the words " iroia jeux de cartes* mean three sets of 
 illuminations upon paper, ''carte originally signifying 
 nothing more/' If Mr. Barrington had produced any 
 authority to show that, either in the time of Charles VI, or 
 at any other period, " \mjeu de cartes" was used to signify 
 a set of illuminations, or that the term ever signified any- 
 thing else than a pack, or a game, of cards, his doubt would 
 not have had so much the appearance of a starved conceit. 
 
 Though in 1893 cards might have been but little known 
 and seldom played at, except by the higher classes, the 
 game in a short time appears to have become common ; for 
 in an edict of the provost of Paris, dated 22d of January, 
 1397, working people are forbid to play at tennis, bowls, 
 dice, cards, or nine-pins, on working days. From the 
 omission of cards in an ordonnance of Charles V, dated 
 13C9, forbidding certain games and addressed to all the 
 seneschals, baiUies, provosts, and other officers of the 
 kingdom, it may be safely concluded that if cards were 
 known in France in 1369, the game was by no means so 
 common as in 1397. Duchesne indeed says that it is 
 between 1369 and 1397, a period of twenty-eight years, 
 that the invention of Playing Cards, or at least their intro- 
 duction into France, ought to be placed. 
 
 Cards having been presented at the court of France for 
 the amusement of the king, and prohibited in the city of 
 Paris, either as too good or too bad for the amusement of 
 working people, appear forthwith to have become fashionable; 
 but, besides the recommendations alluded to, the game pos- 
 sesses charms of its own which could scarcely fail to render 
 it a favorite with gamesters of all classes, as soon as its 
 principles should be known.^ To ladies and gentlemen who 
 
 * About the bcginniiig of the fifteenth century the passion for gaming appears 
 to have been very prevalent in France ; and persons who were addicted to it 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EtJROPE. 79 
 
 . might play, merely as a relaxation from the more serious 
 business of hunting and hawking, dressing and dining, 
 no game could be more fascinating; while to those who might 
 play for gain, what other game could be more tempting? 
 The great infirmity of human nature, with the noble as 
 well as the ignoble, as old stories plainly show, is the too 
 eager desire to obtain money, or money's worth, in a short 
 time and at little cost ; and, hence, to risk a certain sum on 
 the chance of obtaining a greater, whether at dice, cards, state 
 lotteries, or art-union little-goes: in the latter, indeed, under 
 the prudent direction of what may be called *' handicap" 
 legislators, — from their always coming out strong towards 
 the end of the session, like the beaten horses for a 
 handicap at the end of a race week, — the spirit of gaming 
 is refined, and made subservient to the purposes of pure 
 charity and the promotion of the fine arts. He who devised 
 the game of cards, as now usually played, appears to have had 
 a thorough perception of at least two of the weak points of 
 human nature ; for next to man's trust in his "luck," in all 
 games of chance, is his confidence in himself in all games of 
 skill. The shuffling, cutting, and dealing at cards, together 
 with the chance afforded by the turn-up of the trump, 
 place the novice, in his own conceit, on a par with the 
 
 endeavoured to guard themselves from its fascinations by voluntary bonds, with 
 a penalty in case of infraction. The following account of a bond of this kind is 
 extracted from the Memoirs of the Academy of Dijon for 1828. "Mons. 
 Baudot a trouv^ deux actes de ce genre, qui mdritent d'etire conserves h cause 
 de leur singularity. Le premier est tir^.du protocole de Jehan Lebon, notaire, 
 et de ses clercs Jehan Bizot, Guyot Bizot de Charmes, et Jehan Gros. On y 
 lit. qu*en 1407, il y eut convention de ne pas jouer pendant une annde, entre 
 Jehan Violier de VoUexon, boucher, a Dijon; Guillaume Garni, boucher, 
 Huguenin de Grancey, tournestier (employ^ aux toumois), Vivien le Picardet, 
 patissier, et Gorant de Barefort, coustellier, tons de Dijon, a peine de d6ux 
 francs d'or au profit de ceux qui n'auront pas joue, et de deux francs d*or a 
 lever par le Procureur de la Ville et Commune de Dijon, au profit de la Ville.*' 
 — The second was a similar engagement, in the year 1505. 
 
80 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 experienced gamester ; who, on the other hand, is apt to 
 underrate his opponent's chance, from his over-confidence in 
 his own skill. 
 
 During the middle ages, the clergy, notwithstanding their 
 vows and their pretensions to superior sanctity, appear to 
 have been not a whit more exempt from the weaknesses of 
 human nature than the unsanctified laity ; nay, from the 
 history of the times, it would seem that their vows rendered 
 them not only more susceptible of temptation, but more 
 Ukely to fall. Their preaching pointed one way, and their 
 lives another ; and hence the old proverb, " Mind what the 
 friar saySy not what he doesJ' The vices of the times are 
 indeed written in the canons of synods and councils, and in 
 the penitentials of bishops directed against the immo- 
 ralities of the clergy ; and from the experience of the past, 
 thus recorded, we have ample proof that clerical vows are 
 not always a certain charm against secular vices. After cards 
 were once fairly introduced, it would appear that the clergy 
 were not long in *' cutting in ;" for, according to Dr. J. B. 
 Thiers, they were expressly forbid to play at cards, by the 
 synod of Langres, 1404.^ 
 
 Menestrier refers to the statutes of Amadeus VIII, Duke 
 of Savoy, 1430, forbidding all kinds of gaming for money 
 within his territories, though his subjects are allowed to 
 amuse themselves at certain games, provided they play 
 
 * Thiers, referring to the Synod of Langres of 1404, Tit. de Ludibus prohi- 
 bitis, thus gives the prohibition : " Nous d^fendons expressement aux Eccle- 
 siastiqucs, principaleraent a ceux qui sont dans les saints ordres, et sur tout aux 
 pretrcs et aux cur^s, de joucr aux dez, au triquetrac, ou aux cartes." — Traits 
 des Jcux et des Divertisscmens, par M. Jean Baptiste Thiers, Docteur en Thdo- 
 logie, p. 193. 12mo, Paris, 1686. Though this synod is also referred to by 
 Menestrier, Bullet, and others, it is overlooked by Mons. Duchesne, who, 
 speaking of the prohibition of cards to the clergy, says, " C'est seulement au 
 synode de Bamberg, in 1491, qu*au titre xvi on trouve la defense : *Ludosque 
 taxillorum et chartarum, et his similes, in locis publicis.* " — Observations sur 
 les Cartes li jouer, dans TAnnuaire Historique, pour Tannde 1837, p. 176. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 81 
 
 only for meat and drink.* "With respect to cards, they 
 are forbidden ; nevertheless, they are allowed to women, with 
 whom men may also play, provided that they play only for 
 pins," — " dum Indus jBat tantum cum spinulis." In this 
 passage a jurist would not construe the word " spinuHs** — 
 pins — ^hterally, but would take it to mean any small articles 
 of pins' worth. In France, about 1580, the douceiu* given 
 by a guest to a waiter at an inn was called "his pins" — 
 " epingles ;"^ and the proverbial phrase, " Tirer son epingle 
 du jeu," seems to allude rather to " pin-stakes,"'than to the 
 game of "push-pin." 
 
 Early in the fifteenth century, card-making appears to 
 have become a regular trade in Germany, and there is 
 reason to beUeve that it was not of much later date in Italy. 
 In 1418 the name of a card-maker — " Kartenmac/ter/' — 
 occurs in the burgess-books of Augsburg. In an old rate-book 
 of the city of Nui-emberg, the name "FIL Kartenmac/ierin' 
 occurs under the year 1433 ; and in the same book under 
 the year 1435, the name *'Mis. Kartenmac/ierin," probably 
 the same person. In the year 1438 the name " Margret 
 Kartenmalerin^ occurs.^ From those records it would appear 
 that the earliest card-makers and card-painters of Nuremberg 
 were women ; and that cards were known in Germany by 
 the name of " Karten" before they acquired the name of 
 " Briefe." Heineken, however, maintains that they were 
 first known in Germany by the latter name ; for as he 
 claimed the invention for his countrymen, the fact of the 
 
 > Peignot, who affects great precision in dates and names, says that the Sta- 
 tnta Sabaudiffl were "publi^es en 1470 par Am^dee VIII, Due de Savoie." 
 Amadous VIII, the amateur hermit— who was elected Pope by the Council of 
 Basle in 1439, and who took the name of Pope Felix V— died m 1451. 
 
 * " Donnez nous du linge blanc. Paictes que nons ayons des linceux blancs, 
 et vous aures demain voz espingles."— J. T. Pregii Psedagogus, p. 112.. 
 Basle, 1582. 
 
 Von Murr, Journal zur Kunstgeschichte, 2er Theil, s. 121, 122. 
 
 6 
 
82 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 name being derived either from the French or Italian was 
 adverse to his theory. 
 
 Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Uhn appear to have been 
 the chief towns in Germany for the manufacture of cards 
 about the middle of the fifteenth century ; and, from the 
 following passage, cited by Heineken from a manuscript 
 chronicle of the city of Ulm, ending at 1474, it would 
 appear that the German manufacturers, besides supplying 
 the home market did also a large export business : " Play- 
 ing cards were sent in small casks [leglenweiss] into Italy, 
 Sicily, and also over sea, and bartered for spices and other 
 wares."^ It was probably against the German card-makers 
 and painter-stainers that the magistracy of Venice issued 
 an order in 1441, forbidding the introduction of foreign 
 manufactured and printed coloured figures into the city 
 under the penalty of forfeiting such articles, and being 
 fined XXX liv. xii soldi. This order appears to have been 
 made in consequence of a petition from the fellowship of 
 painters at Venice, wherein they had set forth that " the 
 art and mystery of card-making and of printing figiu*es, 
 which were practised in Venice, had fallen into total decay 
 through the great quantity of foreign playing cards, and 
 coloured printed figures which were brought into the city."* 
 The magistrates' order, in which this passage occurs as the 
 
 * Heineken, in his French version of this passage, in the Idee GenMe, 
 erroneously translates the word legUnweiss^ " en ballots." In his Neue 
 Nachrichten, however, he gives the correct explanation, " das ist, in kleinen 
 Fassem"— "that is, in small casks." Though the word Lagel, a barrel, is 
 obsolete in Germany, yet its diminutive, "leglin,"— as if LageHn— is still used 
 in Scotland for the name of the ewe-milker's kit. It is needless to cite the 
 work from which I copy this bit of information, as the author, I am sure, will 
 not find any fault with me for any liberties that I may take. 
 
 * " Conscioscia che Tarte e mestier delle carte e figure stampide, che se fano 
 in Venesia h vegnudo a total deffaction, e questo sia per la gran quantita de 
 carte a zugur e figure dcpente stampide, le qual vien fate de fuora de Venezia." 
 — Algarotti, Lettcre Pittoriche, torn, v, p. 320. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 83 
 
 preamble, was discovered by an Italian architect, of the 
 name of Temanza, in an old book of rules and orders 
 belonging to the company or fellowship of Venetian 
 painters. Temanza sent an account of his discovery to 
 Count Algarotti, who published it in the fifth volume of his 
 *Lettere Pittoriche/ 
 
 As it has been assumed that the earliest professional card- 
 makers were wood-engravers, and that the engraving of 
 cards on wood led to the execution of other figures, it 
 appears necessary to trace the Briefmaler's progress, and 
 to show how he came to be identified with the " wood- 
 engraver in general." That the early card-makers or card- 
 painters of Ulra, Nuremberg, and Augsbiu-g, from about 
 1418 to 1450, were also wood-engravers, is founded entirely 
 on the assumption that the cards of that period were en- 
 graved on wood, and that those who manufactured them, 
 both engraved and coloured the figures. It is not, however, 
 certain that the figures of the earliest cards, not drawn by 
 hand, were engraved on wood ; in the oldest cards, indeed, 
 which I have had an opportunity of examining, and which 
 appear to be of as early a date as the year 1440, it is evident 
 that the figures were executed by means of a stencil.^ From 
 the circumstance of so many women occurring as card- 
 painters in the town books of Nuremberg between 1433 
 and 1477, there appears reason to conclude that they, 
 at least, were not wood-engravers. 
 
 The name of a wood-engraver proper — Formschneider — 
 first occurs in the town-books of Nuremberg, under the 
 year 1449; and as for twenty years subsequently, it fre- 
 quently occurs on the same page with that of a card-painter — 
 
 * A stencil is a thin piece of pasteboard, parchment, or metal, in which tho 
 ontlines and general forms of any figures are cut out, for the purpose of being 
 " stencilled" on cards, paper, pasteboard, plastered walls, &c. The operation is 
 performed by passing over the stencil a brush charged with colour, which enter- 
 ing into the cut out lines imparts the figure to the material beneath. 
 
84 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 Kartenmder — there cannot be a doubt that there was a 
 distinction between the professions, although, Uke the bar- 
 bers and surgeons of former times, they both belonged to 
 the same fellowship or company. 
 
 A few years subsequent to the Formschneider, the Brief- 
 maler occurs; but though his designation has the same 
 literal meaning as that of the Kartenmaler, yet his business 
 seems to have been more general, including both that of 
 the card-painter and wood-engraver. About 1470 we find 
 the Brief malers not only employed in executing figures, 
 but also in engraving the text of block-books ; and about 
 the end of the fifteenth century the term seems to have 
 been generally synonymous with that of Formschneider. 
 Subsequently the latter term prevailed as the proper desig- 
 nation of a wood-engraver, while that of Briefmaler was 
 more especially applied, like that of the original Kartenmaler, 
 to designate a person who coloured cards and other 
 figures.^ 
 
 Though we have positive evidence that, about the year 
 1470, the Briefmaler was a wood-engraver as well as a 
 colourer of cards ; and though it be highly probable that 
 the outUnes of the figures on cards were then engraved on 
 wood, and that, from this circumstance, the Briefmaler 
 became also a wood-engraver, yet we have no proof that the 
 
 * In a work entitled " HANOHAIA omnium illiberalium mechanicarum aut 
 scdcntariarum artiura," &c., with cuts designed by Jost Amman, and descrip- 
 tions in Latin verse by Hartman Schoppcr, Frankfort, 1568, there is a cut of a 
 Briefnf^tlert and another of a Formschneider ; the former appears to be colour- 
 ing certain figures by means of a stencil; while the latter appears to be 
 engraving on wood. There are also editions of the work, with the descriptions 
 in German verse by Hans Sachs, the celebrated Meistersanger and shoemaker of 
 Nuremberg. Though it appears evident that at the time of the publication of 
 this work the business of a Briefmaler was considered as distinct from that of a 
 Formschneider, there is yet reason to believe that the old Bricfmalers still con- 
 tinued both to engrave and print woodcuts. On several large cuts with the 
 dates 1553 and 1554, wo find the words '• Gcdrukt zu Niimberg durch Hanns 
 Glascr, Briefiraalcr." 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 86 
 
 earliest wood-engravers in Europe were the card-makers. 
 Von Murr indeed confidently affirms " that card-makers and 
 card-painters were known in Germany eighty years before 
 the invention of typography, and that the card-makers were 
 at first properly wood-engravers, but that, after the art of 
 wood-engraving was applied to the execution of sacred 
 subjects, a distinction was made."* He who can thus 
 persuade himself that the germ of wood-engraving in Europe 
 is to be found in cards, wUl doubtless feel great pleasure in 
 tracing its interesting development ; the first term, cards 
 engraved on wood, being assumed, we then have figures of 
 saints with their names, or short explanations, engraved on 
 wood ; next block-books consisting of sacred subjects with 
 copious explanatory text ; and lastly typography and the 
 press : " ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute."^ 
 
 At what period the art of wood-engraving vras first 
 introduced in Europe, or in what country it was first 
 practised, has not been precisely ascertained. Not the 
 slightest allusion is made to its productions by any writers 
 of the fourteenth century ; and the earliest authentic date 
 that has hitherto been observed on any wood-engraving, 
 is 1423. A wood-engraving said to contain the date 1418 
 was indeed discovered at Malines in 1844, pasted in the 
 
 ' " Kartenmacher, und Kartemnaler, oder wie sie spater (1473) hiessen, Brief- 
 maler, sind sclion in Dcutschland 80 Jahre vor der ErUndung dcr Buclidrucker- 
 kunst gewesen. Die Kartenmacher waren anfangs die eigentlichcn Form- 
 schneider, ehe man geistliche Figuren schnitt, da sie dann ia der Folge der 
 Zeit eine besondere Innung ausmacliten." — ^Von Murr, Journal zur Kunst- 
 geschichte, 2er Theil, s. 89. 
 
 » "L'homme le plus vers6 dans la connaissance des premiers produits de la 
 xylographie, le Baron de Heineken, 6tait int^rieurement persuade que la pre- 
 miere empreinte tir^e sur un ais grossibrement sculpts, qui parut en Europe, 
 itait une carte. Dans son opinion, que nous croyons bien fondde, la gravure 
 des cartes ^ jouer conduisit k celle des images de Saints, qui donna I'idde de la 
 gravure des mscriptions ou Idgcndes, d'oti naquit riraprimerie.— Ainsi, une 
 carte aurait produit la presse! Quelle m^re et quelle post^ritd !"— Leber, 
 Etudes Historiques sur les Cartes a jouer, p. 3. 
 
86 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 inside of an old chest; but as the numerals have evidently 
 been repaired by means of a black-lead pencil, both the 
 genuineness and the authenticity of the date have been very 
 justly questioned. The person by whom it was found, the 
 keeper of a little public-house, almost immediately sold it 
 to an architect named De Noter, of whom it was purchased 
 by the Baron de Reiffenberg, for the Royal Library of 
 Brussels, of which he is the conservator, and where it is now 
 preserved.^ 
 
 Before this discovery, the earliest wood-engriaving with a 
 date, was the St. Christopher, in Earl Spencer's collection, 
 in which the date 1423, partly in words and partly in 
 numerals — " Millesimo cccc' xx* tercio'* — is seen engraved 
 in the same manner as the other parts of the subject. The 
 first person who published an account of the St. Christopher, 
 was Hcineken. When he first saw it, it was pasted on the 
 inside of the cover of a manuscript volume in the library of 
 Buxheim, near Memmingen in Suabia, within fifty miles of 
 Augsburg, a city which appears to have been the abode of 
 wood-engravers almost from the very commencement of the 
 art in Europe, and in which we find a card-maker so early 
 as 1418. On the inside of the cover, Heineken also ob- 
 served another cut, of the annunciation, of the same size as 
 
 • The subject of this cut is the Virgin with the infant Jesus in her arms, sur- 
 rounded by four female saints, namely, St. Catherine, St. Barbara, St. Dorothy, 
 ard St. Margaret. A fac-simile of it is given in the Athenaeum for the 4th 
 October, 1845. The Baron de Reiffenberg, who published a particular account 
 of the cut, and of the circumstances of its discovery, entertains no doubt of the 
 authenticity of the date j and considers that the costume of the fibres and the 
 general stylo of drawing arc in perfect accordance with the period. Another 
 writer, however, questions the authenticity of the date, which he says has been 
 retouched with a black-lead pencil ; and, from the costume, he concludes that it 
 is not of an earlier date than 1468. He supposes that the numeral 1 may have 
 been omitted before xviii in the date, which in the fac-simile of the cut stands 
 thus : mutt • xblil.— See Quclques Mots sur la Gravure au Mill^Jsimc dc 
 1418, par C. D. B. 4to, Brussels, 1846. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 87 
 
 the St. Christopher, and apparently executed about the same 
 time. The volume within whose covers those cuts were 
 pasted, was bequeathed to the convent by Anna, canoness 
 of Buchaw, who was living in 1427, but who probably died 
 previous to 1435. The Annunciation, as well as the St. 
 Christopher, is now in the possession of Earl Spencer. 
 
 From the time of their first introduction, wood-cuts of 
 sacred subjects appear to have been known in Suabia and 
 the adjacent districts by the name of Helgen or Helglein, a 
 corruption of Heiligen, saints ; and in course of time this 
 word also came to signify prints or woodcuts generally. It 
 would seem that originally the productions of the wood- 
 engraver were considered as imperfect till they were coloured; 
 and as the St. Christopher, the Annunciation, and others of 
 an early date, appear to have been coloured by means of a 
 stencil, there is reason to conclude that most of the " Helgen" 
 of the same period were coloured in the same manner. In 
 France the same kind of cuts, probably coloured in the same 
 manner, were called " Dominos^ — a name which of itself 
 indicates the affinity of the subjects with those of the Helgen. 
 Subsequently, the word "Domino" was used to signify 
 coloured or marbled paper generally ; and the makers of 
 such paper, as well as the engravers and colourers of wood- 
 cuts, were called Dominotiera, 
 
 Though we cannot reasonably suppose that the cut of 
 St. Christopher, with the date 1423, was the very first 
 of its kind, there is yet reason to believe that the art of 
 wood-engraving was then but little known. As the earliest 
 wood-cuts are observed to be coloured by means of a 
 stencil, it would seem that at the time when wood-engraving 
 was first introduced, the art of depicting and colouring 
 figures by means of a stencil was already well known ; but 
 as there are no cards engraved on wood to which so early 
 a date as 1423 can be fairly assigned, and as at that 
 
88 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 period there were professional card-makers established at 
 Augsburg, it would appear that wood-engraving was em- 
 ployed on the execution of " Helgeri' before it was applied 
 to cards, and that there were stencilled cards before there 
 were wood-engravings of saints. Though this conclusion 
 be not exactly in accordance with an opinion which I have 
 expressed in another work,^ it is yet that which, on a further 
 investigation of the subject, appears to be best supported 
 by facts, and most strongly corroborated by the incidental 
 notices which we have of the progress of the Briefmaler or 
 card-pointer from his original profession to that of a wood- 
 engraver in general. 
 
 The annexed cuts are fac-similes of some of the old cards 
 to which I have alluded at page 83. The originals are 
 preserved in the print-room of the British Museum ; and 
 from a repeated examination of them, I am convinced that 
 they have been depicted by means of a stencil, and not 
 printed nor " rubbed off" from wood blocks. They are not 
 coloured, nor cut into single cards ; but appear just as they 
 are shown in the fac-similes. They formed part of the 
 covers or " boards" of an old book, and were sold to the 
 British Museum by Mr. D. Colnaghi. Looking at the 
 marks of the suits in those cards, the ch^acter of the figures, 
 and the manner in which they are executed, I should say 
 that they are not of a later date than 1440. Though cards 
 of only three suits occur, namely. Hearts, Bells, and Acorns, 
 
 • " It has been conjectured that the art of wood-engraving was employed on 
 sacred subjects, such as the figures of saints and holy persons, before it was 
 applied to the multiplication of those 'books of Satan,' playing cards. It, 
 however, seems not unlikely that it was first employed in the manufacture of 
 cards ; and that the monks, availing themselves of the same principle, shortly 
 afterwards employed the art of wood-engraving for the purpose of circulating 
 the figures of saints ; thus endeavouring to supply a remedy for the evil, and 
 extracting from the serpent a cure for his bite." — ^A Treatise on Wood Engrav- 
 ing, Historical and Practical, p. 58. Published by Charles Knight and CJo. 
 Loudon, 1839. 
 
V 
 
 V 
 
 'Brill I -g, 
 
 I 
 
.->-^' 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 
 
 89 
 
 there can be little doubt that the fourth suit was Leaves, as 
 in the pack described by Mr. Gough, in the eighth volume 
 of the ' Archaeologia/ As in Mr. Gough's cards, so in* 
 these, there is no Queen ; though, like them, there appears 
 to have been three " coat" cards in each suit, namely, a 
 King, a Knight, or Superior Officer, and a Knave, or 
 Servant; in other words. King, Jack, and Jack's Man. 
 The lower cards, as in Mr. Gough's pack, appear to have 
 been numbered by their " pips" from two to ten, without 
 any ace. 
 
 That those cards were depicted by means of a stencil is 
 
 evident from the feebleness and irregularity of the lines, as 
 
 well as from the numerous breaks in them, which, in many 
 
 instances, show where a white isolated space was connected 
 
 with other blank parts of the stencil. The separation seen 
 
 in the heads of the figures in No. 1 of the fac-similes here 
 
 given, would appear to have been occasioned by the stencil 
 
 either breaking or slipping 
 
 while the operator was 
 
 passing the brush over it. 
 
 From the costume of the 
 
 figures in these cards, I 
 
 am inclined to think that 
 
 they are the production of 
 
 a Venetian card-maker. A 
 
 lion, the emblem of St. 
 
 Mark, the patron saint of 
 
 Venice, and a distinctive 
 
 badge of the city, appears, 
 
 as in the annexed cut, in 
 
 the suit of Bells ; and a 
 
 similar figure, with part 
 
 of a mutilated inscription, 
 
 also occurs in the suit of Acorns. 
 
90 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 Card-playing appears to have been a common amusement 
 with the citizens of Bologna, about 1423. In that year St. 
 Beraardin of Sienna, who died in 1444, and was canonized 
 in 1450, preaching on the steps in front of the church of 
 St. Petronius, described so forcibly the evils of gaming in 
 general, and of Card-playing in particular, to which the 
 Bolognese were much addicted, that his hearers made a fire 
 in the public place and threw their cards into it. A card- 
 maker who was present, and who had heard the denuncia- 
 tions of the preacher, not only against gamesters, but against 
 all who either supplied them with cards or dice, or in any 
 manner countenanced them, is said to have thus addressed 
 him, in great affliction of mind.^ *M have not learned, 
 father, any other business than that of painting cards ; and 
 if you deprive me of that, you deprive me of life, and my 
 destitute family of the means of earning a subsistence." To 
 this appeal the Saint cheerfully replied : *' If you do not 
 know what to paint, paint this figure, and you will never 
 
 * Father TommasoBuoninsegni, in his ' Discorso del Giuoco,' p. 27, Florence, 
 1585, thus refers to the opinion of St. Bemardin and others on the subject of 
 gaming. " Sono stati alcuni tanto scrupolosi e severi, i quali hanno detto, che 
 non solo quegli che giuocano a restituire tenuti sono, ma di piii li heredi, e quel 
 che prcstano dadi, tavolc, carte, e chi vende, e compera baratterie e bische, ed 
 inoltre li artcHci, i quali fanno e vcndono carte, o dadi, cd altri strumcnti da 
 giuocare ; c di piu li Ufficiali, Rettori, Magistrati e Signori, i quali potendo 
 prohibire cotali giuochi, non li proibiscono." 
 
 In the notice of the life of St. Bemardin, in the Acta Sanctorum, cited by 
 Pcignot, ho is said to have required that cards [naibes]^ dice, and other instru- 
 ments of gaming should be given up to the magistrates to be burnt. The anec- 
 dote of the card-painter is given in Bcmini*s Histoire des Heresies, torn, iv, p. 
 157. Vcnisc, 1784. Tliicrs, in his Trait($ des Jeux, pp. 159-161, gives an 
 extract from a sermon of St. Bemardin against gaming: liis reference to the 
 works of St. Bcmardm is "Serm. 33, in Dominic. 5, Quadra^, I jpari. princ" 
 but he does not mention the edition. 
 
 It may here be observed that the opinion of Dr. Jeremy Taylor on this sub- 
 ject is opposed to that of St. Bemardin. See his discussion of the Question on 
 Gaming : " Whether or no the making and providing such instruments which 
 usually minister to it, is by interpretation such an aid to the sin as to involv* 
 us in the guilt P" 
 
,, INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 91 
 
 have cause to regret having done so." Thus saying, he 
 took a tablet and drew on it the figure of a radiant sun, 
 with the name of Jesus indicated in the centre by the 
 monogram I.H.S. The card-painter followed the saint's 
 advice ; and so numerous were the purchasers of the reformed 
 productions of his art, that he soon became rich. In the 
 Bibliotheque du Roi at Paris, there is an old woodcut of 
 St. Bernardin, with the date 1454, which has been supposed 
 to have been engraved with reference to this anecdote, as 
 the saint is seen holding in his right hand the symbol which 
 he recommended the card-maker to paint. A fac-simile of 
 this figure of St. Bernardin is given in the * Illustrated 
 London News,* of the 20th of April, 1844, and reprinted 
 in a work recently published,, entitled *The History and 
 Art of Wood Engraving.' 
 
 John Capistran, a disciple of St. Bernardin, and also a 
 Franciscan friar, followed the example of his master in 
 preaching against gaming ; and his exhortations appear to 
 have been attended with no less success. In 1452, when 
 on a mission to Germany, he preached for three hours at 
 Nuremberg, in Latin, against luxury and gaming; and his 
 discourse, which was interpreted by one of his followers, 
 produced so great an effect on the audience, that there 
 were brought into the market-place and burnt, 76 jaunting 
 sledges, 8640 backgammon boards, 40,000 dice, aiid cards 
 innumerable. Under an old portrait of Capistran, engraved 
 on wood by Hans Schauffiein, there is an inscription com- 
 memorating the efiects of his preaching as above related.^ 
 
 ' Gcscbichto der Holzsclineidekunst von den altesten bis auf die neuesten 
 Zeiten, ncbst zwei Bcilagen enthaltend den Urspmng dcr Spielkartcn imd ein 
 Verzeichniss der sammt xylographischen Wcrke, von Joseph Haller, s. 313. 
 8vo, Bamberg, 1823. 
 
92 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE PROGKESS OF CAED-PLAYING. 
 
 Having now shown at what period cards were certainly 
 well known in Europe, and at what period card-making 
 was a regular business in Italy and Germany, I shall 
 proceed to lay before the reader a series of facts showing 
 the prevalence of the game in various countries, both among 
 great and little people. 
 
 From the repeated municipal regulations forbidding card- 
 pkying, to be found in the Burgher-books of several cities 
 of Germany, between 1400 and 1450, it would seem that 
 the game was extremely popular in that country in the 
 earher part of the fifteenth century ; and that it continued 
 to gain ground, notwithstanding the prohibitions of men 
 in office. There are orders forbidding it in the council- 
 books of Augsburg, dated 1400, 1403, and 1406; though 
 in the latter year there is an exception which permits card- 
 playing at the meeting-houses of the trades. It was for- 
 bidden at Nordlingen in 1426, 1436, and 1439; but in 
 1440 the magistrates, in their great wisdom, thought proper 
 to relax in some degree the stringency of their orders by 
 allowing the game to be played in public-houses. In the 
 town-books of the same city there are entries, in the years 
 1456 and 1461 , of money paid for cards at the magistrates' 
 annual goose-feast or corporation dinner. In the books of 
 the company of " Schuflikker"— cobblers — of Bamberg, 
 there is a bye-law agreed to in 1491, which imposes a fine 
 of half a pound of wax — not shoemakers', but bees' wax for 
 the company's holy candle, to bum at the altar of the 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 93 
 
 patron saint, — ^upon any brother who should throw the back- 
 gammon pieces, cards, or dice out of the window.^ From 
 this it may be concluded that the " Schuflikker" of Bam- 
 berg in 1491 were accustomed, Uke gamesters of a more 
 recent period, to vent their rage, when losers, on the caids 
 and dice, 
 
 Baptista Platina, in his treatise *De Honesta Voluptate' — 
 which is neither more nor less than an antique " School of 
 Good Living," teaching how creature comforts may be best 
 enjoyed — ^mentions cards as a game at which gentlemen 
 may play, after dinner or supper, to divert their minds, as 
 deep thinking after a hearty meal impedes digestion. There 
 was, however, to be no cheating nor desire of gain — which 
 is as much as to say that the stakes were to be merely nominal 
 — lest bad passions should be excited, and the process of 
 healthy concoction disturbed.^ 
 
 Galeottus Martins, a contemporary of Platina, is perhaps 
 the earliest writer who " speculated,^' or at least pubUshed 
 his speculations, on the allegorical meaning of the marks 
 of the four suits of cards. I shall give a translation of the 
 passage, which occui*s in chapter xxxvi of his treatise * De 
 Doctrina promiscua,' written, according to Tiraboschi, 
 between 1488 and 1490. I leave others to divine the 
 
 * Heller, Vom Urspnmg der Spielkarten, in der Gcschichto dor Holzschneide- 
 kunst, 8. 307. 
 
 ' "Interim vero jocis et ludo, minime concito, vacandum, ne sensus cogita- 
 tione occupati concoctionem impediant. Careat jocus (quem urbanum, facetnm, 
 modestum volo) dicacitate, scurrilitate, mordacitate. Nolo mimos ; non pro- 
 terviam; non dicteria; non convicia, unde ira et indignatio, et plenimque 
 magna rixa oritur. Ludus sit talis, tessera, saccho (ut nostra appellatione utnr), 
 carthis variis imaginibiis pictis. Absit inter ludendum omnis fraus et avaritia, 
 qua illiberalior et destestandus fit ludus, nee ullam affcrt ludenti voluptatem; 
 cum timor, ira, et immensa habendi cupiditas variis modis ludentes cruciet." 
 
 The first edition of Platina*s treatise, De Honesta Voluptate, appeared at 
 Venice, 1475. The preceding extract is from the second edition, printed in 
 1480.— -Platina was bom in 1421, and died in 1481. 
 
94 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 author's precise meaning, referring them to the original 
 text which is given below. The topics of this chapter are : 
 " The greater and lesser Dog Star, Orion, the Evening Star, 
 the Pleiades, the Hyades, Bootes, the Kids, the planet 
 Venus, and the game of Cards." Towards the conclusion, 
 after having exhausted his astronomical topics, he thus 
 proceeds, apropos of the benign influence of Venus. 
 
 " From the excellency of this planet it is not surprising 
 that the ancients called a happy throw at dice Venus, — not 
 Jove, though considered of greater fortune. Thus Pro- 
 pertius: 
 
 "Venus I hoped with lucky dice to cast. 
 But every time the luckless Dogs turned up." 
 
 " An unlucky cast was called the Dog — " Canis'' — and 
 also the Little Dog — '^Caniculd' — ^with reference to the 
 Stars. Thus Persius : 
 
 "Far as the luckless little Dog-star's range." 
 
 *' What kind of stars the Great and Little Dog were, 
 has been abeady shown. Some persons, "indeed, might 
 laugh at the invention of such kind of games being 
 ascribed to the learned, were it not plain from reason that 
 the game of cards was also devised by wise men. To say 
 nothing about the Kings, Queens, Knights, and Footmen, 
 — ^for every one knows the distinction between dignity and 
 military service, — is it not evident, when we consider the 
 significance of swords, spears, cups, and country loaves, 
 that the inventor of the game was a man of shrewd wit ? 
 When there is need of strength, as indicated by the Swords 
 and Spears, many are better than few ; in matters of meat 
 and drink, however, as indicated by the Loaves and Cups, 
 a little is better than a great deal, for it is certain that 
 abstemious persons are of more lively wit than gluttons and 
 drunkards, and much superior in the management of 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 95 
 
 business. What I call country kaves, from their form and 
 colour, — Pliny speaks of bread of a yellow colour— are the . 
 marks which are ignorantly supposed to signify pieces of \ 
 money. The Cups are goblets, for wine."* 
 
 The remainder of the passage cannot be literally trans- 
 lated into English, as it relates chiefly to the pronunciation \ 
 of the word ,'' Hastas" — Spears. The substance of it, ■ 
 however, is as follows : " The common people say ' Hastas,' * J 
 as the aspiration H, and the letter V are interchangeable, 
 and so are B and V, both in Greek and Latin. As Bastoni 
 [clubs] are vulgarly called Hastoni, so have they sometimes \ 
 the form of spears [Hastarum], but mostly that of bills, for \ 
 
 » "Nou mirum ergo ob hujus planetae excellentem praerogativam si in taxillis 
 felicem jactum, non Jovem qui major fortuna putatur, sed Venerem nuncupavit ■ 
 antiquitas. Unde Propertius, 
 
 Mo quoque per talos Venerem quserente secundos, 1 
 
 Semper damnosi subsiliero Caucs. '', 
 
 Canem vero et Caniculam damnosum jactum etiam siderum comparatione 
 appellavenmt. Sic Persius : 
 
 Damnosa canicula quantum \ 
 
 Raderet. 
 
 Canis vero et canicula qualia sint sidcra superius patuit. Sed forsitan quidam 
 riderent hujuscemodi ludonun inventionem, doctis quoque viris tribui, nisi et 
 ludum quern chartarum nominant vulg6 et ^ Sapientibus fuisse excogitatum < 
 ratio dictaret; nam, ut regum, reginaruia, equitum peditumque potentiam pnc- 
 teream (quilibet enim dignitatis militiseque differentiam novit), nonne cum 
 ensium, hastarum, scypborum, paniumque agrestium vim consideramus, perspi- 
 cacissimi ingenii inventorem esse cognoscimus ? Cum viribus ubi est opus, ut 
 in hastis ensibusque videtur, multitudo superat paucitatem : in esculentis vero 
 poculcntisquc, ut per panes vinumque figuratur, paucitas multitudinem Tincit ; 
 constat enim abstemios crapulosis edacibusque viris acrioris esse ingenii, et in 
 negotiis agendis fore superiores. Panes autem rusticos voco, propter formam 
 et colorem, croceo enim colore olim fuisse Plinius narrat, (nam cuppa scyphi 
 sunt, ubi vinum,) et illi sunt panes, quos imperite nummos credunt. Hastas, sic 
 dixit vulgus, quoniam H aspiratio et V convertantur, ut Hesper, Vesper. B 
 autem et V sibi invicem sedem praebere Grsecus Latinusque testantur; ut Bas- 
 toni Hastoni vulgb appellentur, ita ut aliquando hastarum plerumque bipennium 
 fonnam gerant ; utrumque enim militise instrumentum est." — Graleottus Martiua, 
 Be Doctrina Promiscua, cap. xxxvi, pp. 477-8. 16mo, Lyons, 1652. 
 
96 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 both are military weapons." The original passage is j 
 extremely perplexing ; and the only thing in it that appears \ 
 plain to me is the writer's desire to convert Bastoni— Clubs 
 — into " Hastas," Spears. The Bastoni, which he says j 
 are called Hastoni, or the Hastoni which are called Bastoni, 
 — for there is here an ambiguity, as in the celebrated ora- 
 cular response, " Aio te, JEacida, Romanes vincere posse" 
 — can only relate to the figures of the things as seen on 
 cards, and not to the things themselves; for the author 
 says that they have sometimes the shape of spears, but more 
 frequently that of bills. The real meaning of this I take to 
 be, that the Bastoni — Clubs — on cards were more like 
 bills than spears, notwithstanding that H and V, andV 
 and B, were interchangeable letters. From the account 
 of Galeottus, it is evident that the usual marks of the j 
 suits of Italian cards were in his time, Coppe, Spadi, 
 Danari, and Bastoni, — Cups, Swords, Money, and Clubs. 
 
 In 1463 it would appear that cards were well known in 
 England ; for, by an act of parliament passed in that year, 
 which was the third of Edward IV, the importation of play- 
 ing cards was expressly prohibited. This act, according 
 to Anderson, was passed in consequence of the manufacturers 
 and tradesmen of Loiidon, and other parts of England, 
 having made heavy complaints against the importation of 
 foreign manufactured wares which greatly obstructed their 
 own employment.^ If we suppose that cards were included 
 
 » Anderson's History of Commerce, voL i, p. 483. — ^The passage relating to 
 cards, in the act referred to, was pointed out to the Hon. D. Barrington by 
 Mr. John Nichols. Gough, in his ' Observations on the Invention of Cards,* in 
 the Eighth Volume of Archseologia, says, that Mr. Le Neve produced before 
 the Society of Antiquaries a minute to show tliat cards were manufactured in 
 England before the ]st of Edward IV; for then a person had his name from 
 his ancestor having been a card-maker. Mr. Gough observes that the ancestor i 
 of this person— Hugh Cardmakcr, prior of St. John the Baptist, at Bridgenorth 
 —was probably a maker of cards for dressing flax or wool. A Karter^& wool- 
 comber— occurs in the town-books of Nuremberg, in 1397. 
 
PROGRESS- OP CARD-PLAYING. 97 
 
 in the prohibition for the above reason, it would follow that 
 card-making was then a regular business in England. 
 
 Whether cards were home-manufactured or obtained 
 from* abroad, they appear about 1484 to have been, as they 
 are at present, a common Christmas game. Margery 
 Paston thus writes to her husband, John Paston, in a 
 letter dated Friday, 24th Dec, 1484 : " Right worshipful 
 husband, I recommend me unto you. Please it you to 
 weet that I sent your eldest son John to my Lady Morley, 
 to have knowledge of what sports were used in her house 
 in the Christmas next following after the decease of my 
 lord her husband; and she said that there were none 
 disguisings, nor harpings, nor luting, nor singing, nor none 
 loud disports ; but playing at the tables, and chess, and 
 cards; such disports she gave her folks leave to play, and 
 none other. Your son did his errand right well, as ye shall 
 hear after this. I sent your younger son to the Lady 
 Stapleton ; and she said according to my Lady Morley 's 
 saying in that, and as she had seen used in places of wor- 
 ship thereas [where] she hath been/'^ It may not be 
 improper here to caution the reader against confounding 
 "places of worship,'* with "houses of prayer," and hence 
 inferring that cards were then a common game in churches, 
 with gentlemen's servants, at Christmas time. By " places 
 of worship" are meant the dwelling-places of worshipful 
 persons, such as lords, knights, and justices of the peace : 
 in those days there were no stipendiary police-magis- 
 trates, and every Shallow on the bench was " a gentleman 
 born." 
 
 Whether Richard III, in whose reign the letter above 
 quoted was written, added dicing and card-playing to his 
 other vices, we have no account either in pubKc history 
 
 • renn*s Paston Letters, vol, ii, p. 333, edit. 1778. 
 
 7 
 
98 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 which deals, or ought to deal, wholesale, in " great facts,*' 
 or in private memoirs, which are more especially devoted 
 to the retailing of little facts. His successor, however, 
 Henry VH, was a card player ; for Barrington observes that 
 in his privy-purse expenses there are three several entries 
 of money issued for his majesty's losses at cards. Of his 
 winnings there is no entry; though his money-grubbing 
 majesty kept his accounts so exactly as to enter even a six- 
 and-eightpenny bribe> given to propitiate his mercy in 
 favour of a poor criminal, — thus turning a penny by traf- 
 ficking with his prerogative of pardoning : 
 
 " To have the power to forgive. 
 Is empire and prerogative." 
 
 It would appear that cards was a common game at the 
 coiui of Henry the VH, even with the royal children ; for, 
 in 1503, his daughter Margaret, aged 14, was found play- 
 ing at cards by James IV of Scotland, on his first interview 
 with her, after her arrival in Scotland for the purpose of 
 being married to him.^ James himself is said to have been 
 greatly addicted to card-playing; and in the accounts of 
 his treasurer there are several entries of money disbursed 
 on account of the game. On Christmas night, 1496, there 
 are delivered to the king at Melrose, to spend at cards, 
 " thirty-five unicornis, eleven French crowns, a ducat, a 
 ridare, and a leu" — in all forty-two pounds. On the 23d 
 August, 1504, when the king was at Lochmaben, he ap- 
 pears to have lost several sums at cards to Lord Dacre, the 
 warden of the EngUsh marches ; and on the 26th of the 
 
 > "Tlie kjngc came privily to the said castell [of Newbattle], and entred 
 within th6 chammer with a small company, where he founde the qucne playing 
 at the CARDEs."— Leland's Collectanea, vol. iii, Appendix, p. 284. Cited by 
 Warton, in his History of English Poetry, who also observes that cards are 
 mentioned in a statute of Henry VII, in the year 1496. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 99 
 
 same month, there is an entry of four French crowns given 
 "to Cuddy, the Inglis Inter, to louse his cheyne of grotis, 
 quhilk he tint at the cartis,'* — to redeem his chain of groats 
 which he lost at cards.^ 
 
 M. Duchesne, in his ' Observations sur les Cartes a jouer,' 
 says, somewhat inconsistently, that cards are of • Italian 
 origin, and that it was either at Venice or at Florence, that 
 the Greek refugees from Constantinople, first made them 
 known. M. Duchesne is as incorrect in his chronology, 
 as he is singular in his notions with respect to the ItaHan 
 origin of playing cards, — first brought to Venice or Flo- 
 rence, by Greeks.^ The refugees to whom he apparently 
 alludes were the Greeks who sought an asylum in Italy, 
 when Constantinople was taken by the Tm-ks, in 1453, 
 which is sixty years after the time that we have positive 
 evidence of cards being known in France. But though no 
 evidence has been produced to show that cards were first 
 brought into Em-ope from Constantinople, it is yet certain 
 that they were known to the Greeks, before the end of 
 the fifteenth century; for Ducange, in his Glossary of 
 Middle- Age Greek, under the word " XAPTIA, Ludus char- 
 tarum,^ quotes the following verse from a manuscript of 
 Emanual Georgillas on the Plague at Rhodes : 
 
 "Kai Ta ravXia, xai ra xapria, rat Kapia KaraKavasv." 
 "Burn the tables, cards, and dice." 
 
 » Priyate Life of James IV of Scotland, in Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, 
 Nos. 9 and 10, 1832. 
 
 * "Les cartes, comrae tout ce qui tient aux arts, ont une origine Italienne; 
 c*est a Venise ou a Florence que les Grecs r^fugies de Constantinople les ont 
 d'abord fait connaitre."— Annuaire Historique pour Tannee 1837, p. 188. 
 
 ' Ducange, Glossaqum ad Scriptores mediae et infimce Gracitatis. Folio, 1688. 
 Under the words AKupia and Xapria. TavXia is merely a different mode of 
 spelling Ta€\ia^talfula, tables, a kind of backgammon board with its append^ 
 ages. 
 
100 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 "It appears from this," says Ducange, "that the. game 
 of cards, the origin of which is uncertain, was at least 
 known in 1498, the year in which this mortality happened." 
 In the 'Journal des Dames,' for the 10th April, 1828, — 
 a pubhcation, which I have not had the fortune to see, 
 but which is referred to by Brunet the younger, in his 
 ' Notice Bibliographique sur les Cartes a jouer,' — ^there is 
 a detailed account of the modem Greek cards manufactured 
 at Frankfort.^ 
 
 Towards the close of the fifteenth, and in the early part 
 of the sixteenth century, before Luther had sounded the 
 tocsin of religious reform, and given a new impulse to both 
 the busy and the idle, the Germans appear to have been 
 greatly addicted to gaming. Woodcuts of this period 
 showing men and women playing at cards and dice are 
 common. John Geiler of Kaisersberg, a famous preacher 
 in his day, who, like Latimer, was accustomed to season his 
 scnnons with a little humour — not to say fun — rings a 
 peal against gaming in his * Speculum Fatuorum,' first 
 printed at Strasburg about 1508. He says that there are 
 some games at cards which are purely of chance, such as 
 ^' der offen Busch unci SchantzenJ'^ while others, such as 
 
 » The following is Mons. Brunct's prefatory note to his brochure, which was 
 published at Paris, in 1842. "Les curieux, les amateurs de livres rechcrchent 
 avcc empresscmcnt tout ee qui a rapport aux cartes ; c*est ce qui m*a port^ acon- 
 sacrcr un instant dc loisir ti la traduction de ee que je vcnais dc lire, ti cct 6gard, 
 dans un ouvragc allemand, vaste repertoire de Tdrudition bibliographique la plus 
 4tcndue (Lehrbuch einer Literargeschichte der beriihmtesten Volkcr des Mit- 
 telaltcrs, von J. G. T. Grasse, Dresden und Leipsig, Anioldische Buchhandlung, 
 1842, Band ii, s. 879-85); j'ajoute quclqucs indications nouvcllcs a cet apcrpu, 
 que je n'imprime d'ailleurs qu'i quclqucs exemplaires." 
 
 ' Geilcr's second bell — his peal consists of seven — rings to this tune. " Sc- 
 cunda nola est : ludere alea dissimilibus. Tangit ha;c nola feminas nobiles et 
 saccrdotes: feminas, inquam, quae immiscent se turbis virorum et cum eis 
 ludunt, contra c. ii de judiciis, lib. vi ; saccrdotes et prelates ludentcs cum 
 laicis,— laici sunt clericis oppido infesti, undo seandalizantur ; nobiles qui ludunt 
 cum nebulonibus et lenonibus, ut in spcculo nostro vulgari habcs."— Speculum 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 101 
 
 " de9 KamefflimI* depend on both chance and skill. In 
 treating of the lawfulness of playing at cards, dice, and 
 similar games " for the sake of recreation" — a saving clause 
 which appears to have been introduced in favour of the 
 laboriously studious and devout, — he cites authorities both 
 pro and con, A certain gloss says that to play at such 
 games, whether for money, or " gratis," is a deadly sin ; 
 and Hostiensis says that to play for recreation, for money, — 
 *' to kill themselves for love, with wine" — is a deadly sin 
 in the laity as well as the clergy. Angelus, however, says 
 that it is lawful for both clergy and laity to play for recrea- 
 tion, for small stakes : ^' pro modico non notahiUy Geiler's 
 own conclusion is that, as doctors differ, there is danger. 
 Gaming in his time, as in our own, appears to have level- 
 led all distinctions : lords and ladies, and even clergymen, 
 dignified or otherwise, eager to win money, and confiding 
 in then* luck, or their skill, cared but little for the rank or 
 character of those with whom they played, provided they 
 could but post the stakes ; and felt no more compunction 
 in winning a ruffling burgher's money, than a peer would 
 in receiving the amount of a bet from a cab-man, or a 
 wealthy citizen, a few years ago, in rendering bankrupt the 
 wooden-legged manager of a thimble-rig table at Epsom or 
 Ascot. — The *' thimble-rig," however, is now numbered 
 with the things that have been— "//^eV." Lord Stanley 
 brought it into political disrepute ; and Sir James Graham 
 put it down, just about the time that the railway specu- 
 lation began to be the "rage" under the auspices of a 
 knowing Yorkshireman. 
 Thomas Murner, a Franciscan friar, avaiUng himself 
 
 Fatuorum, auctore Joanne Geiler de Keisersberg, conciouatore Argentorense, 
 sect. Lxxvii. Lusorum turba (/§?A?/ iVirrri?). Edit.- Strasburg, 1511. It maj 
 here be observed that Geiler's bells are intended by himself for the caps of 
 " Spiel Narre" — ^gambling fools. . 
 
102 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 apparently of the popularity of card-playing, introduced the 
 term " Chartiludium" as a " caption" in the title of his 
 'Logica Mcmorativa/ printed at Strasburg, in 1509.* The 
 work is evidently that of a scholastic pedant, who might 
 possibly be expert enough in ringing the changes on verbal 
 distinctions, but who had not the least knowledge of things, 
 nor any idea of the right use of reason. The book is 
 adorned with numerous cuts, which represent cards, inas- 
 much at the top of each there is an emblem, just as there 
 is the mark of the suit in each of our coat cards. The 
 cuts and the text taken together, for they mutually render 
 each other more intelligible, form such a mass of compli- 
 cated nonsense as would puzzle even a fortune-teller to 
 interpret. In his prologue, Murner asks pardon for the 
 title of his book; and assures the studious youths, for 
 whose instruction it was devised, that he had not been led 
 to adopt it from any partiality to card-playing; that, in 
 I fact, he had never touched cards, and that, from his very 
 childhood he had abhorred the perverse passion for play. 
 In 1518 Murner, apparently stimulated by the success of 
 his logical card-play, published an introduction to the civil 
 law, written and pictorially illustrated in the same manner 
 as the former.^ 
 
 • " Logica Mcmorativa : Chartiludium logice, sive dialectice meraoria ; et novus 
 Petri Hjspani textus emendatus. Cum jucundo pictasmatis exercitio : eruditi 
 viri P. TliomjB Murucr, ordbis minorum, theologie doctoris eximii." 4to, 
 Strasburg, 1509 Leber says that the book was first printed at Cracow in 
 1507; and that an edition of it, in octavo, was printed at Paris in 1C29. 
 Murner was one of Luther's early opponents ; and one of the pamphlets which 
 was publislicd during their controversy bears the following title : "Ant wort dem 
 Murner, uff seine frag, ob der Kiinig von Engellant ein liigner sey, odcr dcr 
 gotlichc doctor ^Mart. Luther, 1523." "An answer to Munier on his question, 
 'Whether the King of England, or the reverend Doctor Martin Luther, is 
 a liar?'" 
 
 ' " Chartiludium Institute summarie, doetore Thoma Murner memorante et 
 ludentc." 4to, Strasburg, 1518. A copy of this book was sold at Dr. Kloss's 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 103 
 
 As I have not been able to make anything of Mumer's 
 
 logical card-play, either as regards the instruments or the 
 
 matter professed to be taught, I willingly avail myself of 
 
 what Mons. Leber has said on the subject in his * Etudes 
 
 Historiques sur les Cartes a jouer.' — "These cards,*' says 
 
 Mons. Leber, "made much noise in their time; and this 
 
 might well be, for they were a novelty which it was easier 
 
 to admire than to comprehend. At first people fancied that 
 
 they saw in them the work of the devil ; and it was even a 
 
 question whether the author should not be burnt, seeing 
 
 that he could be nothing more than a conjurer with the 
 
 logicians of that age. But the conjurer's pupils made such 
 
 extraordinary progress, that people cried out " wonderful !*' 
 
 and Mumer's book was pronounced divine. Although those 
 
 cards are fifty-two in number, they have nothing in common 
 
 with our pack. They differ from all other cards, whether 
 
 for gaming, or of fanciful device, in the multiplicity and 
 
 the division of the suits, which the inventor has applied to the 
 
 divisions of logic, after a method of his own. Of these suits 
 
 there are no less than sixteen, corresponding with the same 
 
 number of sections of the text, and having the following 
 
 names and colom-s : 
 
 I. Enunciatio 
 
 . BeUs. 
 
 II. Pkedicabile 
 
 . Crayfish. 
 
 ni. Pkedicamentum . 
 
 . Fish. 
 
 rV. SiLLOGISMUS 
 
 . Acorns. 
 
 V. Locus DIALECTICUS. 
 
 . Scorpions. 
 
 sale in 1835 ; and in the Catalogue/No. 2579, we are informed that "this very 
 rare and curious volume contains very many wood-engravings, illustrative of four 
 distinct games played by the ancients with paper." Such games, we may pre- 
 sume, as are played at with the Statutes at large. If Murner understood any 
 game, he must have learnt it subsequent to the publication of his Logical Card- 
 play ; and if he were able to make it subservient to the explanation of any tiling 
 else, he must have improved himself greatly between 1508 and 1518. 
 
104 
 
 
 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 VL 
 
 Fallacu . 
 
 . Turbans. 
 
 vn. 
 
 SUPPOSITIO 
 
 . Hearts. 
 
 VJiL 
 
 Ampliatio 
 
 . Grasshoppers. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Restrictio 
 
 . Suns. 
 
 X. 
 
 Appellatio 
 
 . Stars. 
 
 XI. 
 
 DlSTKIBUTlO 
 
 . Pigeons. 
 
 xn. 
 
 EXPOSITIO . 
 
 . Crescents. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 EXCLUSIO . 
 
 . Cats, or Tigers. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 EXCEPTIO . 
 
 . Shields of Arms. 
 
 XV. 
 
 Reduplicatio 
 
 . Crowns. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Descensus 
 
 . Serpents. 
 
 "Such is the whimsicality of those signs, and such theoddity 
 of then* relation to the things signified, that the learned 
 Singer has been deterred from the attempt to make them 
 known ; at any rate, he declares that he will not undertake 
 to explain that which even the most profound logicians of 
 the day might not be able to comprehend. This is easily 
 said, but we see no impossibility in explaining how the 
 author understood himself. One example will be sufficient 
 to give an idea of Murner's figured language, and of the 
 the parts which might be played by serpents, cats, acorns, 
 and crayfish in the chair of Aristotle when its occupant was 
 a friar of the sixteenth century. 
 
 "The figure of a man with a crown on his head, a patch 
 over one of his eyes, a book in one hand, and a trowel in 
 the other, relates to section, or " Tractatus,'* x, appellatio. 
 It displays three symbols, the object of which is intelligence 
 or definition : 1, the logical appellation ; 2, relative terms or 
 ideas which have become connected in the mind ; 3, privative 
 terms, expressive of privation or exclusion. The open book, 
 [which appears shut] is the symbol of the definition; the 
 trowel indicates connexion ; and the patch over the eye 
 signifies privation. The star, which occupies the place of 
 the mark of the suit, and casts its light on all the other 
 three symbols, signifies that clearness is the first merit in 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLATING. 
 
 105 
 
 every definition." The cut here given is a fac-simile of 
 that referred to. 
 
 Rogers, availing himself of the poetic license, though but 
 to a small extent, has represented the followers of Columbus 
 as playing at cards in his first voyage of discovery, to the 
 West Indies, in 1492. 
 
 " At daybreak might the caravels be seen, 
 Chasing their shadows o'er the deep serene ; 
 Their bumish'd prows lash*d by the sparkling tide. 
 Their green-cross standards waving far and wide. 
 And now once more to better thoughts inclined. 
 The seaman, mounting, clamoui'*d in the wind. 
 
106 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 The soldier told his tales of love and war; 
 The courtier sung — sung to his gay guitar. 
 Round, at Primero, sate a whiskered band ; 
 So Fortune smiled, careless of sea or laud." > 
 
 Garcilasso de la Vega, to whom Mr. Rogers refers, says 
 nothing about Primero or the followers of Columbus playing 
 at the game; he only mentions, in his 'History of theConquest 
 of Florida,' that the soldiers who were engaged in that 
 expedition, having burnt all their cards after- the battle of 
 Mauvila, [about 1542], made themselves new ones of parch- 
 ment, which they painted admirably, as if they had followed 
 the business all their lives ; but as they either could not, or 
 would not, make so many as were wanted, players had the 
 cards in their turn for a limited time.^ Although we have no 
 positive evidence of the fact, it is yet not unlikely that there 
 were cards in the ships of Columbus ; unless indeed they had 
 been especially prohibited to the crews on this occasion, as they 
 were to the soldiers and sailors of the Spanish Armada in 
 1588.' Herrera has recorded in his * History of the Spanish 
 
 * Tlic Voyage of Columbus, iu Poems by Samuel Kogcrs. Mr. Uogers's note 
 on the passage above quoted is : "Among those who went with Columbus were 
 many adventurers and gentlemen of the court. Primero was then the game in 
 fashion. See Vega, p. 2, lib. iii, c. 9." 
 
 * " Y porque decimos, que estos Espaiioles jugavan, y no hemos dicho con 
 que ; es de saber, que despues que en la sangrienta battalia de Mauvila los 
 quemaron los naypes, que Uevavan con todo lo demas que alii perdieron, hacian 
 naypcs de pergaraiuo, y los pintavan a las mil maravillas ; porque en qualquiera 
 ncccssidad que se los ofrcscia, se animavan a hacer lo que avian menester. Y 
 salian con ello, como si toda su vida huvieran sido Maestros de aquel olicio; y 
 porque no podian, 6 no querian hacer tantos, quantos eran menester, hicieron los 
 que bastavan, sirviendo por lioras limitadas, andando por rucda eutre los juga- 
 dorcs ; de donde (6 de otro paso semejante) podriamos dccir, que huvicse nascido 
 el refran, que entre los Tahures se usa dccir jugando : Demouos priesa seiTores, 
 que viencn por los naypes ; y como los que hacian los nuestros eran de cuero, 
 duravan por penas."— La Florida del Inca [Garcilasso de la Vega], Parte Pri- 
 mcra del Libro Quinto, capitulo i, p. 198. Polio, Madrid, 1723. 
 
 ' "Also I order and command that there be a care that all soldiers have their 
 room clean, and unpcstercd of chests, and other things, without consenting iri 
 any case to have cards; and, if there be any, to be taken away presently : neither 
 
PR0GRKS8 OF CARD-PLATflNO. 107 
 
 Discoveries in America,' that Montezuma, emperor of Mexico, 
 who was made prisoner by Cortes in 1519, took great 
 pleasure in seeing the Spanish soldiers play at cards. 
 
 Barrington, in his ' Observations on the Antiquity of Card- 
 playing in England,' says, "During the reigns of Henry VIII 
 and Edward VI, this amusement seems not to have been 
 common in England, as scarcely any mention of it occurs 
 either in Rymer's Fcedera, or the statute book." Had 
 Mr. Barrington been as well read in old poems and plays 
 as he was in the more ancient statutes, it is hkely that he 
 would have been of a dilBFerent opinion. He says, " It is 
 not improbable, however, that Philip the Second, with his 
 suite, coming from the court of Charles V, made the use of 
 cards much more general than it had been, of which some 
 presumptive proofs are not wanting." The supposition is 
 plausible ; but as the presumptive proofs which he alleges, 
 were as likely to be found in the reign of Edward IV, as in 
 the reign of Mary, they are of no weight in the deteimina- 
 tion of the question. As Catherine, the wife of Henry VIII, 
 was a Spanish princess, and as it is recorded that, amongst 
 her other accomplishments, she could " play at tables, tick- 
 tack, or gleek, with cardes or dyce,"^ the persons forming her 
 suite were just as likely as those of the suite of Philip II, 
 to have brought into England Spanish cards with the marks 
 of swords and clubs proper — Esjpadas and Bastos: but 
 there can scarcely be a doubt that such cards were known 
 in England long before. Mr. Barrington's partiality to his 
 
 permit them to the mariners ; and if the soldiers have any, let me be advertised." 
 — Orders set down by the Duke of Medina to be observed in the Voyage 
 towards England, 1588 ; reprinted in the Harlcian Miscellany. 
 
 ' Strutt, wlio quotes this passage in his Spoits and Pastimes, refers to Sir 
 William Forrest, and V^'arton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii, sect, iii, 
 p. 311. Sir William Eorrest's work, entitled * The Poesye of Princelye Practise,' 
 was written towards the conclusion of the reign of Henry VIU, and presented 
 to Edward VI. The author allows that a king;, after dinner, may for a while 
 "repose" liimsclf at tables, chess, or cards; but denies the latter to labouring 
 people. Strutt says that the M^ork is in manuscript, in the Royal Library. 
 
108 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 theory about Spanish cards, and of the game becoming 
 much more general in England after the marriage of Philip 
 and Mary, has probably caused him either to entirely over- 
 look, or attach too little importance to a presumptive proof, 
 to be found in the statute-book, of cards being a common 
 amusement in England in the reign of Henry VIII. In a 
 statute relating to plays and games, passed in the thu'ty- 
 thirdyear of that king's reign, 1541, vre find the following 
 restrictions. " No Artificer, or his Journeyman, no Husband- 
 man, Apprentice, Labourer, Servant at Husbandry, Mariner, 
 Fisherman, Waterman, or Serving-man, shall play at Tables, 
 Tennis, Dice, Cardsy Bowls, Closh, Coyting, Legating, or 
 any other unlawful game out of Christmas ; or then, out of 
 their master's house or presence, in pain of 20^. ; and none 
 shall play at Bowls in open places, out of his gardener 
 orchard, in pain of 6*. 8c?."^ In the morality of Hycke- 
 Scorner, reprinted in Hawkins's 'Origin of the English 
 Drama,' from a black letter copy in Garrick^s collection, of 
 at least as early a date as the commencement of the reign of 
 Henry VIII, the following are enumerated as forming part 
 of the company of the ships that came over with Hycke- 
 Scorner : 
 
 "Braulers, lyers, getters, and chyders, 
 Walkers by night, and great murderers, 
 Overthwarte gyle, and joly carders." 
 
 In the morality of Lusty Juventus, written by R. Wever, 
 
 in the reign of Edward VI, Hypocryse says to Juventus, 
 
 whom he invites to breakfast : , 
 
 " I have a fumy carde in a place, ! 
 That will bear a tume besides the ace ; 
 She purvoycs now apace j 
 
 For my commyngc." . 
 
 ' Sir Robert Baker, in his Chronicle, states that in the eighteenth year of 
 Henry Vill a proclamation was made against all unlawful games, so that in all 
 places, tables, dice, cards, and bowls were taken and burnt ; but that this order 
 continued not long, for young men, being thus restrained, "fell to drinking, 
 stealing conies, and other worse misdemeanours." 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLATING, 109 
 
 From a subsequent passage it appears that this " fumy 
 carde"^ is the naughty woman, " litle Besse," the personifi- 
 cation of " Abhominable Livyng." 
 
 In the comedy of * Gammer Gurton's Needle/ said to 
 have been first printed in 1551, old dame Chat thus invites 
 two of her acquaintance to a game at cards : 
 
 " What, Diccon ? Come nere, ye be no stranger : 
 We be fast set at trump, man, hard by the fire ; 
 Thou shalt set on the king, if thou come a little nyer. 
 Come hither, Dol ; Dol, sit down and play tliis game. 
 And as thou sawest me do, see thou do even the same ; 
 There is five trumps besides the queen, the hindmost thou shalt find her.** 
 
 In a Satire on Cardinal Wolsey and the Romish Clergy 
 by WilKam Roy, without date, but most likely printed in 
 1527,^ some of the bishops are charged with gaming in 
 addition to their other vices : 
 
 " To play at the cardes and dyce, 
 Some of theym are nothynge nyce, 
 Both at hasard and mom-chaunce." 
 
 In the privy purse expenses, from 1536 to 1 544, of the 
 Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, afterwards Queen 
 Mary, there are numerous entries of money delivered to the 
 princess to play at cards. In a prefatory memoir. Sir 
 Frederick Madden remarks: "Cards she seems to have 
 indulged in freely ; and there is a sum generally allotted as 
 pocket-money for the recreation every month. "^ As Mary 
 
 ' Fumy — Fienchf/oumi — ^prepared, sorted, furnished, in complete fashion, in 
 full equipage. The card was a coai card, in a certain sense, though certainly 
 not an honour. 
 
 * For some account of the author of this satire, the reader is referred to 
 Annals of the English Bible, by Christopher Anderson, vol. i, pp. 63, 116, 136, 
 137. 8vo, 1845, 
 
 ' Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary, daughter of King Henry VllI, 
 afterwards Queen Mary. With a Memoir of the Princess, and Notes, by Fred. 
 
110 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 I 
 
 is said to have been extremely devout, we may presume 
 that, adopting the decisions of the more indulgent casuists, 
 she availed herself of their permission to play at cards as a 
 recreation when her mind was fatigued with the exercise of 
 her strenuous piety. The records of the burning of men 
 and women in her reign for the sake of religion, form a 
 singular contrast with the entries in her privy purse ex- 
 penses of money delivered to her to play at cards. 
 
 From the preceding incidental notices of cards in poems 
 and plays, as well as from the direct evidence of the statute 
 book and the privy purse expenses of the Princess Mary, it 
 would appear that card-playing was common in England 
 during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, both in 
 the cottage and the palace; and there is reason to believe 
 that about the same period the game was equally common 
 in Scotland. William Dunbar, who wrote in the reigns of 
 James IV and James V, in his 'General Satire,' exposing 
 the depravity of all classes of people in the kingdom, thus 
 alludes to the prevalence of dicing and card-playing : 
 
 " Sic knavis and crakkaris, to play at carts and dycc, 
 Sic halland-scheckaris, qwhilk at Cowkilbyis gryce 
 
 Arc lialdin of pryce, when lymaris do convene ; 
 Sic store of vyce, sae mony ^yittis unwyse. 
 
 Within this land was nevir hard nor sene." 
 
 In the poems of Sir David Lyndsay, there are several 
 allusions to card-playing ; and in his ' Satire of the Three 
 Estaites,' which Chalmers says was first acted at Cupar, 
 
 Madden, Esq., F.S.A. 1831. From the following references in the index, the 
 reader may judge of Mary*s partiality to the game. 
 
 " Cards, money delivered to the Prmcess to play at, p. 3, 10, 11, 14, 19, 24, 
 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 49, 50, 55, 57, 59, 67, 69, 73, 1^, 81, saj^e, 101." 
 
 "Cards, money lent, to play at, 4,13, 29, 30." 
 
 The sums delivered are mostly from 20*. to 40*. One entry is for so small a 
 sum as 2*. 2rf., and another for 12*. 6rf. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. HI 
 
 Fifeshire, in 1535, the Parson declares himself to be an 
 adept at the game : 
 
 "Thoch I preich nocht, I can play at the caiche : 
 I wot there is noclit ane amang yow all 
 Mair fcrylie can play at the futc-ball ; 
 And for the cartis, the tabcls, and the dyse, 
 Above all parsouns I may beir the pryse." 
 
 In Sir David's poem, entitled * The Cardinal,' exposing 
 the personal vices and tyrannical conduct of Cardinal 
 Beaton, who was assassinated at St. Andrews in 1546, that 
 prelate is represented as a great gamester :^ 
 
 "In banketting, playing at cartis and dyce, 
 Into sic wyscdome I was haldin wyse ; 
 And spairit nocht to play with king nor knicht, 
 Thre thousand crowncs of golde upon ane night." 
 
 In the examination of Thomas Forret, a dean of the Kirk, 
 and vicar of Dollar, on a charge of heresy brought against 
 him by John Lauder, a tool of Cardinal Beaton's, at Edin- 
 burgh, 1st March, 1539, Forret's answer to one of the 
 charges of his accuser, affords some idea of the manner in 
 
 * The charge of gaming is frequently alleged against the more wealthy mem- 
 bers of the Roman Catholic clergy by writers who were in favour of the Re- 
 formation. " Item les grosses sommes de deniers qu'ils jouent ordinairement, 
 soit a la Prime, a la Chance, a la Paulme, n*ont pas este mises en compte. Qui 
 est le bon Papiste qui pourroit se contenter de voir son Prelat jouer et perdre 
 pour une aprcs disnee, quatre, cinq, et six mil escus ; pour une reste de Prime, 
 avoir couch(5 cinq cens escus ; pour un Aflac en perdre millc ; que la pluspart 
 des episcopaux, jusqucs aux moindrcs chanoines, tiennent bcrland ouvert ^ jouer 
 a tous jeux prohibcz et defendus, non seulement par le droit canon, mais par les 
 ordonnances du roi? L*exces y est bien tel, qu'on monstrera qu*au simple 
 chanome, en achapt de cartes et de dez, a employ^ durant une annee cent, et six 
 vingts escus, compris la chandelle et le vin de ceux qui la mouchoyent," — ^Le 
 Cabinet du Roy de Prance, dans lequel il y a trois Perles precieuses d'inesti- 
 mable valeur, p. 65. 12mo, 1581. This virulent attack on the French clergy 
 is ascribed by Mons. Le Duchat to Nicolas Proumenteau ; and by L'Isle de 
 Sales to Nicolas Barnaud. 
 
112 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 wliich many bachelor priests of the period were accustomed 
 to spend their tithes : 
 
 " Accuser. False Heretic, thou sayest it is not lawful to 
 Kirkmen to take their teinds (tythes) and offerings and 
 corps-presents, though we have been in use of them, con- 
 stitute by the Kirk and King, and also our holy father the 
 Pope hath confirmed the same ? 
 
 " Dean Forret, Brother, I said not so ; but I said it 
 was not lawful to Kirkmen to spend the patrimony of the 
 Kirk, as they do, on riotous feasting, and on fair women, 
 and at playing at cards and dice/'^ 
 
 Pinkerton, in his * History of Scotland,* says : " Stewart 
 the poet, in an address to James V, advises lum to amuse 
 himself with hunting, hawking, and archery, justing, and 
 chess ; and not to play at cards or dice, except with his 
 mother or the chief lords, as it was a disgrace for a prince 
 to win from men of inferior station, and his gains at any 
 time ought to be given to his attendants/' 
 
 At a period somewhat later, it would appear that card- 
 playing was a common amusement on the borders of 
 Scotland, and that the sturdy rievers, whose grand game 
 was cattle lifting, were accustomed to while away their idle 
 hours at cards for placks and hardheads. The following 
 curious passage occurs in a letter dated Newcastle, 12th 
 January (] 570), printed in the second volume of Sir Ralph 
 Sadler's ' State Papers.' The writer was a gentleman named 
 Robert Constable, who appears to have been sent into 
 Scotland to endeavour to persuade his kinsman, the Earl of 
 Westmoreland, to return to England and submit himself to 
 Elizabeth's mercy.' 
 
 * Anderson's Annals of the English Bible, vol. ii, p. 500. 
 
 * The Earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland were the principal leaders 
 of the Rebellion, or "Rising in the North," in 15C9. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 113 
 
 " I left Ferniherst, and went to my ostes house,* where I 
 found many guests of dyvers factions, some outlaws of 
 England, some of Scotland, some neighbours thereabout, at 
 cards ; some for ale, some for placks and hardhedds [a small 
 coin] ; and after 1 had diligently learned and enquired that 
 there was none of any surname that had me in deadly fude, 
 nor none that knew me, I sat down and plaid for hardhedds 
 among them, where I heard vox jpojpuli that the Lord Regent 
 would not, for his owne honour, nor for the honour of his 
 country, dehver the Earls, if he had them bothe, unless it 
 were to have their Queue delivered to him ; and if he wold 
 agree to make that change, the borderers would start up in 
 his contrary, and reave both the Queue and the Lords from 
 him, for the like shame was never don in Scotland ; and 
 that he durst better eate his own lugs than come agen to 
 soke Farneherst ; if he did, he should be fought with ere he 
 came over Sowtray edge. Hector of Tharlows^ hedd was 
 wished to have been eaten amongs us at supper." 
 
 In the old ballad entitled ' The Battle of the Reed Swire,' 
 giving an account of a fray at a Warden meeting, which 
 ended in a general fight, we find cards mentioned. This 
 meeting was held in 1576 near the head of the river Reed, 
 on the English side of the Carter fell ; and appears to have 
 been attended, like a fair, by people from both sides of the 
 Border. 
 
 "Yet was our meeting meik enough. 
 Began with mirriness and mows ; 
 And at the brae abune the heugh 
 The clerk sat down to call the rows ; 
 
 ' His host was George Pylc, of Millhcugh, on Ousenam water, about four 
 miles south-fiastward from Jedburgh. The Earl of Westmoreland was tlicn 
 staying with Kerr of Eau^iherst. 
 
 * Hector, or Eckie of Harlaw, as he is called in the Border Minstrelsy, deli- 
 vered up the Earl of Northumberland, who had sought refuge with him, to the 
 B^gent Murray. 
 
 8 
 
114 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 And sum for kyc, and sum for cwcs, 
 Callit in of Dandrie, Hob, and Jock : 
 
 I saw come marcliing owre the knows 
 Fyc hundred Fennicks in a flock. 
 
 "With jack and spcir, and bowis all bent. 
 
 And warlike weapons at their will ; 
 Ilowbcit they were not wcil content, 
 
 Yet be mc troth wc feird na ill : 
 
 Some gaed to drink, and some studc siill, 
 And sum to cards and dycc them sped ; 
 
 Wliile on ane Farstcin tlicy fyld a bill,» 
 And he was fugitive that fled." 
 
 About the same period the game of cards was a common 
 amusement in the south of Ireland. Spenser, in his ' View 
 of the State of Ireland/ written about 1590, speaks of an 
 idle and dissolute class of people called "Carrows," who, he 
 says, " wander up and down to gentlemen's houses, living 
 only upon cards and dice ; the which, though they have but 
 little or nothing of their own, yet will they play for much 
 money ; which, if they win, they waste most lightly ; and 
 if they lose, they pay as slenderly, but make recompense 
 with one stealth or another ; whose only hurt is not that 
 they themselves are idle lossels, but that through gaming 
 they draw others to lewdness and idleness/'^ 
 
 > The name of the person against whom the bill was filed was Henry Robson, 
 probably of Falstone. His non-appearance seems to have caused tlie dispute 
 between the wardens. Sir J. Foster and Sir J. Carmichael, which ended in a 
 general combat between their followers. 
 
 ' The above passage is quoted by Mr. T. Crofton Croker in a note on the fol- 
 lowing lines in "A Kerry Pastoral," a poem published in Concanen's Miscel- 
 lanies, 1724, and reprinted by the Percy Society : 
 
 "Dingle and Derry. sooner shall unite. 
 Shannon and Cashan both be drained outright ; 
 And Kerry men forsake their cards and dice. 
 Dogs be pursued by Hares, and Cats by Mice, 
 Water begin to bum, and fire to wet. 
 Before I shall my college friends forget." 
 
 The favorite game of the Kerry men is said to have been " Onc-and-thirty." 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 115 
 
 The counterpart to this picture was to be found in Spain 
 about the same period ; and as the intercourse between the 
 two countries was frequent, and the favorite game in both 
 was " One-and-Thirty/' it is not unlikely that the Irish 
 obtained their knowledge of cards from the Spaniards. In 
 Cervantes' ' Comical History of Rinconctc and Cortadillo/ a 
 young Spanish vagabond gives the following account of his 
 skill at cards : " I took along with me what I thought most 
 necessary, and amongst the rest this pack of cards, (and 
 now I called to mind the old saying, ' He cai-ries his All 
 on his back,') for with these I have gained my living at all 
 the publick houses and inns between Madrid and this place, 
 playing at One-and-Thirty ; and though they are dirty and 
 torn, they are of wonderful service to those who understand 
 them, for they shall never cut without leaving an ace at 
 bottom, which is one good point towards eleven, with which 
 advantage, thirty-one being the game, he sweeps all the 
 money into his pocket : besides this, I know some slight 
 tricks at Cards and Hazard ; so that though you are very 
 dexterous and a thorough master of the art of cutting bus- 
 kins, I am every bit as expert in the science of cheating 
 people, and therefore I am in no fear of starving ; for though 
 I come but to a small cottage, there are always some who 
 have a mind to pass away time by playing a Kttle ;^ and of 
 this we may now try the experiment ourselves: Let us 
 spread the nets, and see if none of these birds, the carriers, 
 
 ' Pascasius Justus, in his work entitled Alea, first publislied in 15G0, relates 
 that though he frequently felt difficulty in obtaining a supply of provisions 
 when travelling in Spain, he never came to a village, however poor, in which 
 cards were not to be found. The prevalence of card-playmg in Spain about the 
 middle of the sixteenth century is further shown in a work entitled * Satyra in- 
 vectiva contra los Tahures : en que se dcclaran los danos que al cuerpo, y al alma y 
 la hazienda se siguen del juego dc los naypes. Impressa en Sevilla, en casa de 
 Martin dc Montcsdoca, Auo dc m.d.lvii.' Tliis work is erroneously ascribed 
 by Antonio, in his Bibliothcca Hispana Nova, to Dominic Valtanas, or Baltanas, 
 a Dominican friar, at whose instance the edition referred to was printed. The 
 
IIG PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 will fall into them ; which is as much as to say that you 
 and I will play together at One-and-Thirty, as if it was 
 in earnest; perhaps somebody may make the third, and 
 he shall be sure to be the first to leave his money behind 
 him/' 
 
 At what period cards were first used in Europe for 
 the purposes of divination or fortune-telling has not been 
 ascertained. In the 'Magasin Pittoresque' for 1842, page 
 324, there is a cut entitled " Philippe-le-Bon consultant 
 une tireuse de cartes," copied from a painting ascribed to 
 John Van Eyck. Though it has been denied that this 
 picture is really by Van Eyck, it is yet admitted that the 
 costume is that of the reign of Charles VIII, between 
 1483 and 1498.^ Supposing then that the picture belongs 
 to the latter period, we have thus evidence of cards being 
 used for the purposes of fortune-telling before the close of 
 the fifteenth century. The gypsies, who are unquestionably 
 of Asiatic origin, appear to have long used them for this 
 purpose ; and if they brought cards with them in their 
 earliest immigration into Europe, as Breitkopf supposes, they 
 are just as likely to have brought with them their occult 
 science of cards as to have acquired it subsequently from 
 
 author was Diego del Castillo, who also wrote another work on the same[]sub- 
 ject, entitled * Reprobacion de los Juegos,* printed at Valladolidin 1528.*— The 
 author derives the word Tahur^ a gamester, from HurtOy theft, robbery, by 
 transposing the syllables, and changing o into a : 
 
 " Tahur y ladron, 
 Una cosa son." 
 
 « "II existe en Belgique plusieurs tableaux attribuds ^ Jean Van Eyck, qu'il 
 est inutile de designer, et qui par les costumes des personnages dcnotent une 
 post6rioritd d*un grand nombre d'ann^jes. Nantes en posscde un, dgalement 
 attribud a ce maitre, dont les costumes sont ceux du r^gne de Charles VHE. 
 Le sujct, sous le titre de Philippe-le-Bon consultant une tireuse de cartes, en a 6t6 
 donnd dans le Magasin Pittpresque, ann6e 1842, p. 324!." — Quelques Mots sur 
 la Gravure au Millesime de 1418, p. 13. Philippe-le-Bon, Duke of Burgundy, 
 died ill 1467 j John Van Eyck in 1445. 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PiiAYING. 
 
 117 
 
 Europeans. The earliest work, expressly treating of the 
 subject appears to be ' Le Sorti/ written or compiled by 
 Francesco Marcolini, printed at Venice in 1540. In the 
 prologue, the author professes to explain the mode of ap- 
 plying what he calls his pleasant invention — "piacevole 
 inventione ;" but beyond the fact that certain cards are to 
 be used, I have not been able to make out his meaning. 
 The only cards to be employed were the King, Knight, 
 Knave, ten,^ nine, eight, seven, deuce, and ace of the suit 
 Danari or Money. Besides the small cuts of cards, of which 
 the following are specimens, the work contains a number 
 
 of wood-engravings, some of which are designed in a spirited 
 manner. A work similar to Marcolini's, entitled ' Triompho 
 di Eortuna,' by Sigismond Fanti, professing to teach the 
 art of solving questions relating to future events, but without 
 using cards, was printed at Venice in 1527. 
 
 Juggling and fortune-telling by means of cards, whenever 
 introduced, appear to have had many professors in the latter 
 
 ' Though the ten is onie of the cards employed in Marcolini*s System of For- 
 tune-telling, it appears to have been generally omitted in the packs of cards 
 used by the Italian jugglers of the sixteenth century. Leber, who says that he 
 had examined " un grand nombre de tours de cartes" described in the pamphlets 
 of the most famous Italian jugglers of the sixteenth century, yet refers only to 
 two works on the subject printed before 1 COO ; one of them entitled * Opera 
 nuova nou piu vista, nella quale potrai facilmente imparare molti giochi di 
 mano. Composta da Francesco di Milano, nominato in tutto il mondo il 
 Bagatello/ 8vo, circa 1550. The other, * Giochi di carte bellissimi e di 
 memoria, per Horatio Galasso.* Venetia, 1593. The author of the following 
 work, also referred to by Leber, appears to have been the original " Pimper- 
 limpimp," whose fame as a mountebauk physician appears to have been still 
 fresh in the memory of the wits of the reign of Queen Anne: *Li rari et 
 mirabili Giuochi di Carte, da Alberto Francese, dctto Peklimpimpim.' 8vo, 
 Bologna, 1622. 
 
118 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 half of the sixteenth century. A trick performed with 
 cards by a juggler, appears to have excited the inquisitive 
 genius of Lord Bacon when a boy ; and his biographer, 
 Basil Montagu, thinks that from this circumstance his 
 attention was first directed to an inquiry into the nature of 
 the imaghiation.* Reginald Scott, in his Discovery of 
 Witchcraft, first published in 1584, has a chapter *VOf 
 Cards, with good cautions how to avoid cousenage therein ; 
 sj)ccial rules to convey and handle the cards; and the 
 manner and order how to acconiplish all difficult and strange 
 tilings wrought with cards." 
 
 " Having now," says he, " bestowed some waste money 
 among you, I will set you to cards ; by which kind of witch- 
 craft a great number of people have juggled away not only 
 their money, but also their lands, their health, their time, 
 and their honesty. I dare not (as I could) show the lewd 
 juggling that cheaters practice, lest it minister some offence 
 to the well-disposed, to the simple hurt and losses, and to 
 the wicked occasion of evil doing. But I would wish all 
 gamesters to beware, not only with what cards and dice 
 they play, but especially with whom, and where they 
 exercise gaming. And to let dice pass, (as whereby a man 
 may be inevitably cousened,) one that is skilful to make and 
 use Bumcards may undo a hundred wealthy men, that are 
 not given to gaming ; but if he have a confederate present, 
 either of the players or standers-by, the mischief cannot be 
 avoided. If you play among strangers, beware of him that 
 seems simple or drunken ; for under their habit the most 
 special couseners are presented ; and while you think by their 
 simplicity and imperfections to beguile them, (and thereof, 
 perchance, are persuaded by their confederates, your very 
 
 ' Life of Lord Bacon, p. 5. Lord Bacon rektes the circumstances, and a 
 cerluin curious man's explanation of tlicm, in his Sjlva, Century xth, p. 215. 
 Eilit. 1G3L 
 
V PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 119 
 
 friends as you think,) you yourself will be most of all over- 
 taken. Beware also of the betters by and lookers on, and 
 namely of them that bet on your side ; for whilst they look 
 on your game without suspicion, they discover it by signs 
 to your adversaries, with whom they bet and yet are their 
 confederates^ 
 
 Among the tricks with cards which he notices, are the 
 following : " How to deUver out four Aces and to convert 
 them into four Knaves. How to tell one what card he 
 seeth in the bottom, when the same card is shuffled into the 
 stock. To tell one, without confederacy, what card he 
 thinketh. How to tell what card any man thinketh, how 
 to convey the same into a nut-shell, cherry-stone, &c., and 
 the same again into one's pocket. How to make one draw 
 the same, or any card you list, and all under one devise." 
 The two verses which he quotes in the margin should be 
 inscribed as a motto on the dial-plate of every gamester's 
 watch. " Of dice play, and the like unthrifty games, mark 
 these two old verses, and remember them : 
 
 Ludens taxillis, bene rcspice quid sit in illis : 
 
 Mors tua, sors tua, res tua, spes tua, pendet in illis/* 
 
 Rowland, in his * Judicial Astrology Condemned,' relates 
 the following anecdote of Cuffe, the Secretary of the Earl of 
 Essex, " a man of exquisite wit and learning, but of a tur- 
 bulent disposition," who was hung at Tyburn, on the 13th 
 of March, 1602, for having counselled and abetted the Earl 
 in his treason. " Cuffe, an excellent Grecian,^ and Secretary 
 to the Earl of Essex, was told twenty years before his death 
 that he should come to an untimely end, at which Cuffe 
 laughed, and in a scornful manner, in treated the astrologer to 
 show him in what manner he should come to his end ; who 
 
 ' Cuffe assisted Colombani in the "editio princeps" of the Greek text of the 
 romance of Daphuis and Chloe, printed at Floreuce, 4to, 1598. 
 
120 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 condescended to him, and calling for cards, intreated Cuffc 
 
 to draw out of the pack three which pleased him. He did 
 
 so, and drew three Knaves and laid them on the table with 
 
 their faces downwards, by the wizard's direction, who then 
 
 told him, if he desired to see the sura of his bad fortunes, 
 
 to take up those cards. Cuffe, as he was prescribed, took 
 
 up the first card, and looking on it, he saw the portraiture 
 
 of himself, cap-a-pie, having men compassing him about 
 
 with bills and halberds ; then he took up the second, and 
 
 there he saw the judge that sat upon him ; and taking up 
 
 the last Card, he saw Tybiu*n, the place of his execution, and 
 
 the hangman, at which he laughed heartily ; but many years 
 
 after, being condemned for treason, he remembered and 
 
 declared this prediction/* 
 
 . Queen Elizabeth, as well as her sister, Mary, was a card 
 
 p player ; and even her grave Lord Treasurer, Lord Burleigh, 
 
 appears to have occasionally taken a hand at Priraero/ 
 
 That she sometimes lost her temper, when the cards ran 
 
 against her, may be fairly inferred from the following 
 
 passage, which occurs in a letter, written in the latter part 
 
 of her reign, by Sir Robert Carey to his father, Lord 
 
 Hunsdon : her violent language must have been the result 
 
 of her holding a bad hand at the moment that the presence 
 
 of young Carey reminded her of his father's procrastination. 
 
 " May it please your L. t'understande that yesterday yn the 
 
 afteraune I stood by hyr Ma**' as she was att Cards in the 
 
 presens chamber. She cawlde me to hyr, and askte me 
 
 • " Observations on a picture by Zuccaro, from Lord Falkland's collection, sup- 
 posed to represent the game of Primero. By the Hon. Daincs Barrington." In 
 the Archarologia, vol. viii. Mr. Barrington says, '* According to tradition in the 
 family, it was painted by Zuccaro, and represented Lord BurleigU playing at 
 cards with three other persons, who from their dress appear to be of distinction, 
 each of them having two rings on the same fingers of both their hands. The 
 cards are marked as at present, and dilTer from those of more modern times only 
 by being narrower and longer." 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 121 
 
 when you mente too go too Barwyke. I towlde hyr that 
 you determinde to begyn your jorney presently after 
 Whytsontyd. She grew yntoo a grete rage, begynnynge 
 with Gods wonds, that she wolde sett you by the feete, and 
 send another in your place yf you dalyed with hyr thus, for 
 she wolde not be thus dalyed withall."* 
 
 Though the laity of all ranks and conditions — except 
 apprentices^ — appear to have played at cards and dice 
 without let or hinderance, notwithstanding any statute to 
 the contrary, yet the clergy seem to have been rather more 
 sharply looked after. In the ' Injunctions geven by the 
 Queues Majestic, as well to the Clergye as the Laity,' 
 printed by Richard Jugge and John Cawood, 1559, the 
 clergy are thus admonished : " Also the sayde ecclesiastical 
 persons shall in no wyse, nor for any other cause then for 
 theyr honeste necessities, haunt or resort to anye Tavernes 
 or Alehouses. And after theyr meates, they shall not geve 
 themselves to any drynkyng or ryot, spendyng theyr tyme 
 idelly by day or by nyght, at dyse, cardes, or tables playing, 
 or anye other unlawfull game."^ In the 'Injunctions 
 exhibited by John, Bishop of Norwich, at his first visitation, 
 in the third year of our Soveraign Ladie EUzabeth,' printed 
 at London by John Daye, 1561, officials are enjoined to 
 inquire, "Whether 'any parson, vicare, or curate geve any 
 evell example of lyfe ; whether they be incontinent parsones, 
 dronkardes, haunters of tavernes, alehouses, or suspect 
 
 • Original Letters Illustrative of English History, with Notes by Sir Henry 
 Ellis. Second Series, vol. iii, p. 102. 
 
 ' When the proliibition to play at cards or dice was first introduced into 
 apprentices* indentures I have not been able to learn. It occurs, however, in 
 the form of an indenture for an apprentice in 'A Book of Presidents,' printed 
 about 1565, and said to have been compiled by Thos. Phacr, the translator of 
 the seven first books of the Jilneid. In the title-page of his translation, 1558, 
 rhaer describes himself as " Solicitour to the King and Qucenes Majesties."^ 
 
 3 Those injunctions with respect to tavern-haunting and gammg are embodied 
 in the seventy-fifth canon of the Constitutions aad Canons Ecclesiastical, 1603. 
 
122 PLAYING CAEDS. 
 
 places; dyccrs, tablers, carders, swearers, or vehemcntlie 
 suspected thereof." 
 
 A notice of a dramatic representation of the game of cards 
 occurs in the accounts of Queen EHzabeth's * Master of the 
 Revels,' 1582.^ In that year he and his officers were com- 
 manded "to show on St. Stephen's day at night, before her 
 Majesty at Wyndesore, a Comodie or Morral devised on a 
 game of the cardes," to be performed by the children of her 
 Majesty's Chapel. From the following observations of Sir 
 John Harrington on this " Comodie or Morral," it would 
 seem to have been a severe satire on those Knaves who 
 enrich themselves at the nation's expense: "Then for 
 comedies, to speake of a London comedie, how much good 
 matter, yea and matter of state, is there in that comedie 
 cald the play of the cards ? in which it is showed how foure 
 Parasiticalle knaves robbe the foure principall vocations of 
 the Rcalme, videlicet, the vocations of Souldiers, ScoUers, 
 Marchants, and Husbandmen. Of which comedie I cannot 
 forget the saying of a notable wise counscUer who is now 
 dead (Su* Frauncis Walsinghame), who, when some (to sing 
 Placebo) advised that it should be forbidden, because it 
 was somewhat too plaine, and indeed, as the old saying is. 
 Sooth boord is no loord, yet he would have it allowed, adding 
 that it was fit that ' They which doe that they should not, 
 should heare that they would not.' "^ 
 
 * Extracts from the Accounts of the Eevels at Court in the Reigns of 
 Elizabeth and James I. Edited by Peter Cunningham, p. 176. Published by 
 the Shakspere Society. 
 
 A comedy intended to display the evil consequences of dicing and card- 
 playing was performed before the Emperor Maximilian II at Vienna, on New 
 Year's Day, 1570.— Sec the Collectanea of Johannes a Munster, appended to 
 tlic Alca of Pascasius Justus, edit. 1017. 
 
 « A Bricfe Apologie of Poctrie, 1591. Quoted by Mr. P. Cunningham, in 
 ills notes to Extracts from Accounts of the Revels, p. 223. In dramatic repre- 
 sentations of the game of cards we seem to have preceded the Prench. lu 
 1070, a comedy by Thomas Conieillc, called *Lc Triomphc des Dames,* was 
 
PROGRESS 0¥ CARD-PLAYING. 123 
 
 The mention of a comedy shown before the Queen at 
 Windsor by the children of her Majesty's Chapel, naturally 
 suggests the recollection of John Lyly's Court Comedies, 
 which were wont to be shown by the same children, as well 
 as by the " children of Poules ;" and as in one of those 
 comedies, — ^Alexander and Campaspe, — Lyly has committed 
 an anachronism with respect to cards,^ an opportunity is 
 thus afforded of here introducing the pleasantly conceited 
 song that contains the error, — a song, which Elia would 
 have encored, and which even Mrs. Battle herself would 
 have allowed to be sung at the card table during the inter« 
 mission of the game at the end of a rubber, when cutting 
 in for new partners.^ 
 
 " Cupid and my Campaspe play'd 
 At cards for kisses ; Cupid paid : 
 He stakes his quiver, bow and arrows, 
 His mother's doves, and team of sparrows ; 
 Loses them too : then down he throws 
 The coral of his lip, the rose 
 Growuig on *s check (but none knows how) ; 
 With these the chrystal on his brow, 
 And then tlio dimple of his chin : 
 All these did my Campaspe win. 
 At last he set her both his eyes : 
 She won, and Cupid blind doth rise. 
 
 Love, has she done this to thee ? 
 
 Wliat shall, alas, become of me !" 
 
 Before taking leave of the reign of Elizabeth, it seems 
 
 acted at Paris, in -the theatre of the Hotel de Guegenaud, and the ballet of the 
 Game of Piquet was one of the interludes. " The four Knaves first made their 
 appearance with their halberts, in order to clear the way. The Kings came in 
 succession, giving their hands to the Queens, whose trains were borne up by- 
 four Slaves, the first of whom represented Tennis, the second Billiards, the third 
 Dice, and the fourth Backgammon."— Historical Essays upon Paris. Translated 
 from tlic Prench of Mons. dc Saintfoix, vol. i, p. 229. Edit. 17C6. 
 
 ' In an engraving of St. Peter denying Christ, after a painting by Tenicrs, 
 two soldiers arc seen playing at cards in the haU of the high priest; and, from 
 the chalks on the table, the game appears to be PuL 
 
 ' Sec Mr. IJattle's Opinions on Whist, in Essays by Elia (Charles Lamb). 
 
124 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 proper to insert here what Philip Stubbes says about Cards, 
 Dice, Tables, Tennis, and other games, in his * Anatomie of 
 Abuses/* "As for Cardes, Dice, Tables, Boules, Tennisse, 
 and such like," says the moral dissector, speaking in the 
 person of Philoponus, " thei are Furta qfficiosa, a certaine 
 kind of smothe, deceiptfuU, and sleightie thefte, whereby 
 many a one is spoiled of all that ever he hath, sometimes of 
 his life withall, yea, of bodie and soule for ever : and yet 
 (more is the pitie) these be the only exercises used in every 
 mans house, al the yere through. But especially in 
 Christmas time there is nothyng els used but Cardes, Dice, 
 Tables, Maskyng, Mummyng, Bowling, and such hke 
 fooleries. And the reason is, thei think thei have a com- 
 mission and prerogative that tyme to doe what thei list, alid 
 to foUowe what vanitie they will. But (alas) doe thei thinke 
 that thei are privileged at that time to doe evill ? the holier 
 the time is (if one time were holier then another, as it is not) 
 the holier ought their exercises. to bee." 
 
 He, however, thinks that at some games, under certain 
 circumstances. Christian men may play for the sake of 
 recreation ; for, in answer to the question of Spudeus, " Is 
 it not lawfuU for one Christian man to plaie with an other 
 at any kinde of game, or to winne his money, if he can?" 
 Philoponus thus replies : " To plaie at Tables, Cardes, Dice, 
 Bowles, or the like, (though a good Christian man will not 
 so idely and vainely spende his golden daies), one Chiistian 
 
 • " The Anatomic of Abuses, containing A Discoverie, or brcife summarie of 
 such notable vices and corruptions as now raigne in many Christian countrcycs 
 of the world; but especially in the countrey of Ailgna: [Anglia, England.] 
 Together with the most fearefull examples of God's judgements executed upon 
 the wicked for the same, as well in Ailgna of late, as in other places elsewhere. 
 Made Dialogue-wise by Philip Stubs," p. 112. Edit, printed by Kichard 
 Jones, 1583. — ^The Jew's supposition that a thunder-storm was evidence of the 
 divine displeasure at his being about to indulge in a rasher of bacon, is nothing 
 compared with Master Stubbes's announcement of the wrath of heaven against 
 those -who indulge in starched collars, fine linen shirts, and velvet breeches. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 125 
 
 with an other, for their private recreations, after some op- 
 pression of studie, to drive awaie fantasies, and suche like, 
 I doubt not but thei may, using it moderately, with inter- 
 mission, and in the feare of God. But for to plaie for lucre 
 of gaine, and for desire onely of his brothers substance, 
 rather then for any other cause, it is at no hande lawful!, or 
 to be suffered. Por as it is not lawfull to robbe, steale, and 
 purloine by deceite or sleight, so is it not lawfull to get thy 
 brothers goodes from hym by Cardyng, Dicyng, Tablyng, 
 Boulyng, or any other kind of theft, for these games are no 
 better, nay worser than open theft, for open theft every man 
 can beware of; but this beying a craftie polliticke theft, and 
 commonly doen under pretence of freendship, fewe, or none 
 at all, can beware of it. The commaundement saieth. Thou 
 shall not covet nor desire any thing that belongeth to thy 
 neighbour. Now, it is manifest, that those that plaie for 
 money, not onely covet their brothers money, but also use 
 craft, falshood, and deceite to winne the same." — There are 
 doubtless many card-players, who, conscious of their want 
 of craft, can safely deny the truth of Stubbes's sweeping 
 conclusion ; but it is to be feared that most crafty players 
 will not lose if they can avoid it, either by hook or by 
 crook. 
 
 In the reign of James I, the game *' went bonnily on." 
 His son, Henry, Prince of Wales, who died in 1612, aged 
 nineteen, used occasionally to amuse himself at cards, 
 but so nobly and like himself, as showed that he played 
 only for recreation, and not for the sake of gain.^ James 
 himself was a card-player ; and his favorite game was Maw, 
 which appears to have been the fashionable game in his 
 reign, as Primero was in the reign of EUzabeth. His 
 
 ^ A Discourse of the most illustrious Prince, Henry, late Prince of Wales. 
 Written in 1626 by Sir Charles Comwallis. Reprinted in the Harleian Mis- 
 cellany. 
 
120 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 Majesty appears to have played at cards just as he played 
 with affairs of State — ^in an indolent manner, requiring in 
 both cases some one to hold his cards, if not to prompt him 
 what to play. Weldon, speaking of the poisoning of Sir 
 Thomas Overbury, in his ' Court and Character of King 
 James,' says : " The next that came on the stage, was Sb 
 Thomas Monson ; but the night before he was to come to 
 his tryal, the King being at the game of Maw, said, 
 ' to-morrow comes Thomas Monson to his tiyal/ *Yea;' 
 said the King's card-holder, ' where if he do not play his 
 master's prize, your Majesty shall never trust me.' This so 
 ran in the King's mind, that at the next game he said he was 
 sleepy, and would play out that set next night." From the 
 following passage in a pamphlet, entitled ' Tom Tell-troath,' 
 supposed to have been printed about 1622,^ it would seem 
 that the writer was well acquainted both with his majesty's 
 mode of playing at cards, and with the manner in which he 
 was tricked in his dawdling with state affairs : "In your 
 Majestie's owne tavemes, for one healthe that is begun to 
 your-selfe, there are ten drunke to the Princes your forraygn 
 children. And, when the wine is in their heads. Lord have 
 mercie on their tonges ! Ever, in the very gaming ordinaries, 
 where men have scarce leisure to say grace, yet they take a 
 time to censure your Majestie's actions, and that in their 
 oulde schoole terms. They say, you have lost the fairest 
 game at Maw that ever King had, for want of making the 
 best advantage of the five finger, and playing the other 
 helpes in time. That your owne card-holders play bootic, 
 and give the signe out of your owne hand. That hee you 
 played withall hath ever been knowne for the greatest 
 
 • *ToM Tell-tkoath: or a free Discourse touchiug the manners of the 
 time.' Reprinted in the Harician Miscellany. The king's "forraygn chil- 
 dren" mentioned in this pamphlet are his daughter Elizabeth and her family. 
 Elizabeth was married to Frederick, Elector Palatine of the RJiine, the com- 
 pctitor of tlie Emperor Ferdinand 11 for the cro\m of Bohemia. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 127 
 
 cheater in Christendome.' In fine, there is noe way to 
 recover your losses, and vindicate your honour, but with 
 fighting with him that hath cozened you. At which honest 
 downe righte play, you will be hard enough for him with all 
 his trickes/' 
 
 The following verses, which might have been written by 
 Tom Tell-troath himself, form part of an inscription beneath 
 a caricature engraving of the same period, representing the 
 Kings of England, Denmark, and Sweden, with Bethlem 
 Gabor, engaged in playing at cards, dice, and tables with 
 the Pope and his Monks.2 
 
 "Denmarke, not sitting farr, and seeing what hand 
 Great Brittayne had, and how Rome's loss did stand, 
 Hopes, to win something too : Maw is the game 
 At which he playcs, and ehallcngeth at the same 
 A Muncke, who stakes a ehaliee. Denmarke sets gold. 
 And shuffles ; the Muneke cuts : Denmarke being bold, 
 Deales freely round ; and the first card he showes 
 Is the five finger, which, bemg tum'd up, goes 
 Cold to the Muncke*s heart j the next Denmarke sees 
 Is the ace of hearts : the Muneke cries out, I lees ! 
 . Denmarke replyes. Sir Muncke, shew what you have ; 
 The Muncke could shew him notliing but the Knave." 
 
 From the allusions to the five fingers and the ace of 
 hearts, in the preceding extracts, it would appear that the 
 game of Maw was the same as that which was subsequently 
 called Five-Cards, for, in both games, the five of trumps- 
 called the five fingers — was the best card, and next to that 
 was the ace of hearts.3 
 
 * "The Kong of Spain, or Gondemar, his ambassador." 
 
 ' This engraving is preserved in a collection of Proclamations, Ballads, &c., 
 formed by the late Joseph Ames, and now in the library of the Royal Society of 
 Antiquaries. For the part played by Bethlem Gabor in the affairs of Europe, 
 between 1618 and 1628, the reader is referred to Schiller*8 History of the 
 Thirty-Years' War. 
 
 ' " Five-Cards is an Irish game, and is as much played in that kingdom, and that 
 for considerable sums of money, as All-Fours is played in Kent, but there is 
 little analogy between them. There are but two can play at it ; and there arc dealt 
 
128 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 From the frequent mention of cards by writers of the 
 time of James I, it would appear that the game was as 
 common a diversion with his Majesty's peaceable subjects, 
 as it was with the fighting men who followed the banner of 
 Wallenstein or Tilly in the Thirty- Years' War. Inordinate 
 gaming in one country, according to certain authorities, 
 was the result of long-continued peace and too much ease ; 
 according to others, it was the natural consequence of war ; 
 in England, the devil, finding men idle, gave them employ, 
 ment at cards and dice ; and in Germany, where they were 
 busy in the work of destruction, he encouraged them to 
 play as a relaxation from their regular labours. Prodigals, 
 in each country, lighted their candle at both ends : English 
 gallants used to divert themselves with cards at the play- 
 house before the performance began ;^ and desperate 
 hazardcrs in the imperial camp staked, on a cast at dice, 
 their plunder, ere it had well come into their possession. 
 
 In the reign of James I, a controversy arose respecting 
 the nature of lots, in which the lawfulness — '* inforotheo- 
 hgorum''—-oi deciding matters by lot, and of playing at 
 games of chance, such as cards and dice, was amply dis- 
 cussed. It was maintained by one party, that as lots were 
 of divine ordinance, for the purpose of determining impor- 
 tant matters,^ and of so ascertaining, as it were, the divine 
 
 five cards a piece. . . . The five-fingers {alias five of trumps) is the best 
 card in the pack ; the ace of hearts is next to that, and the next is the ace of 
 trumps."— The Compleat Gamester, p. 90. Edit. 1709. Pirst printed in 1674. 
 
 » Malone's Supplemental Observations on Shakspeare, cited by Barrington. 
 Dr. Moore, in his Views of Society and Manners in Italy, mentions the card- 
 playing at the opera at Tlorcnce. " I was never more surprised," says he, "than 
 when it was proposed to me to make one of a whist party, in a box which 
 seemed to have been made for the purpose, with a little table in the middle. I 
 hinted that it would be full as convenient to have the party somewhere else ; 
 but I was told, good musicaddcd greatly to the pleasure of a wliist party; that 
 it increased the joy of good fortune, and soothed the aflllction of bad." 
 
 * Numbers, xxvi, 55, 66 ; Proverbs, xvi, 33 ; Acts, i, 24-26. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 129 
 
 will, their employment for the pmpose of amusement, was 
 a sinful perversion of their institution, and a disparaging of 
 Divine Providence, which was thus made the arbiter of idle 
 and immoral games.^ In opposition to this opinion, the 
 learned Thomas Gataker published his treatise, historical 
 and theological, * Of the Nature and Use of Lots,' in 1619. 
 In this work he treats of casual events in general, and of 
 the different kinds of lots, which he thus classes under three 
 heads: 1, Lots which are commonly employed in serious 
 afiFairs ; 2, Lots which enter into games of chance ; 3, Lots 
 extraordinary or divinatory. The first are generally ad- 
 mitted to be innocent ; but the third are absolutely con- 
 demned by Gataker, except when they are expressly required 
 to be used by a revelation or a divine command.^ With 
 regard to lots of the second kind, he contends that they are 
 neither prohibited in the Scriptures nor evil of themselves ; 
 though, like those of the first, they are Uable to great abuse. 
 The abuse he earnestly condemns ; but at the same time 
 shows that it is not a necessary consequence of the employ- 
 ment of lots in games of amusement. He also refutes the 
 arguments of James Balmford, who, in a small tract which 
 appears to have been first published about 1 593, had main- 
 tained that all games of chance were absolutely unlawful. 
 An account of the controversy on this subject, between 
 Gataker on one side, and WiUiam Ames and Gisbert Voet 
 
 ' This appears to have been one of the chief grounds of objection against cards 
 and dice-play in Scotland, about a century later. Adam Pefrie, "the Scottish 
 Chesterfield," adopts Balmford's conclusion: "Lott is an ordinance whereby 
 God often made known his mind, and therefore ought not to be turned into a 
 play; but Cards and Dice are Lott; therefore they ought not to be turned 
 into a play."^RuIes of Good Deportment, or of Good Breeding, printed at 
 Edinburgh, 1710 ; reprinted 1835. 
 
 • John Wesley, who sometimes " sought an answer** by lots of this kind, was 
 charged by the Rev. Augustus Toplady with "tossing up for his creed, as 
 porters or chairmen toss up for a halfpenny."— Letter to the Rev. John Wesley, 
 p. 7. Edit. 1770. 
 
 9 . 
 
130 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 on the other, will be found in the preface to the second 
 edition of Barbeyrac's 'Traite du Jeu/^ 
 
 In the reign of James I, and in the early part of that of 
 his successor, ere the discussion of political grievances had 
 produced a decided effect on the public mind, the fashion- 
 able vices of excess in apparel, gaming, drinking, and 
 smoking tobacco, were fertile themes of declamation with a 
 certain class of reformers, both lay and clerical. Their 
 denunciations of the vanity and wickedness of wearing fine 
 clothes are merely variations to Stubbes's 'Anatomy of 
 Abuses ;' while their fulminations against tobacco are gene- 
 rally pitched in the somewhat loud key of King James's 
 Counterblast. Their common-places against drunkenness 
 and gaming, are, in general, " very common indeed,'' — as 
 Sir Francis Burdett said of a certain common lawyer, who, 
 since his elevation to the peerage, has been convicted of 
 a petty larceny on the literary property of Miss Agnes 
 Strickland, and who seems to be an adept at Cribbage, 
 though no card-player. 
 
 In a woodcut on the title-page of ' Woe to Drunkards,' 
 a sermon preached by Samuel Ward, of Ipswich, 1627, the 
 vices of that age are typically contrasted with the virtues of 
 a former one. In the upper compartment we are shown 
 what men were of old by the open Bible, the foot in the 
 stirrup, and the hand grasping the lance; while in the 
 lower, the degeneracy of their descendants is typified by 
 the leg and foot, decorated with a broad silk garter and a 
 large rosette ; by cards and dice, and a hand holding at the 
 same time a lighted pipe and a drinking cup with a cocka- 
 trice in it. Twenty years afterwards, these types would 
 
 ' Traitd du Jeo, oh Ton examine les principalcs questions de Droit naturel et 
 do Morale qui ont du rapport a cette matiere. Par Jean Barbeyrac, Profcsseur 
 en Droit a Groningue. Seconde Edition, revue et augmentde. En trois tomes, 
 12mo. Amsterdam, 1737. 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLATING. 
 
 181 
 
 have been more strictly applicable, with the inscriptions 
 merely transposed. 
 
 At what time the manufactm*e of cards was established 
 in this country, has not been ascertained; though from 
 their being included in an Act of Parliament of 1465, pro- 
 hibiting the importation of sundry articles, as being injurious 
 to native manufacturers and tradesmen, it would seem that 
 there were card-makers in England even at that early 
 period. * Barrington, referring to a proclamation of Elizabeth, 
 
 * Towards the close of Elizabeth's reign, Edward Darcy obtained a patent for 
 the manufacture of cards ; and in the reign of James I the importation of cards 
 was prohibited, after 20th July, 1615, as the art of making them was then 
 ;brougIit to perfection in this country. As a duty or tax of five shillings for 
 every twelve dozen packs was levied about that time by the authority of the 
 Lord Treasurer, the statement that such a tax was first levied in 1031, in the 
 reign of Charles I, is erroneous.. Tliis tax was one of the impositions com- 
 plained of by tlie Commons, in the reign of Charles I, "as arbitrary and illegal, 
 being levied without consent of Parliament." I am informed that the first act 
 of parliament imposing a tax on cards was passed in 1711, in the reign of 
 Queen Anne. The company of card-makers was first incorporated by letters 
 patent of Charles I in 1629.— See Singer's Researches, pp. 223, 224, 226, 365. 
 
182 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 and another of James I, says, " It appears that we did not 
 then make many cards in England." In his paper in the 
 * Archaeologia/ he gives a fac-simile of the cover of an old 
 pack of cards, as a decisive proof that cards were originally 
 made in Spain. On this cover was printed a wood engraving 
 of the arms of Castile and Leon, together with a Club, a 
 Sword, a Cup, and a piece of Money, the marks of the four 
 suits of Spanish cards. To an inscription purporting that 
 they were fine cards, made by Jehan Volay — "Cartas 
 finnas faictes par Jehan Volay" — there was also added, in 
 letters of a different character, either by a stencil, or by 
 means of inserting a new piece of wood in the original 
 block, the name "Edward Warman," probably that of the 
 English vendor of the cards. The maker's name, Barrington 
 reads, " Je (for Jean or John) Hauvola," and the final y 
 he mistakes for the Spanish conjunction "and." The 
 whole of the inscription, he says, being rendered into 
 English, runs thus : " Superfine cards made by John 
 Hauvola, and (Edward Warman)," the last name being 
 substituted for that of a former partner of John Hauvola.^ 
 Mr. Barrington's reading of the maker's name, Je. Hauvola, 
 instead of Jehan Volay, and his then introducing Edward 
 Warman into the firm, by means of the final y, construed 
 as a copulative conjunction, are fair specimens of the proofs 
 and illustrations which he adduces in favour of his theory 
 about Spanish cards. 
 
 Jean Volay, as I learn from Leber,^ was one of the most 
 celebrated French card-makers of the sixteenth century ; at 
 what time "Edward Warman" lived, whose name also 
 appears on the cover, is not known ; but Mr. Barrington 
 
 * Observations on the Antiquity of Card-playing, Arcliseologia, vol. viii. 
 
 ' Etudes Historiqucs sur Ics Cartes a jouer, p. 30. Mons. Leber had in his 
 collection some cards of Jean Volay's manufacture, which were discovered in 
 the boards of a book. Those cards are described in the Catalogue of his books, 
 torn, i, p. 241, Article xvii. Tl»cre arc also cards manufactui'cd by Jean Volay 
 preserved in tlic Bibliothcquc du Roi, at Paris. 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLATING. 
 
 133 
 
 says that a person of that name kept a stationer's shop 
 somewhere about Norton Folgate, about fifty years before 
 the date of his paper, that is about 1737. Any vogue that 
 Spanish cards might have had in the more northerly countries 
 of Europe, during the times of Elizabeth and James I, was 
 probably owing rather to the circumstance of so many 
 Spaniards being then i^esident in the Low Countries than to 
 any superiority of the cards manufactured in Spain. Until 
 a comparatively recent period, large quantities of cards used 
 to be sent from Antwerp to Spain.^ 
 
 From the following verses, in " The Knave of Harts his 
 SuppUcation to the Card Makers," in Samuel Rowlands' 
 
 » The Netherlands seem to have been famed at an early period for the manu- 
 facture of cards. Albert Durer, in the journal which he kept during his visit 
 to those parts in 1521, notes that he bought half a dozen packs for seven stivers : 
 " Item hab umb ein halb dutzet Niederlandischer Karten gebcn 7 Stiiber."— 
 Albrecht Durers Eeisejournal, in Von Murr's Journal zur Kunstgeschichte, 
 7ter Theil, s. 96. From a passage in Ascham's Toxophilos, 1515, quoted by 
 Singer, it would appear that the price of cards was then about twopence a pack ; 
 " He sayd a payre of cards cost not past ii.d." 
 
134 PLAYING CARD8. 
 
 satire entitled * The Knave of Harts/^ 1612, it would appear 
 that cards were then commonly manufactured in England, 
 for it cannot be fairly supposed that the Knave's suppUcation 
 was addressed to foreign card-makers. The foregoing cut, 
 which is a fac-simile of that prefixed to the edition of 1613, 
 shows the Knaves of Hearts and Clubs in the costume 
 complained of. 
 
 " We are abused in a great degree. 
 For there's no Knaves so wronged as are we 
 By those that chiefly should be our part-takers : 
 And thus it is, my maisters, you card-makers. 
 All other Knaves are at their own free-will. 
 To brave it out, and follow fashion still 
 In any cut, according to the time, 
 But we poore Knaves (I know not for what crime), 
 Are kept in pie-bald suites, which we have wome 
 Hundred of years ; this hardly can be borne. 
 The idle-headed Frenche devis'd us first. 
 Who of all fashion-mongers is the worst; 
 For he doth change farre oftncr than the moone; 
 Dislikes his morning suite in th' after-noone. 
 The English is his imitating ape, _^ 
 
 In every toy the tailors-shcares can shape. 
 Comes dropping after as the divell entices. 
 And putteth on the French-man's cast devices ; 
 Ye wee (with whom thus long they both have plaid),. 
 Must weare the suites in which we first were made. 
 « « » « « 
 
 How can we choose but have the itching gift, 
 
 Kept in one kinde of deaths, and never sliift ? 
 
 Or to be scurvy how can we forbcare. 
 
 That never yet had shirt or band to weare P 
 
 How bad I and my fellow Diamond goes. 
 
 We never yet had garter to our hose. 
 
 Nor any shooe to put upoD our feete. 
 
 With such base deaths, 'tis e'en a shame to see't ; 
 
 My sleeves are like some morris-dauncing fellow, 
 
 My stockings idiot-like, red, greone, and yellow : 
 
 * The Four Knaves : a series of Satirical Tracts by Samuel Rowlands. Edited, 
 with an Introduction and Notes, by E. F. Eimbault, Esq. Reprinted for the 
 Percy Society, 1843. For the loan of the cuts of the Four Knaves the pub- 
 lisher is indebted to the Percy Society. 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLAYING. ]S5 
 
 Mj breeches b'ke a paire of lute-pins be, 
 Scarce buttock-roome, as every man may see. 
 Like three-penie watchmen three of us doe stand. 
 Each with a rustic browne-bill in his hand : 
 And Clubs he holds an arrow, like a clowne, 
 The head-end upward, and the feathers downe. 
 Thus we are wrong'd, and thus we are agriev*d. 
 And thus long time we have becnc unrelieved. 
 But, card-makers, of you Harts reason craves. 
 Why we should be restrained, above all Knaves, 
 To weare such patched and disguis'd attire P 
 Answer but this, of kindnesse, we require. 
 » ♦ ♦ * ♦ 
 
 Good card-makers (if there be goodness in you), 
 Apparell us with more respected care. 
 Put us in hats, our caps are wome thread-bare ; 
 Let us have standing collers, in the fashion, 
 (All are become a stiif-necke generation) ; 
 Hose hat-bands with the shagged-ragged ruffe. 
 Great cabbage-shoostrings (pray you bigge enough), 
 French dublet, and the Spanish hose to breech it, 
 Short cloakes, old mandilions* (we beseech it); 
 Exchange our swords, and take away our bils, 
 Let us have rapiers, (Knaves love fight that kils) ; 
 Put us in bootes, and make us leather legs : 
 This Harts, most humbly, and his fellows begs." 
 
 In Rowlands' 'More Knaves Yet? The Knaves of 
 Spades and Diamonds/ published after his 'Knave of 
 Harts/ the Knaves of Spades and Diamonds are repre- 
 sented in a modernised costume, bestowed on them by the 
 printer, and the favour is thus acknowledged. 
 
 " Our fellow Hartes did late petition frame. 
 To cardmakers some better sutes to clayme. 
 And for us all, did speake of all our wronges : 
 Yet they, to whom redresse herein belongs 
 
 • On the word mandilions, Mr. Eimbault has the following note: "Mandig- 
 lione, a jacket, a Mandilion ?— Plorio's New World of Words^ ed. 1611. Stubbes 
 {apud Strutt, dress and habits, vol. ii, p. 267) says that it covered the whole 
 body down to the thighs; and Randle Holme describes it as * a loose hanging 
 garment, much like to our jacket or jumps, but without sleeves, only having 
 holes to put the arms through ; yet some were made with sleeves, but for no 
 other use than to hang on the back.* " 
 
 j 
 
136 
 
 PLAYING CAllDS. 
 
 Amend it not, and little hope appcarcs. 
 
 I thinke before the conquest many yeares. 
 
 We wore the fashion wliich we still retaine : 
 
 But seeing that our sute is spent in vaine, 
 
 Wecle mend our selves as mcanes in time doth grow. 
 
 Accepting wliat some other friends bcstowe. 
 
 As now the honest printer hath bin kinde, 
 Bootes and stockins to our legs doth finde, 
 Garters, polonia heeles and rose shooe-strings. 
 Which, somewhat, us two knaves in fashion brings ; 
 From the knee dowiicward, legs are well amended. 
 And we acknowledge that we arc befrendcd. 
 And will requite him for it as we can : 
 A knave some time may serve an honest man. 
 To do him pleasure such a chaunce may fall. 
 Although indeed no trust in knaves at all. 
 He that must use them, take this rule from mee^ ' 
 Still trust a knave no further than you see. 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLATING. 137 
 
 Well, other friends I hope wee shall beseech 
 
 For the great large abhominable breech. 
 
 Like brewers hop-sackes ; yet since new they be, 
 
 Each knave will have them, and why should not wee P 
 
 Some laundresse we also will intrcato. 
 
 For bandes and ruffes, which kindnes to be great 
 
 We will confesse, yea and requite it too. 
 
 In any service that poore knaves can doe : 
 
 Scarffcs we do want, to hange our weapons by. 
 
 If any punck will dcalo so courteously 
 
 As in the way of favour to bestow them, 
 
 Rare cheating tricks we will protest to owe them. 
 
 Or any pander with a ring in's care. 
 
 That is a gentleman (as he doth sweare). 
 
 And will afford us hats of newest blocke, 
 
 A payre of cardes shall be his trade and stocke. 
 
 To get his lyving by, for lack of lands. 
 
 Because he scomes to overworke his handes. 
 
 And thus ere long we trust we shall be fitted, 
 
 Those knaves that cannot shift are shallow witted." 
 
 By a proclamation of Charles I, June, 1 638, it was ordered 
 that after the Michaelmas next all foreign cards should 
 be sealed at London, and packed in new bindings, or covers. 
 A few years later, it would appear that the importation of 
 foreign cards was absolutely prohibited ; for, in July, 1643, 
 upon the complaint of several poor card-makers, setting 
 forth that they were likely to perish by reason of divers 
 merchants bringing playing-cards into the kingdom, con- 
 trary to the laws and statutes, order was given, by a com- 
 mittee appointed by parliament for the navy and customs, 
 that the oflScers of the customs should seize all such cards, 
 and proceed against the parties offending.^ 
 
 ' In 164-1, a pamphlet, in verse, against monopolizers and patentees, appeared 
 with the following title: *A Pack of Patentees, opened, shuffled, cut, dealt, 
 and played.* The articles monopolized, or for which patents had been obtained, 
 were coals, soap, starch, leather, salt, hops, gold wire, and horns. 
 
 " We'll shuffle up the pack ; those that before 
 Did play at post and pair, must play no more." 
 
138 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 When the civil war commenced, and the people became 
 interested in a sterner game, card-playing appears to have 
 declined. The card-playing gallant whose favorite haunts 
 had been the play-house and the tavern, now became trans- 
 formed into a cavalier, and displayed his bravery in the 
 field at the head of a troop of horse ; whilst his old oppo- 
 nent, the puritanical minister, incited by a higher spirit of 
 indignation, instead of holding forth on sports and pastimes 
 and household vices, now thundered on the " drum ecclesi- 
 astic" against national oppressors ; urged his congregation 
 to stand up for their rights as men against the pretensions 
 of absolute monarchy and rampant prelacy, and to try the 
 crab-tree staff against the courtier's dancing rapier. 
 
 Among the numerous pamphlets which appeared during 
 the contest there are a few whose titles show that the game 
 of cards, though not so much in vogue as formerly, was 
 still not forgotten.^ The following are the titles of three 
 of such pamphlets, all quartos, the usual form of the Uterary 
 light infantry of the period. " Chartae Scriptse, or a New 
 Game at Cards, called Play by the Booke, 1645." — 
 "Bloody Game of Cards, played between the King of 
 Hearts and his Suite against the rest of the pack, shuffled 
 at London, cut at Westminster, dealt at York, and played 
 in the open field." — " Shuffling, cutting, and dealing, in a 
 game at pickquet, being acted from the year 1653 to 1653, 
 
 » About the same period the game of cards seems to have furnished titles to 
 political pamphlets in other countries as well as in England. The following is 
 the title of a Dutch pamphlet, without date, but apparently published about the 
 time that the treaty of Westphalia was concluded, 1648 : * Het herstelde Ver- 
 keer-bert verbetert in een Lanterluy-spel.* From a passage in this pamphlet 
 jt appears that the game of Lanter-loo was the same as that called Labate^i)it 
 French La Bete, called " Beast," in Cotton's Complcat Gamester. 
 
 " Vlaming. Was spel is dat, Vader Jems P ick weet riet dat ick dat oyt 
 gheleaen heb, maer al die ghy genoemt hebt weet ick van. 
 
 " Vader Jems. Brcdder ! het is dat spel dat veeltijts genoemt werdt La- 
 bate, ofte om beter te.seggen, Lanterluy" 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLAYING. 139 
 
 by 0. p. and others, 1659/'^ In a 'Lenten litany/ a back- 
 ward prayer for the Rump, written in the time of the Long 
 Parliament, the appointment of three keepers to the great 
 seal is thus commemorated : 
 
 "From Villany dressed in a doublet of Zeal, 
 From three Kingdoms baked in one Commonweal, 
 Prom a Gleek of Lord Keepers of one poor seal 
 Libera nos Domine."* 
 
 It was probably as much owing to the circumstance of 
 regular playing-cards being in small request, as to any 
 desire to promote learning, that we have the "Scientiall 
 Cards" mentioned in the following title of a work, in which 
 cards are made subservient to the purposes of instruction, 
 and which appears to have been one of the earliest of the kind 
 pubhshed in England.^ " The Scientiall cards; or a new 
 
 * The two following are of later date but in the same strain. * A Mumival of 
 Knaves : or "Whiggism plainly displayed, and if not grown shameless, burlesqu'd 
 out of countenance, a Poem. 1683.* 'Win at first, lose at last; or the Game 
 of Cards which were shuffled by President Bradshaw, cut by Col. Hewson the 
 Coblcr, and played by Oliver Cromwell and Lreton till the Restoration of 
 Charles II. 1707*— A Mumival, at the game of Gleek, was all the four aces, 
 kings, queens, or knaves. 
 
 * Poems on State Affairs, vol. iii, p. 25. Edit. 1704. "Tricon is, at cards, 
 that which we now call a gleek of Kings, Queens, Knaves, &c., viz. three of 
 them in one hand together.'* — ^Howell's Edition of Cotgrave's Trench and 
 English Dictionary, 1673. The term Gleek is probably derived from the German 
 Gleieh, signifying like; thus the Qleek was a certain number of cards of a like 
 kind. See further illustrations of the word Gleek in Halliwell's Dictionary of 
 Archaic "Words. 
 
 * William Maxwell, in a catalogue of his works prefixed to his 'Admirable 
 Prophecies concerning the Church of Eome,* 4to, 1615, inserts the following as 
 one abeady pubhshed : " Jamesanna, or a Pythagorical play at cards, repre- 
 senting the excellency and utility of Union and Concord, with the incommodities 
 of Division and Discorde, dedicated to the most hopefull Prince Charles.** He 
 also mentions another work of his, of the same kind, unpublished, written in 
 imitation of More*s Utopia. The author informs us, that his grandfather, 
 William MaxweU, son of the Laird of Kirkconnel, was man-at-arms to the Most 
 Christian King, and had the honour to serve the mother of Mary Queen of 
 Scots, and also Mary herself. The Maxwells are still " Lairds of Kirkconnel,** 
 in Dumfries-shire. "Fair Kirkconnel Lea,** mentioned in the old ballad, "I 
 wish I were where Helen lies,** is one of the. most beautiful spots in Britain. 
 
140 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 and ingenious knowledge grammatically epitomised, both for 
 the pleasure and profit of schoUers, and such as delight to 
 recoUect (without any labour) the rudiments of so necessary 
 an art as grammer is, without hindering them from their 
 more necessary and graver studies, ofiering them as a 
 second course unto you. Which, in all points and suits, 
 do represent your vulgar or common cards ; so that the 
 perfection of the grammer principles may hereby be easily 
 attained unto, both with much delight and profit. To- 
 gether with a key showing the ready use of them. Written 
 by a lover of ingenuity and learning. And are to be sold 
 by Baptist Pendleton at his house, near St. Dunstan's 
 Church in the east, or by John Holden, at the Anchor in 
 the New Exchange. 1651." Of those cards, or of the 
 key, showing how they are to be used, I know nothing 
 beyond what is contained in the title above given, which 
 is preserved amongst Bagford's collections, Harleian MSS. 
 No. 5947, in the British Museum. I, however, greatly 
 suspect that the " lover of learning and ingenuity" who 
 devised them, was speciaUy employed for the purpose by 
 the maker, Mr. Baptist Pendleton, who, sensible of the 
 decline of his regular business, and noting the signs of the 
 times, might think it both for his interest and credit to 
 manufacture cards, which might serve indifierently for the 
 purposes of instruction, but equally as well for play as 
 "your vulgar or common cards," which were then in very 
 bad repute. The Scientiall cards would appear to have 
 been well adapted for the use of persons who wished to 
 save appearances with the Puritans, and yet had no ob- 
 jection to play a quiet game with the profane. 
 
 In 1656 was pubUshed a little book intitled * The Schol- 
 lers Practicall Cards,' by F. Jackson, M. A., containing 
 instructions by means of cards how to spell, write, cypher, 
 and cast accounts ; together with many other excellent and 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYINO. 141 
 
 necessary rules of calcidation, without either ahnanack or 
 ephemeris. " I am persuaded," says the author in his 
 preface, "that the cards, now in common use, may be reduced 
 to such a way of use as may not only contribute to know- 
 ledge and good learning, but may also remove the scandall 
 and abuse, which every tinker that can but tell his peeps 
 [pips] exposeth them unto. To that end I have framed, for 
 the recreation of sober and understanding people, that which 
 (although in form they represent common cards) in the 
 inside, as to the use that be made of them, affords profitable 
 learning and honest recreation : and herein there is much 
 difference ; the common cards being meer fiction, hke the 
 foolish romances, not applicable to any morall, or anything 
 to be learned by them that is laudable." His method, hke 
 all others of the same kind, may be interesting, from its 
 complicated absurdity, to those who already understand 
 what he proposes to teach; but must have formed an almost 
 unsurmountable obstacle to the unlettered, unless they 
 were previously well grounded in Gleek, Ruff, Post and 
 Pair, Saunt,! Lodam, and Noddy, — the games to which he 
 chiefly refers in his instructions. 
 
 William Sheppard, sergeant-at-law, a great stickler, during 
 the ascendency of the Rump, for the reformation of the law 
 and the correction of manners, thus sets forth certain 
 grievances, and, like a good Samaritan, propounds a remedy 
 for them in his work, entitled ' Englands Bahne.'^ 
 
 » Sau7it he properly explains by centum^ a hundred. Cientoi was a Spanish 
 game, resembling Piquet. 
 
 » Englands Balme : or, Proposals by way of Grievance and Remedy, humbly 
 presented to his Highness and the Parliament; towards the Regulation of the 
 Law and better Administration of Justice. Tending to the great Ease and 
 Benefit of the good People of the Nation. By William Sheppard, Esq. 12mo, 
 1657. The disregard of such good men as Mr. Sergeant Sheppard for the feel- 
 ings and opinions of those whom they were pleased to consider bad^ and who 
 formed a great majority of the nation, paved the way for the restoration of 
 Chai-lcsII. 
 
142 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 "It 18 objected, 
 
 " That there is no certain and clear law to punish pro- 
 phane jesting, fidling, ryming, piping, juggling, fortune- 
 telling, tumbling, dancing upon the rope, vaulting, ballad- 
 singing, sword-playing, or playing of prizes, ape-carrying, 
 puppet-playing, bear-baiting, bull-baiting, horse-racing, 
 cock-fighting, carding, dicing, or other gaming ; especially 
 the spending of much time, and the adventuring of great 
 sums of money herein. 
 
 " It is offered to consideration, 
 
 " That to the laws already made : 1. That it be in the 
 power of any two justices of the peace to binde to the goode 
 behaivour such as are offensive herein. 2. That they be, 
 so long as they use it, uncapable of bearing any office in 
 the commonwealth. 3. That all payments to the com- 
 monwealth be doubled on such persons." 
 
 His saintly delicacy, if not his Christian charity, is dis- 
 played in the following " grievance" and " remedy:^' 
 
 " There are some other cases wherein the law also is said 
 to be somewhat defective : as 
 
 " That there is no law against lascivious gestures, wan- 
 ton and filthy dalliance and familiarity, whorish 
 attire, strange fashions ; such as are naked breasts, 
 bare shoulders, powdering, spotting, painting the 
 face, curling and shearing the hair ; excess of ap- 
 parel in servants and mean people. 
 . " It is offered to consideration, 
 
 " 1. That the justices of the peace at their Quarter Ses- 
 sions may binde any such to the good behaivour. 
 " 2. That for a whorish attire, something of note be 
 written upon the door of her house to her dis- 
 grace, there to continue till she wear sober attire." 
 The character of this pmitanical reformer's liberality may 
 be estimated by his proposed remedies for the abuses of the 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 143 
 
 press. As his party were in power, there was no longer 
 any occasion for free discussion. Milton was opposed to 
 such canting reformers as Sheppard, and maintained the 
 hberty of unlicensed printing. 
 " It is objected, 
 
 " That there are disorders in printing of books, for 
 which there is no remedy. 
 " It is oflFered for this to consider of these things : 
 
 " 1. That printing-houses be reduced to a number. 
 
 '^ 2. That no books be printed but be first perused. 
 
 " 3. That no dangerous books be printed here, carried 
 beyond sea, and brought in hither. 
 
 " 4. That the right of every mans copy be preserved. 
 
 " 5. That every man shall licence his own book and be 
 answerable for it." 
 On the accession of Charles II, a reaction took place ; and 
 people who had felt themselves coerced in their amusements 
 by the puritanical party, seem now to have gloried in their 
 excesses, not so much from any positive pleasure that they 
 might feel in their vicious courses, but as evincing their 
 triumph over those who formerly kept them in restraint. 
 From the example of the king himself, a sensual, selfish 
 profligate, vice became fashionable at court, where gross 
 depravity of manners seems to have been admitted dL'& prima 
 fade evidence of loyal principles. His majesty's personal 
 favorites, from the wealthy noble who had a seat at the 
 council-table, to the poor gentlemen who served as a private 
 in the horse-guards, seem all to have been eager to divert 
 the " merry monarch" by their shameless profligacy. The 
 man of ton of the period, was professionally a rake and a 
 gamester, and often a liar and cheat ; boasting of an intrigue 
 with " my lady," while in truth he was kept by " my lord's" 
 mistress ; and pretending that he had won a hundred pieces 
 of " the duke," at the groom-porter's at St. James's, when 
 
144 PLAYING CATIDS. 
 
 he had merely " rooked" a gay city 'prentice of five pounds 
 at a shilling ordinary in Shire Lane. The morals and 
 manners of the country, generally, at that period, are not, 
 however, to be estimated by those of the court and the so- 
 called "fashionable world." A numerous and influential 
 class remained uncontaminated by their example; and 
 laboured zealously to stem the torrent of vice which, issuing 
 from the court, threatened to deluge the whole country. 
 Though " the saints" no longer enjoyed the fatness of the 
 land, they still exercised great influence over the minds 
 of the middle classes, and fostered in them a deep re- 
 ligious feeling, and a strict observance of decency, which 
 were in direct opposition to the principles and practice 
 of the sovereign and his court. At no period of our his- 
 tory, do the profligacy of one class and th piety of 
 another appear in more striking contrast. On looking 
 closer, however, it would seem that this effect is, in a great 
 degree, produced by the approximation of the extremes of 
 each, — of sinners who painted themselves blacker than they 
 really were, and of saints who heightened their hghts and 
 exalted their purity, while they were in truth but as " a 
 whitened wall." A slight glance at the literature of the 
 time of Charles II, will show that mankind do not become 
 worse as the world grows older : the depravity which existed 
 in his reign, is generally dwelt on by historians and 
 moralists, though but few take the trouble of informing 
 their readers that correctives for it, in the shape of good 
 books, were at no period more abundant. For a picture of 
 the manners of the time, we are referred to licentious plays 
 and obscene poems, as if they formed the staple literature 
 of the day, — as if all men frequented the playhouse and 
 read Rochester, but never went to church or conventicle, 
 nor read the numerous moral and religious works which then 
 issued from the press. In the time of Charles II, the 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 145 
 
 representation of plays was almost exclusively confined to 
 London ; and it may be questioned if even one>of the licen- 
 tious comedies of the period was represented on a provincial 
 stage. The obscene books which were written in his reign 
 for the entertainment of the fashionable world have simk 
 into disrepute, and are only to be fonnd in the hbraries of 
 collectors of what are termed '* Facetiae ;*' while those of 
 higher purpose are in constant demand, and are known to 
 milhons. More ^;opies of Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress' 
 have been sold thai! of all the bad books that ever were wTitten 
 through the encouragement of Charles II and his courtiers. 
 But to come from this digression to the game we have in 
 hand. Barrington, who is singularly unfortunate in his 
 speculations about cards, and who seems to have been prone 
 to draw general conclusions from special premises, says, 
 that " Ombre was probably introduced by Catherine of 
 Portugal, the queen of Charles II, as Waller hath a poem 
 ' On a card torn at Ombre by the Queen/ " The game, 
 however, was introduced before the arrival of the queen ; 
 for a work entitled the ' Royal game of Ombre' was pub- 
 Ushed at London in 1060,^ and Catherine did not arrive at 
 Portsmouth till 14th May, 1662. Charles, on hearing of 
 the queen's arrival, seems to have intrusted a right reverend 
 prelate with a delicate commission : his majesty, according to 
 Aurehan Cook, Gent., "having sent the Bishop of London 
 thither before him to consummate the sacred rights of 
 marriage, which was to be done in private." 
 
 ' Though this pamphlet does not treat of the game, but is wholly political, it 
 camiot be doubted that Ombre was well known in England at the time of its 
 publication. 
 
 * Titus Britannicus : An Essay of History Royal, in the Life and Reign of his 
 late Sacred Majesty, Charles II, of ever blessed and immortal memory. By 
 Aurelian Cook, Gent. p. 296. Edit. 1G85. Aurelian is loud in his praises of 
 his Titus for his piety and religion. According to his account, it would seem 
 tliat in these respects the "Martyr Charles" was notliing to "Old Rowley." 
 
 10 
 
146 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 From the following passage in Pcpys's Diary, under the 
 date 17th Feb. 1667, it would appear that her majesty was 
 accustomed to play at cards on a Sunday, — a crime of the 
 greatest magnitude in the eyes of certain persons, who 
 insist that the Christian Sunday should be observed like a 
 Jewish Sabbath, and who yet have no objection to roast pig.^ 
 " This evening," says Mr. Pepys, " going to the Queene's 
 side to see the ladies, I did finde the Qucene, the Duchesse 
 of York, and another or two, at cards, with the room full 
 of ladies and great men ; which I was amazed at to see on 
 a Sunday, having not believed it, but, contrarily, flatly 
 denied the same a little while since to my coscn Roger 
 Pepys." The Duchess of York here mentioned, was Amie 
 Hyde, first wife of James, Duke of York, afterwards James II. 
 Her daughter, Mary, afterwards Queen of England, used 
 also to play at cards on a Sunday, as we learn from the 
 following passage in the diary of her spiritual director. 
 Dr. Edward Lake, printed in the Camden Miscellany, vol. i, 
 1847: "Jan. 9. 1677-8. I was very sorry to understand 
 that the Princess of Orange, since her being in Holland, 
 did sometimes play at cards upon the Sundays, which would 
 doubtless give offence to that people. I remember that 
 about two years since being with her highness in her closett, 
 shee required my opinion of it. I told her I could, not say 
 'twas a sin to do so, but 'twas not expedient ; and, for fear 
 of giving offence, I advised her highness not to do it, nor 
 did shee play upon Sundays while shee continued here in 
 England." Card-playing on Sundays would appear to have 
 been equally common with the select circle who had the 
 honour of partaking of his majesty's amusements. Evelyn, 
 
 ' In Heath's Clironiclcs, a right loyal publication, it is said that Dr. Dorislaus, 
 — the Parliamentary envoy, who was assassinated at the Hague in ^lay, 1C49, — 
 was accustomed to play at cards on Sundays at Sir Henry Mildmay's, in Essex. 
 — The Democracy, or pretended free State, being the 2d part of the Brief Chro- 
 nicle of tlic late intestine War, p. 435. Edit. 1G62. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 147 
 
 in his Memoirs, writing on 6th Feb. 1685, the day when 
 James II was proclaimed, says, " I never can forget the 
 inexpressible luxury and profaneness, gaming and all dis- 
 soluteness, and as it were total forgetfulness of God (it 
 being Sunday evening), which this day se nnight I was 
 witness of, the king sitting and toying with his concubines, 
 Portsmouth, Cleaveland, and Mazarine, &c., a French boy 
 singing love songs in that glorious gallery, whilst about 
 twenty of the great courtiers and other dissolute persons 
 were at Basset* round a large table ; a bank of at least £2000 
 in gold before them, upon which two gentlemen who were 
 with me made reflexions with astonishment. Six days after, 
 all was in the dust !" 
 
 In the sixteenth year of the reign of Charles II an act 
 was passed which might justly be entitled "An Act to 
 legalise Gaming ; to prevent wealthy Pigeons being plucked 
 by artful Rooks, and to discourage Betting or Playing for 
 large Sums upon Tick." An act of the same kind, passed 
 in the reign of Queen Anne, was repealed in 1844, in 
 consequence of its penalties being likely to fall heavy on 
 some eminent sporting characteri who had been so indis- 
 creet as to receive sundry large sums in payment of bets 
 lost to them upon credit. Its enactment and its repeal ai*e 
 significant indications of the state of the sporting world at 
 the two respective periods. It seems to have been framed 
 
 * Basset would seem to have been a common game at the court of France 
 about the same period. " The King (Louis XIV) no\y seldom or never plays, 
 but contents himself sometimes with looking on ; but formerly he hath been 
 engaged, and has lost great sums. Mons. S. rookt him of near a million of 
 livres at Basset by putting false cards upon him, but was imprisoned and 
 banished for it some years." — Dr. Martin Lister, Journey to Paris in the year 
 1C98. Li 1091, Louis XIV issued an ordonnance prohibiting Faro, Basset, 
 and other similar games. Whoever should be convicted of playing at any of 
 those games was ta be fined a thousand livres ; and the person who allowed 
 them to be played in his house incurred a penalty of six thousand livres. Basset 
 and Flush— il Frusso— appear to have been known in Italy in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. They arc mentioned by Lorenzo dc Medici in liis Canti Carnascialeschi, 
 quoted by Singer, Bescarches, p. 26. 
 
148 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 on a presumption that, in gaming, noble and wealthy 
 sportsmen would be most likely to lose ; and to have been 
 repealed because certain noble and wealthy sportsmen had 
 won, and received their bets. The parties in whose favour 
 the act was repealed, were said to have been liable to penal- 
 ties to the amount of £500,000 : the law did not anticipate 
 that lords and squires woidd be winners, nor intend that 
 needy prosecutors should be enriched at their expense. The 
 preamble and some of the provisions of the act of Charles II 
 are here given as " Curiosities of Gambling Legislation." 
 
 " Whereas all lawful Games and Exercises should not be 
 otherwise used than as innocent and moderate recreations, 
 arid not as constant trades or callings, to gain a living, or 
 make unlawful advantage thereby; and whereas by the 
 immoderate use of them many mischiefs and inconveniences 
 do arise, and are dayly found to the maintaining and en- 
 couraging of sundry idle, loose, and disorderly persons in 
 their dishonest, lewd, and dissolute course of life, and to 
 the circumventing, deceiving, cousening, and debauching 
 of many of the younger sort, both of the nobility and gentry, 
 and others, to the loss of their precious time, and the utter 
 ruin of their estates and fortunes, and withdrawing them 
 from noble and laudable employments and exercises. 
 
 " Be it therefore enacted, that if any person or persons, 
 of any degree or quaUty whatsoever, shall by any fraud, 
 cousenage, circumvention, deceit, &c. in playing at Cards, 
 Dice, Tables, Tennis, Bowls, Kittles, Shovel-board, or in or 
 by Cock-fightings, Horse-races, Dog-matches, or Foot-races 
 &c. or by betting on the sides or hands of such as play, win, 
 obtain, or acquire any sum or sums of money or any other 
 valuable thing ; that then every person so offending shall 
 ipso facto forfeit treble the sum or value of money, or other 
 thing, so won, gained, or acquired. 
 
 *' And for the better avoiding and preventing of all ex- 
 cessive and immoderate playing and gaming for the time to 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLAYING. 149 
 
 come, be it further enacted, that if any person shall play at 
 any of the said games, or any other pastime whatsoever 
 (otherwise than with and for ready money), or shall bet on 
 the sides of such as play, and shall lose any sum of money 
 or other thing played for, exceeding the sum of one hundred 
 pounds, at one time or meeting, upon ticket or credit, or 
 otherwise, and shall not pay down the same at the time 
 when he shall so lose the same, the party who loseth the 
 said moneys, or other things so played for, above the said 
 sum of one hundred pounds, shall not, in that case, be bound 
 or compelled to pay or make good the same ; and that all 
 Contracts, Judgments, Statutes, Recognizances, Mortgages, 
 &c. made, given, acknowledged, or entered for security and 
 payment of the same shall be utterly void and of none effect. 
 And, lastly, it is enacted, that the person, or persons, so 
 winning the said moneys, or other things, shall forfeit and 
 lose treble the value of all such sum and sums of money, or 
 other thing which he shall so win (above the said sum of 
 one hundred pounds), the one moiety to the King, and the 
 other to the Prosecutor/' The passion for gaming at that 
 period, and its consequences to wealthy flats, are thus 
 described by Dryden : 
 
 " What age so large a crop of vices bore, 
 Or when was avarice extended more P 
 When were the dice with more profusion thrown ? 
 Tlie well-filled fob not emptied now alone. 
 But gamesters for whole patrimonies play : 
 The steward brings the deeds which must convey 
 The lost estate. What more than madness reigns, 
 When one short sitting many hundreds drains, 
 And not enough is left him to supply 
 Board wages, or a footman's livery ?" 
 
 During the reign of Charles II, the business of card- 
 making greatly increased in England : and the game appears 
 to have been so generally understood as to induce many 
 ingenious persons to employ cards not only as a means of 
 diffusing useful and entertaining knowledge, but also of 
 
150 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 advertising their wares. The same mode of instruction 
 was adopted about the same period in France; but in 
 England it appears to have embraced a wider range of 
 subjects ; in France, scientific cards appear to have been 
 devised for the exclusive use of the nobility and gentry, and 
 to have been confined to their instruction in the conundrums 
 of heraldry and the elements of history and geography ;i 
 while in England they were "adapted to the meanest 
 capacity ;'* and in addition to the uses for which they were 
 employed in France, were made subservient to the purposes 
 of communicating knowledge in grammar, history, politics, 
 morality, mathematics, and the art of carving. 
 
 A Mons. De Brainville invented at Lyons, about 16G0, a. 
 pack of Heraldic cards, in which the Aces and Knaves, "les 
 As et Valets," were represented by the arms of certain 
 princes and nobles. Now as this was evidently a breach 
 of etiquette and a derogation of heraldic nobility — Mons. 
 De Brainville, like Mr. Anstis, does not seem to have rightly 
 understood his own " foolish business"^ — the plates were 
 seized by the magistrates. As it appeared, however, that 
 he had given offence through pure inadvertence, and not 
 with any satirical intention, the plates were restored to him 
 
 ' The following is the title of a pack of geographical cards, now lying before 
 me, which appear to liave been engraved in the reign of Charles II. " The 
 52 Counties of England and Wales, geographically described in a pack of Cards, 
 whcrcunto is added the length, breadth, and circuit of each county, the latitude, 
 scituation, and distance from Loudon of the principal Cities, Towns, and llivcrs, 
 with other Remarks ; as plaine and ready for the playing of all our English 
 Games as any of the common Cards." The heads of the Kings are shown at 
 the top of the maps of Hereford, Monmouth, Middlesex, and Yorkshire; of 
 the Queens at the top of the maps of Durham, Huntingdon, Radnor, and 
 Woreestersliire ; and of the Knaves at the top of the maps of Anglesey, Glou- 
 cester, Leicester, and Rutland. If the deviser had any particular meaning in 
 his assignment of the coat cards, it is not easy to be discovered j though it 
 may be "shrewdly guessed at" as respects Monmouth and York. 
 
 * Lord Chesterfield is reported to have said to Anstis on one occasion, when 
 the latter was talking to him about heraldry, " You silly man, you do not under- 
 stand your own foolish bushicss." 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 151 
 
 on condition of his altering the odious names of " As" and 
 "Valets" into Princes and Chevaliers. In 1678 Antome 
 Bulifon carried the same kind of cards to Naples, where 
 Don Annibal Aquaviva established a society to play at Blazon, 
 under the name of " Armeristi," with the map of Europe 
 for a device, and the motto, " Pulchra sub imagine Ludi."^ 
 About the same time that Heraldic cards were introduced 
 into Naples, a pack of the same kind as these of Mons. De 
 Brainville were engraved in England. In these cards, 
 specimens of which are given in the annexed plate, the 
 honours of the several suits are thus represented. Each of 
 the cards representing a Knave, is marked P, for Prince ; 
 and a stamp appears on the Ace of Spades. 
 
 Clubs. • 
 
 King, by the arms of the Pope. 
 
 Queen „ King of Naples. 
 
 PuiNCE (Knave) Duke of Savoy. 
 
 Ace „ Republics of Venice, Genoa, and Lucca. 
 
 Spades. 
 
 King „ King of France. [and Duke of Orleans. 
 
 Queen „ Sons of France, the Dauphin, Duke of Anjou, 
 
 [and Aienpon. 
 Prince „ Princes of the Blood— Bourbon, Berry, Vcndome, 
 
 Ace „ Ecclesiastical Peers — Rheims, Langrcs, and Laon. 
 
 Diamonds. 
 
 King „ King of Spain. 
 
 Queen „ Kmg of Portugal. 
 
 Peince „ Castile and Leon. 
 
 Ace „ Arragon. 
 
 Hearts. 
 
 King „ King of England. 
 
 Queen „ Emperor of Germany. 
 
 Prince „ Bohemia and Hungary. 
 
 Ace „ Poland. 
 
 In the annexed specimens, which are of the same size as 
 the originals, the honours represented are the King of Clubs, 
 
 ' Menestrier, Bibliotheque curieuse et instructive, tom. ii, p. 180. 
 
152 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 the Queen of Hearts, the King of Diamonds, and the Ace 
 of Spades. The arms of the Pope, representing the King 
 of Clubs, arc those of Clement IX, who was elected 20th 
 June, 1G67, and died 9th December, 1669. 
 
 In another pack of Heraldic cards, relating entirely to 
 England, probably engraved about the same period, the 
 armorial ensigns of the King and the nobility were thus 
 distributed amongst the Tetes and Pips} The King and 
 Queen of Hearts were respectively represented by the arras 
 of England and of the Duke of York ; of Diamonds, by the 
 arms of Ireland, and of Prince Rupert ; of Spades, by the 
 arms of France, and of the Archbishops of Canterbury and 
 York ; and of Clubs, by the arms of Scotland, and of the 
 Dukes of Norfolk, Somerset, and Buckingham. In this 
 pack there were no Knaves. The arms of the Earls were 
 distributed amongst the sevens, eights, nines, and tens ; the 
 Viscounts furnished the sixes; the Bishops were quartered 
 on the fives ; and the Barons' coats armorial clothed the 
 nakedness of the lower orders, from the fours to the aces, — 
 the aces in the Heraldic game being low. From a kind 
 of title-page, or perhaps wrapper, preserved in Bagford's 
 collection, in the British Museum, it would appear that the 
 publication of those cards was licensed by the Duke of 
 Norfolk, as Earl Marshal of England, and as such entitled 
 to take cognizance of all matters relating to heraldry. 
 
 In playing the game armorial with Heraldic cards, the 
 players were required to properly describe the various 
 colours and charges of the different shields; but as this 
 could not be done without some previous knowledge of the 
 science of heraldry, a Mons. Gauthier was led to devise, 
 about 1686, a new pack of Heraldic cards, simply explain- 
 ing the terms of blazon, and thus serving as an introduction 
 
 • By card-makers the coat cards— Kiug, Queen, and Knave— are teelinically 
 termed teies, and the others pips. 
 
The Pope 
 
 T^ke CMPiROUH 
 
 I 
 
 Castiile H 
 Leon 
 
 WMS^ 
 
 \W^ 
 
 
 £cleslasticks 
 Dukes and Pcirs 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 153 
 
 to the grand game.^ The Heraldic game, however, never 
 was popular ; and does not even appear to have been in 
 much esteem with the higher orders, for whose instruction 
 and entertainment it was specially devised. It would seem 
 to have declined in France with the glory of Louis XIV, 
 and not to have survived the Revolution in England. 
 
 About 1679, there was published a pack of cards, con- 
 taining, according to the advertisement, ** An History of all 
 the Popish Plots that have been in England, beginning with 
 those in Queen Elizabeth's time, and ending with the last 
 damnable plot against his Majesty Charles II, with the 
 manner of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey's murder, &c. All 
 excellently engraved on copper-plates, with very large 
 descriptions under each card. The Hke not extant. Sold 
 by Randal Taylor, near Stationers Hall, and by most book- 
 sellers, price One Shilling each pack." In a " pufF collu- 
 sive,''^ formhig a kind of postscript to this announcement, 
 approbation of these cards is thus indirectly made a test of 
 staunch Protestantism. " Some persons who care not what 
 they say, and to whom lying is as necessary as eating, have 
 endeavoured to asperse this pack by a mahtious Ubel, 
 intimating that it did not answer what is proposed. The 
 contrary is evident. Aspersers of this pack plainly show 
 themselves popishly affected."^ 
 
 Such a pack of cards as that announced in the advertise- 
 ment referred to — " containing an history of all the popish 
 plots that have been in England, beginning with those in 
 
 * " Jeu d'Armoires, ou tous les termes du Blazon sont expliquds et rangds par ^ 
 ordre. Dedid a Monseigneur le Due de Bourgogne. Se vend a Paris, cbez 
 Vallct, dcssinateur et graveur du Roy." The privilege to the author, Sieur 
 Gauthicr, is dated 15th December, 1C8G. 
 
 * "The PUFF COLLUSIVE is the newest of any; for it aets in the disguise of 
 determined hostility. It is mucli used by bold bookspllers and enterprising 
 poets."— The Critic, act i. The "puff collusive" was not. an invention of 
 Sheridan's time, but merely the revival of an old trick. 
 
 * Tiic advertisement of those cards is preserved amongst Bagford's collections, 
 Harleian MSS. No. 5947. 
 
154 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 • 
 
 Queen Elizabeth's time" — I have never seen ; and from the 
 objection which was made to it at the time, namely, that 
 " it did not answer what was proposed," I am inclined to 
 think that it was the same pack as that which relates 
 entii'cly to the pretended Popish plot of 1678, and the 
 murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey. ' A pack of the latter 
 now before me appears to have been pubHshed about 1680, 
 and certainly subsequent to the 18th of July, 1679; as on 
 the Four of Clubs is represented the trial of Sir George 
 Wakeman and three Benedictine monks, who on that day 
 were arraigned at the Old Bailey on an indictment of high 
 treason for conspiring to poison the king. The complete 
 pack consists of fifty-two cards ; and each contains a sub- 
 ject, neatly engraved, either relating to the plot or the 
 trial and punishment of the conspirators, with a brief ex- 
 planation at the foot. At the top are the marks of the 
 suit; and the value of the low cards, from one to ten, 
 is expressed in Roman numerals. The suits of Hearts, 
 Diamonds, and Clubs consist chiefly of illustrations of 
 ihc pretended plot, as detailed in the evidence of Titus 
 Dates and Captain Bedloe ; while the suit of Clubs relates 
 entirely to the murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey. An 
 idea of the whole pack may be formed from the following 
 description of a few of the cards of each suit. Hearts : 
 King : the King and privy councillors seated at the council- 
 table ; Titus Gates standing before them : inscription at the 
 foot, **Dr. Oates discover eth / Plot to f King and Coun- 
 cell! The Eight : " Coleman writeing a declaration and 
 letters to la Chess,'' — Pere la Chaise. The Ace : the Pope 
 with three cardinals and a bishop at a table, and the devil 
 underneath : " The Plot first hatcht at Borne hy the Pope 
 and Cardinalls, Sfd' Diamonds:. Knave: '' Pickerin at- 
 tempts to Mil / K. in S' James Park." The Four: 
 " IFIdtehread made ProvintialC The Ace : '* The consult 
 at the white horse TaverneJ\ Clubs : King : " Cap* Bedlow 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 155 
 
 examind by f secret Comitee of the Home of Commons ^ 
 The Nine : " Father Comyers preaching against jf oathes 
 of alegiance 8f supremacy y The Six : " Cap^ Berry and 
 Alderman Brooks are offer d 500£ to cast the plot on the 
 Protestants'' Spades : Queen : *' The Club at if Blow 
 Ale house for the nfurther of S. E. B. Godfree." The 
 Nine : " S'' B. B. Godfree strangled, Girald going to stab 
 himr The Five : " The body of S' K B, G, carry d to 
 Frimrose hill on a horse J* 
 
 Another pack of historical cards, apparently published in 
 the same reign, but of inferior execution to the former, 
 appears to have related to the Rye-house plot. As these 
 cards are of even greater rarity than those relating to the 
 Popish plot, the following description of four of them — all 
 that I have ever seen — is here given as a stimulus to col- 
 lectors. Queen of Hearts : " Tliompson one of if con- 
 spirators taken at Hammersmith.''* Knave of Diamonds: 
 '' Rumhold the malstcr;' on a label proceeding from his 
 mouth is the inscription, " They shall dye'* Ace of Clubs: 
 ''Keeling troubled in mind:** on a label proceeding from 
 his mouth, " King killing is damnable.** Ace of Spades : 
 '* Ho7ie taken prisoner at Cambridge!* Shortly after the 
 Revolution of IG88, one or two packs of cards appeared 
 with subjects relating to the misgovernmcnt of James II, 
 and the birth of his son the Prince of Wales. In the reign 
 of cither. Charles II or James II was published a pack of 
 mathematical cards, by Thomas Tuttell, "mathematical 
 instrument-maker to the King's most excellent Majesty.'* 
 Those cards were designed by Boitard, and engraved by 
 J. Savage; they represent various kinds of mathematical ^ 
 instruments, together with the trades and professions in 
 which they are used. They were evidently " got up" as an 
 advertisement. A few years afterwards, Moxon, also a 
 mathematical instrument-maker, followed suit. 
 
 *' It would be difficult,'* says Mons. Leber, " to name an 
 
156 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 elementary book of science or art, which had not a pack of 
 cards as an auxiliary. Grammar, Rhetoric, Fable, Geography, 
 History, Heraldry, the principles of Morals and Politics, — 
 all these things, and many others besides, were to be learnt 
 through the medium of play. The game of cards had 
 served for the amusement of a royal lunatic ; and similar 
 games were comprehended in the plan for the education of 
 one of our greatest kings. ^ — Though France had a large 
 share in the dissemination of such treasures of knowledge, 
 England showed herself not less diligent in working the 
 same mine ; if to us she owes the game of Piquet, it is 
 from her own proper resources that she has endowed the 
 culinary art with a game of a different kind, yet highly 
 interesting considered in its relation to the play of the jaws, 
 the most ancient and highly esteemed of all play. It was 
 in December, 1C92, that the London papers first announced 
 to the world the invention of the game of Carving at Table. 
 Tliis precious announcement is conceive^d in the following 
 terms: 'The Genteel Housekeeper's Pastime; or the 
 mode of Carving at the table, represented in a pack of 
 Playing Cards, with a book by which any ordinary capacity 
 may learn how to cut up, or carve in mode, all the most 
 
 » "Principally games of geography, history, and metamorphoses, engraved by 
 Delia Bella, from plans furnished by the poet Desmarets, to faeilitate the studies 
 of Louis XIV when a child. Tlie idea is said to have been suggested by Car- 
 dinal ]\Iazarine." — ^A pack of military cards, Avith instructions for playing the 
 game, devised by the Sicur Des Martins, and dedicated to " Son Altesse le Due 
 de Maine, Colonel-gcn6ral des Suisscs," appeared in 1676. His Highness the 
 Colonel-general, who was the son of Louis XIV and Madame Montespan, was 
 then six years old. 
 
 By the favour of P. IX. Atkinson, Esq., of Manchester, an assiduous and 
 intelligent collector of curious books, I have had an opportunity of examining 
 two sets of French Historic Cards, without date, but probably published about 
 1G90. One of them is entitled " Cartes des Rois de Prance. A Paris, chez 
 P. Le Comte, rue St. Jaqucs, an Chifrc du Roi." The title of the other is, 
 " Jeu des Rcyncs Renommces. A Paris, chez Henri le Gras, Librairie, au 3* 
 pilier de la grande Salle du Palais." Both sets appeared to have been designed 
 exclusively for the purpose of instruction, and not for play. 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLAYCNG. 157 
 
 usual dishes of flesh, fish, fowl, and baked meats, with the 
 several sawces and garnishes proper to each dish of meat. 
 Price 1^. 6d, Sold by J. Moxon, Warwick Lane/ "^ In 
 those cards the suit of Hearts is occupied by flesh ; Dia- 
 monds by fowl; Clubs by fish; and Spades by baked 
 meats. The King of Hearts presides over a sirloin of beef; 
 of Diamonds over a turkey ; of Clubs over a pickled herring ; 
 and of Spades over a venison pasty. A red stamp on the 
 Ace of Spades belonging to a pack which I have had an 
 opportunity of examining, contains the words " Six pence." 
 If this was the duty on each pack, it was certainly great 
 for the period. 
 
 In the reign of Queen Anne and that of George I, several 
 packs of satirical and fanciful cards were published. A pack 
 of the latter description, now in the possession of Thomas 
 Heywood, Esq., of Pendleton, near Manchester, relates 
 entirely to the subject of love. Each card is neatly engraved 
 on copper ; and, from the stamp on the Ace of Spades, it 
 appears evident that they were manufactured and sold for 
 the purposes of play. The subject of this card is a Cupid 
 plucking a rose, with the inscription " In love no pleasure 
 without pain/' and the following verses at the foot : 
 "As when wo reach to crop y' blooming rose 
 From off its by*r, y" thorns will interpose ; 
 So when we strive the beauteous nym})h to gain, 
 Y" pleasures we pursue arc mixed with pain." 
 
 » About the same period Moxon, "glancing from heaven to earth, from earth 
 to heaven," published a pack of Astronomical Cards. In the life of Beau 
 Hewitt, in Lucas's Memoirs of the Lives, Litrigues, and Comical Adventures 
 of the most Famous Gamesters and Celebrated Sharpers in the reigns of 
 Charles H, James n, WiUiam III, and Queen Anne, 1714, the Beau is repre- 
 sented as having "most assiduously studied the use of the geometrical playing- 
 cards, set forth by Monsieur Des Cartes, the famous French philosopher and 
 mathematician ; but that finding the demonstrations of that great man to be 
 founded on no certainty, he resolved to try his luck at dice." It is said that 
 ■ Pascal's attention was first directed to the calculation of chances in consequence 
 of some questions proposed to him by the Chevalier de Mere, a great gamester. 
 
158 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 All the other cards have, in the same manner, explanatory 
 verses at the foot. The mark of the suit is placed at the 
 top, to the left, and above it is engraved the value of the 
 card, in Roman numerals. In the coat cards, the name of 
 each, — King, Queen, or Knave — is engraved above the 
 mark of the suit. This pack has been in the possession of 
 Mr. licywood's family for upwards of a century. 
 
 A pack of satirical cards, belonging to W. H. Diamond, 
 Esq., Frith street, Soho square, appear to have been executed 
 about the same time. Each subject has an explanatory 
 couplet at the bottom, and the value of each in the game 
 is indicated by a small card engraved at the top, to the left. 
 As in the other pack, there is a red stamp on the Ace of 
 Spades. All the subjects are coarsely engraved, though 
 some of them display points of character very much in the 
 style of Hogarth. In the Tln-ee of Spades there is a 
 billiard-table, at which a gentleman is playing with a curved 
 cue. The inscription is : 
 
 " Think not a losing gamester will be fair, ^ 
 Who at y" best ne*re playd upon the square." 
 
 In the Ten of Spades, a Moorfields quack is seen pointing 
 to his sign, with the inscription : 
 
 "To famed Moorfields I dayly do repair; 
 Kill worms, cure itch, and make y" ladies fair.*' 
 
 In the Ace of Diamonds, a lady is seen showing her palm 
 to a fortune-teller, with the inscription : 
 
 V "How can yon hope this Gipscy drabb should know 
 The Fates decrees, and who was made for you." 
 
 In the Four of Diamonds, a lady is seen exchanging some 
 of her clothes for china ware, with an itinerant dealer. 
 The inscription is : 
 
 " Your pockets, madam, surely are wondrous bare. 
 To sell your very clothes for china ware." 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 159 
 
 In the Ten of Diamonds, the interior of a shop is shown, 
 with articles of plate on the shelves. A woman is standing 
 behind the counter, on which are a box and dice, and in 
 front are a lady and gentleman who seem to have just thrown. 
 The inscription is : 
 
 "At Epsom oft these raflflings I have seen. 
 But assignation's what they chiefly eacan." 
 
 In England, books containing instructions for playing at 
 cards appear to have been first published in the reign of 
 Charles II, to the great benefit, most assuredly, of all adepts 
 who had acquired their knowledge by practice ; for in card- 
 playing, as well as in chemistry, the experienced manipu- 
 lators have a great advantage over the merely book-learned 
 when matters are brought to the test. The real science of 
 play is not to be acquired by the study of books, but by 
 frequent encounters across the table, with men, whose 
 keenness ensures attention to the rules of the game. But, 
 even with the knowledge thus acquired, the proficient will 
 gain but little, unless he also be skilled in the discrimination 
 of flats and sharps. 
 
 In 1 670, an edition of a book entitled ' Wits Interpreter,' 
 was enlarged with directions for playing the " Courtly Games 
 of L'Hombre, Piquit, Gleek, and Cribbage;" and in 1674 
 appeared Cotton's " Compleat Gamester ; or, Instructions 
 how to play at all manner of usual and most Gentile 
 games, either on Cards, Dice, Billiards, Trucks, Bowls, or 
 Chess." This book was several times reprinted ; and in an 
 edition published in 1709, the following are enumerated as 
 the principal games at cards : Piquet ; Glcek ; L'Ombre, a 
 Spanish game ; Cribbage ; All-Pours ; EngUsh Ruff and 
 Honours, alias Slam ; Whist ; French Ruff; Kve Cards ; a 
 game called Costly Colours ; Bone- Ace; Put, and the High 
 Game ; Wit and Reason, a game so called ; a Pastime called 
 the Art of Memory ; a game called Plain-Dealing; a game 
 
160 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 called Queen Nazareen; Lanterloo; a game called Penneecli; 
 Bankafalet ; Beast ;* and Basset.^ 
 
 The game of Whist, or Whisk, as it seems to have been 
 usually called, is unquestionably of English origin, and ap- 
 pears to have been popular long before it became fashionable. 
 
 "Let India vaunt her children's vast address, 
 Who first contrived the warlike sport of Chess ; 
 Let nice Piquette the boast of France remain. 
 And studious Ombre be the pride of Spain ; 
 Invention's praise shall England yield to none, 
 While she can call delightful Whist her own. 
 But to what name we this distinction owe, 
 Is not so easy for us now to know : 
 The British annals all are silent here. 
 Nor deign one friendly hint our doubts to clear : 
 Ev'n Hume himself, whose philosophic mind 
 Could not but love a pastime so refin'd : 
 Ungrateful Hume, who, till his dying day. 
 Continued still his fav'rite game to play ;' 
 Tho* many a curious fact his page supplies. 
 To this important point a place denies."* 
 
 Barrington's observations on the introduction of the game 
 into respectable company, are as follows : " Quadrille (a 
 species of Ombre) obtained a vogue upon the disuse of the 
 latter, which it maintained till Whisk was introduced, which 
 now [1787] prevails not only in England, but in most of 
 
 » In the text. Beast is said to be called by the French " La Bett" [La Bete], 
 
 * The following appear to have been the principal games at cards played in 
 England before the reign of Charles 11 : the game of Trumps, in the time of 
 Edward VI ; Prunero, Maw, Lodam, Noddy, La Volta, and Bankerout, men- 
 tioned by Sir John Harrington ; and Glcek, Crimp, Mount-Saint, Knave out of 
 Doors, Post and Pair, and RuiF, mentioned in Dodsley's Collection of Old 
 Plays.— See Barrington and Bowie on Card-playing, in the Archxologia, vol. viii. 
 
 * " Upon his return to Edinburgh, though he found himself weaker, yet liis 
 cheerfulness never abated ; and he continued to divert himself, as usual, with 
 correcting liis own works for a new edition, with reading books of amusement, 
 with the conversation of his friends; and sometimes, in the evening, with a party 
 at his favorite game of whist."-— Dr. Adam Smith, Letter to Wm. Strahan. 
 
 * Whist, a poem in twelve Cantos. By Alexander Thomson, Esq., p. 21. 
 Second Edition, 1792. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 161 
 
 the civilized parts of Europe.* If it may not possibly be 
 supposed that the game of Trumps (which I have before 
 taken notice of, as alluded to in one of the old plays con- 
 tained in Dodsley's Collection) is Whisk, I rather conceive 
 that the first mention of that game is to be found in 
 Farquhar's ' Beaux Stratagem,* which was written in the 
 very beginning of the present century.^ It was then played 
 with what were called Swahhers^ which were possibly so 
 termed, because they who had certain cards in their hand 
 were entitled to take up a share of the stake, independent 
 of the general event of the game. 'The fortunate, therefore, 
 clearing the board of this extraordinary stake, might be 
 compared by seamen to the Swabbers (or cleaners of the 
 deck), in which sense the term is still used. Be this as it 
 may. Whisk seems never to have been played on principles 
 till about fifty years ago, when it was much studied by a set 
 of gentlemen who frequented the Crown coffee-house in 
 Bedford row : before that time it was confined chiefly to 
 the servants' hall with All-Fours and Put." 
 
 ' Mr. Barrington seems to have obtained his information respecting the 
 succession of Whist to Quadrille from an authority whom he did not like to 
 acknowledge, namely, Sir Calculation Puzzle, in the Humours of Whist. 
 "Egad, you remind me, Sir John, of an observation I have made too; which 
 is, that as long as Quadrille and Ombre were the games in vogue, we certainly 
 were under French influence. Whereas since Whist has come in fashion, you 
 see our politics are improved upon us."— The Humours of Whist. A Dra- 
 matic Satire, as acted every day at White's, and other Coffee-houses and 
 Assemblies. 8vo, 1743. 
 
 ' From the following passage in the 'Beaux Stratagem,* act ii, scene 1, 
 T^Tiisk is mentioned by Mrs. Sullen in a disparaging manner, as if it were fit 
 only for rustics : 
 
 Dorinda. You share in all the pleasures that the country affords. 
 
 Mrs. Sullen. Country pleasures ! racks and torments ! Dost think, child, 
 that my limbs are made for leaping of ditches, and clambering over styles? or 
 that my parents, wisely foreseeing my future happiness in country pleasures, had 
 early instructed me in the rural accomplishments of drinking fat ale, playing at 
 whisk, and smoking tobacco v/ith my husband ?" 
 
 • " * The clergymen used to play at Whisk and Swabbers*— ^vf'iii." 
 
 11 
 
1G2 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 From Mr. Barrington's own references it would appear 
 to have been a favorite game vrith country squires about 
 1707, the date of the Beaux Stratagem; and occasionally 
 indulged in by clergymen about 1728, the date of Swift's 
 Essay on the Fates of Clergymen. Their example, however, 
 seems to have been unable to retrieve it from the character 
 of vulgarity, until it was seriously taken up by " a set of 
 gentlemen," who appear to have commenced their studies 
 at the Crown coffee-house, in Bedford row, just about the 
 time that the Treatise on Whist, by " Edmond Hoyle, Gent.,'' 
 was first published by Thomas Osborne, at Gray's Inn. 
 The studies of such gentlemen, and the celebrity of their 
 scientific instructor, are thus commemorated in the prologue 
 to the * Humours of Whist,' a dramatic satire quoted in the 
 preceding page. 
 
 " Who will believe that man could e*er exist 
 Who spent near half an age in studying "Whist ; 
 Grow grey with Calculation, — Labour hard ! — 
 As if Life's business centred in a card P 
 That such there is, let me to those appeal, 
 Wlio with such liberal hands reward his zeal. 
 Lo 1 Whist lie makes a science ; and our Peers 
 Deign to turn school-boys iii their riper years ; 
 Kings too, and Vice-roys, proud to play the game, 
 Devour his learned page in quest of Fame : 
 While lordly sharpers dupe away at White's, 
 And scarce leave one poor cull for common bites." 
 
 Though Mr. Barrington has not assigned any grounds 
 for supposing that Whist was the same game as that which 
 was formerly called Trumps, or Trump, it is not unhkely 
 that he was induced to suggest the possibility of their being 
 the same from his having read, in * The Compleat Gamester,' 
 that Whist differed but little from the game called English 
 Ruff and Honours, and in consequence of his having learnt, 
 from Cotgrave's Dictionary, that RufF and Trump were 
 
PROGRESS OY CARD-PLAYING. 163 
 
 the same.^ He says, in a note, that " In 1664, a book was 
 pubKshed, entitled ' The Corapleat Gamester,' which takes 
 no notice of Whisk." Though it be true that " Whisk" 
 is not named in the first edition of the book — printed in 
 1674, not 1664 — ^yet the following passage, distinctly assert- 
 ing that Whist was then a common game in all parts of 
 England, appears in the second edition published in 1680. 
 " Ruff and Honours (by some called Slam), and Whist, 
 are games so common in England, in all parts thereof, that 
 every child almost, of eight years, hath a competent know- 
 ledge in that recreation ; and therefore I am more unwilling 
 to speak anything more of them than this, that there may 
 be a great deal of art used in dealing and playing at these 
 games, which differ very little one from the other." In the 
 'Memoirs of the most Famous Gamesters, from the reign of 
 Charles II, to that of Queen Anne,' 1714, a sharper named 
 Johnson, who was hanged in 1690, is mentioned as having 
 excelled in the art of securing honours for himself and 
 partner when dealing at Whist ; and in the works of Taylor 
 the Water-poet, printed in 1630, Whisk is mentioned among 
 the games at which the prodigal squanders his money : 
 
 " The prodigalls estate like to a flux, 
 The Mercer, Draper, and the Silkman sucks : 
 The Taylor, Millainer, Dogs, Drabs, and Dice, 
 Trey-trip, or Passage, or the Most-at-thricc. 
 At Irish, Tick-tacke, Doublets, Drauglits, or Chesse, 
 lie flings his money free witli carclcssucsso : 
 At Novum, Mumchance, Mischance (chuso yo whicli), 
 At Onc-and-thirty, or at Poor-and-rich, 
 RuiTc, Slami Ti-ump, Noddy, Whisk, Hole, Sant, New-cut. 
 Unto the keeping of four Knaves he'll put 
 Ilis whole estate ; at Loadura or at Glceke, 
 At Tickle-mc quickly, he's a merry Greek ; 
 
 » "Whist is a game not much differing from this" [English Ruff and Ho- 
 nours].— Compleat Gamester, p. 86. Edit. 1709. "Triomphe, the card-game 
 called Ruffe, or Tinimp."— Cotgrave's French and English Dictionary. Edit. 
 1611. 
 
164 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 At Primifisto, Post-and payre, Primero, 
 
 Maw, Wliip-her-ginnv, he's a liberal hero ; ' 
 
 At My-sow pigg'd : but (reader, never doubt ye) 
 
 lie's skill'd in all games, except Looke about ye. 
 
 Bowles, Shove-groat, Tennis, no game comes amiss. 
 
 His purse a nurse for anybody is ; 
 
 Carochcs, Coaches, and Tobacconists, 
 
 All sorts of people freely from his fiscs 
 
 His vaine expenses daily suckc and soake. 
 
 And he himself suckcs only drinke and smoake. 
 
 And thus the Prodigall, himselfe alone. 
 
 Gives sucke to thousands, and himself suekis none.**' 
 
 In an edition of ' The Compleat Gamester' of 1709, it is 
 said that the game of Wliist is so called from the silence 
 that is to be observed in the play ; and Dr. Johnson, from 
 the manner in which he explains the term, seems to have 
 favoured this opinion : " Whist, a game at cards, requiring 
 close attention and silence."^ The name, however, appears 
 more likely to have been a corruption of the older one of 
 Whisk. As the game of Whisk and Swabbers was nearly 
 the same as that of the still older one of Ruff and Honours, 
 it would seem that the two former terms were merely the 
 ludicrous synonyms of the latter, — introduced perhaps 
 about the time that Rufifs were going out of fashion, and 
 when the Honours represented by the coat cards were at a 
 discount. The fact that a game, so interesting in itself, 
 should be so slighted, as it was, by the higher orders, from 
 the reign of Charles II to that of George II, would seem to 
 
 » Taylor's Motto : Et habeo, et careo, et euro. 
 
 « The writer of an article on Whist, in the Foreign Quarterly Review, No. 
 48, discussing the etymology of the name, says : " The Irish injunction, Whisht — 
 • be quiet,' may be thought to require consideration. It is the exact form of 
 the word, barring only the pure * ; but this is not the Sibboleth, or touchstone, 
 here. At the utmost, the difficulty is but a dialectical variety, elegantus causa, 
 for the sake of elegance ; just as shoup, for soup." — Nares, in his Glossary, 
 tinder the word Whist, an exclamation enjoining silence, says of the game, 
 ** That the name of Whist is derived from this, is known, I presume, to all who 
 play, or do not play." 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLAYING. 165 
 
 intimate that they were well aware of the ridicule intended 
 to be conveyed by its popular name of Whisk and Swabbers. 
 Looking at the conjunction of these terms, and considering 
 their primary meaning,^ there can scarcely be a doubt that 
 the former was the original of Whist, the name under which 
 the game subsequently obtained an introduction to fashion- 
 able society, the Swabbers having been deposed and the 
 Honours restored. 
 
 In playing the game. Swabbers seem to have signified 
 either the Honours, or the points gained through holding 
 them. At the older game of Ruif and Honours, Ruff 
 signified the Trump. It would appear that when the Ruff 
 was called a Whisk, in ridicule of the Ruff proper, the 
 Honours, or points gained through them were, " in concate- 
 nation accordingly, designated Swabbers." In the present 
 day, a Parisian tailor calls, facetiously, the shirt-ruffle of a 
 shopmatc a damping clout; and Philip Stubbcs, in his 
 * Anatomic of Abuses,' 1583, thus speaks of the ruffs of the 
 gallants of his time : ** Thei have great and monsterous 
 ruffes, made either of cambricke, hoUand, lawne, or els 
 of some other the finest cloth that can be. got for money, 
 whereof some be a quarter of a yarde deepe, yea some more, 
 very few lesse : so that thei stande a full quarter of a yarde 
 (and more) from their necks, hanging over their shoulder 
 points instead of a vaile. But if iEolus with his blasts, or 
 Neptune with his stormes, chaunce to hit upon the crasie 
 barke of thek bruised ruffes, then they goeth flip-flap in 
 the winde, like ragges that flew abroode, lying upon their 
 shoulders like the dishcloute of a slut." 
 
 In the reign of Queen Anne, card-playing seems to have 
 attained its full tide in every part of civihzed Europe. In 
 England, in particular, it was at once fashionable and 
 
 • A Whisk, a small kind of besom : a swab or swabber, a kind of mop. 
 
166 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 popular ; Ombre was the favorite game of the ladies ; and 
 Piquet of the gentlemen, par excellence; clergymen and 
 country squires rubbed on at Whist ; and the lower orders 
 shuffled away at All-Fours, Put, Cribbage, and Lanterloo. 
 Subsequently some of the games may have been more 
 diligently studied, and the chances more nicely calculated 
 " on principles," but at no other time, either before or since, 
 was card-playing more prevalent amongst people of all 
 classes. The more pious indeed did their best to discourage 
 the general passion for play ; but their dissuasions appear 
 to have produced but little effect; as indeed might be 
 expected at a period when one of the first statesmen of the 
 time piqued himself rather on his skill in gaming than on 
 his political reputation, and when kind landlords, of the 
 Sir Roger dc Covcrlcy school, used to send a string of hog's 
 puddings and a pack of cards as a Christmas gift to every 
 poor family in the parish.^ The character of the statesman 
 alluded to — Lord Godolphin, who died 1712,^ — is thus 
 sketched by Pope in his first Moral Epistle : 
 
 " Wlio would not praise Patricio*s high desert. 
 His hand unstained, bis uncorruptcd heart, 
 His eomprehcnsivc head ! all interests weighed. 
 All Europe saved, yet Britain not betrayed P 
 He thanks you not ; his pride is in piquette, 
 Newmarket fame, and judgement in a bet." 
 
 The following particulars relating to the manufacture of 
 cards in the reign of Queen Anne, are derived from a broad- 
 side entitled " Considerations in relation to the Imposition 
 on Cards, humbly submitted to the Hon. House of 
 
 " "Whist; by an Amateur: its History and Practice," p. 28, 1843.— A 
 beautiful little book, with appropriate illustrations, designed by Kenny Meadows, 
 and engraved on wood by Orrin Smith and W. J. Linton. 
 
 * " Oldsworth upbraided the kte Earl of Godolpliin with having a race-horse, 
 and the Earl of Sunderland with having a library, very Iionestly insinuating that 
 tlie former made an iJl use of the one, and the latter no use atidlof tlie other."— 
 The Censor censured ; or Cato turned Cataline, a pamphlet, published in 1722. 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLAYING. 167 
 
 Gommons." It is without date, but was certainly printed 
 in the reign of Queen Anne, for the purpose of being cir- 
 culated among the members of the House of Commons on 
 the occasion of a proposal to lay a tax of sixpence per pack 
 on cards. " Nine parts in ten of the cards now made," it is 
 stated, "are sold from 6^. to 24^. per gross; and even these 
 at Gs. will by this duty be subjected to £3 12^. tax. This, 
 with submission, will destroy nine parts in ten of the 
 manufacture ; for those cards which are now bought for Sd. 
 [per pack] can't then be afforded under lOd. or Is. If any 
 of your honours hope by this tax to suppress expensive card- 
 playing, it is enswered that the common sort who play for 
 innocent diversion will only be hindered ; the sharp 
 gamesters who play for money will not be discouraged ; for 
 those who play for many pounds a game will not be hin- 
 dered by 12<^. a pack." There were then 40,000 reams of 
 Genoa white paper annually imported, chiefly for the purpose 
 of making cards. The business was in the hands of small 
 masters, mostly poor, of whom there were no less than a 
 hundred, in and about London. Their price to retailers, 
 one sort of cards with another, was tlu^ee hdfpence a pack, 
 and their profit not above a halfpenny. Though cards 
 were at that period much smaller than they are at present, 
 it is difficult to conceive how they could be manufactured at 
 so low a price. 
 
 As Pope's description of the game of Ombre in the Rape 
 of the Lock has been so frequently referred to by writers of 
 all kinds,— whether treating, like Richard Seymour, Esq., 
 on Court Games, or, like Miss Mitford, on Coimtry Con- 
 tentments,^ — the omission of a reference to it here might be 
 
 * "Mr.. Pope's beautiful description of the maimer of playing this game."— 
 Seymour's Court Gamester, 1722.— "It is Belinda's game in the Rape of the 
 Lock, where every incident in the whole deal is so described, that when Ombre 
 is forgotten (and it is almost so already) it may be revived with posterity from 
 that admirable poem."— Barrington on the Antiquity of Card-playing. Pope's 
 
168 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 considered a gross oversight ; but as it is impossible to go a 
 pitch beyond the encomiums which have been bestowed on 
 it, the following remarks by an old author may be intro- 
 duced as a variation : " Mr. Pope, too, most certainly has 
 his merit ; yet the generality of polite men heed him little 
 more than a pack-horse upon the road; they hear the jingle 
 of his bells and pass on, without thinking of the treasure he 
 carries. I have frequently thought it odd, that in all the 
 good company I have kept, I never heard a line quoted from 
 any part of him, unless, now and then, an accidental one, 
 from his beautiful and accurate description of the game of 
 Ombre."^ 
 
 During the greater portion of the " Georgian Era" it 
 would seem that cards were as much played at by all classes 
 as in the reign of Queen Anne. In the early part of George I, 
 . Seymour published his * Court Gamester,' written, as the 
 title-page states, for the use of the young Princesses.^ The 
 only games of which Mr. Seymour treats arc Ombre, Piquet, 
 and the Royal Game of Chess. His instructions for playing 
 at Ombre and Piquet are minute and precise, and have all 
 the appearance of having been adapted for royal capacities. 
 At cards with princesses, he may have been a master, in 
 both senses of the word, and have played, in any company, 
 a " decent hand ;" but at Chess, it is evident, he was a 
 mere novice, — " aut caprimulgus, aut fossor." Though, in 
 the title-page, the work is said to have been written for the 
 use of the young princesses, yet, in the preface, the author 
 
 Grotto, and Hampton Court, excite in the mind of Miss Mitford "vivid images 
 of the fair Belinda and of the inimitable game at Ombre." — Our Village, fourth 
 series. 
 
 ' Serious Reflections on the dangerous tendency of the common practice of 
 Card-playing; especially the game of All-Fours, as it hath been publickly 
 played at Oxford in this present year of our Lord, 1754, 
 
 « The Princesses were the daughters of George Prince of Wales, afterwards 
 George II. One of them, Amelia, in her old maidenhood, was a regukr visitor 
 at Bath, seeking health at the pump, and amusement at the card-table. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 169 
 
 candidly acknowledges that he had been induced to compile 
 it for the fashionable world at large, seeing that " gaming 
 had become so much the fashion among the beau-monde, 
 that he who in company should appear ignorant of the 
 games in vogue would be reckoned low-bred and hardly fit 
 for conversation." In his explanation of the Spanish terms 
 ' employed in the game of Ombre, he is laudably precise; 
 though when he renders the words, '' Nose deve, por Bios'" 
 by ''Bis not lost, hy G—dl' he seems wishful rather to 
 give the spirit of the exclamation than the simple meaning 
 of the phrase, and to be emphatic even at the risk of ap- 
 pearing profane. It is to be hoped that the princesses 
 confined themselves to the original Spanish, and that they 
 were ignorant that it contained an oath, supposing the 
 objectionable English words to be merely added, elegantice 
 causa, by their polite teacher. 
 
 About the time that Seymour's. ' Court Gamester' was 
 first published, a spirit of gambling seems to have pervaded 
 all classes. Skill in the games at cards most in vogue was 
 a test of gentility ; stock-jobbing, or speculating for a rise 
 or a fall in the public funds, had become a regular trade ; 
 and even pious ministers, of high dissenting principles, who 
 looked on card-playing as sinful, scrambled as eagerly as 
 the most profane for shares of South Sea stock, and were 
 blinded to the sense of Christian duty by the dazzling hope 
 of becoming suddenly rich. The South Sea bubble, 
 however, at length burst, and its promoters and their dupes 
 were appropriately caricatured in a pack of cards.* The 
 South Sea directors, instead of having thousands of pounds 
 presented to them by the shareholders, as a tribute to 
 their speculative genius, were summoned before a parlia- 
 
 ' About 1721, a pack of cards was published, ridiculing the principal bubble 
 schemes of the day, but more especially the South Sea project. About the same 
 time, a set of caricature cards, ridiculing the Mississippi scheme, was published 
 in Holland. 
 
170 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 mcntary committee to give an account of their estates. 
 Parliamentary committees have of late been employed for a 
 purpose widely different : 
 
 " multi 
 
 Committiint eadem diverse crimina fato : 
 
 Ille crucem pretium scelcris tulit, hie diadema.** 
 
 About 1737, Iloyle's 'Treatise on Whist' was first pub- 
 lished. The work, which seems to have been admirably 
 adapted to the wants of society at the time, was most favorably 
 received ; and in the course of the succeeding ten or twelve 
 years it ran through as many editions as Lindley Murray's 
 Grammar, in the same period, in modern times. It proved 
 a "lucky hit," both for the author and the publisher, who 
 took every precaution to secure their copyright : injunctions 
 were held up in terrorem against pirates ; and purchasers 
 were informed that no copies of the work were genuine 
 unless they bore the signatures of 
 
 ^m^r^ Jhy^ 
 
 AND 
 
 ^TAd-.O^ijnM, 
 
 The race of "Wits/' who had previously exercised no 
 small influence on the world of fashion, was then on the 
 decline ; the beau-monde had acquired the ascendency over 
 Grub street ; and gentlemen of rank and fashion formed 
 themselves into clubs, for the purposes of gaming and 
 social intercourse, from which threadbare poets and hack 
 pamphleteers were excluded by the very terms of sub- 
 scription, to say nothing of the preliminary ordeal of the 
 ballot. Those were the golden days of Beau Nash ; when 
 George the Second was king ; and his son, the Duke of 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 171 
 
 Cumberland, the patron of Broughton and Figg; when 
 Gibber was Poet-Laureate, and when Qum's brutality 
 passed for wit ; when the Guards, the pride of the army, 
 were such heroes as we see them in Hogarth^s March to 
 Finchley ; and when such statesmen as Bubb Doddington 
 had the entree, by the back stairs, both at Leicester House 
 and St. James's. Even those who professed to correct the 
 vices of the age seem in some degree to have been infected 
 with its spirit ; Richardson, the noveUst, writing with the 
 ostensible design of reforming " Rakes'' and retaining 
 innocent young women in the paths of virtue, seems often 
 to indulge, more especially in Pamela and Clarissa Harlowe, 
 in describing scenes and suggesting circumstances which 
 only could have been conceived by a prurient imagination ; 
 and even John Wesley appears to have encouraged his poor 
 converted sinners to exaggerate their petty vices, when speak- 
 ing their experience at a love-feast, and to dwell, with a 
 peculiar kind of complacency, on their former state of carnal 
 wickedness as compared with their present state, of spiritual 
 grace, — just as William Huntington, S.S., when in the 
 fulness of sanctity, dwelt on the memory of his former 
 backslidings, and told all the world, with ill-dissembled 
 pride, that his first-born love-begotten son was an exact 
 copy of his father, both in humoiu* and in person. 
 
 The reign of Beau Nash at Bath forms a " brilliant" era 
 in the annals of ostentatious frivolity. Under his auspices 
 the City of the Sick^ became the favorite place of resort for 
 the fashionable and the gay; and in the pools where 
 formerly lepers alone washed to cleanse them of their sores, 
 smooth-skinned ladies dabbled for pleasure, to the sound 
 
 > " The Saxons called it Akeman-ceaster, which has been interpreted the City 
 of Valetudinarians." — Bath Guide. It is worthy of remark that most watering- 
 places much visited by wealthy invalids, abroad as well as at home, are also the 
 haunts of gamesters. " Where the carrion is, there are the vultures." 
 
172 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 of soft music, while gentlemen, enraptured, looked on.^ 
 The Beau was admirably fitted, from his mercurial talents, 
 to discharge the peculiar duties of purveyor of pleasure to 
 the fashionable society of his age; he could administer 
 flattery to a duchess while he pretended to reprove her ; 
 and could persuade the little madams, of the Would-be 
 family, that they were honoured by his patronising con- 
 descension, at the very time that he was endeavouring to 
 make them appear ridiculous, for the amusement of real 
 ladies. He displayed great tact in bringing parties together 
 who wished to be better acquainted, and denounced 
 scandal as the bane of fashionable society. lie promoted 
 play as a recreation for the polite of both sexes ; and en- 
 couraged dancing, not only as a healthy exercise per se, 
 but for the benefit of the rooms, and for the sake of aiding 
 the salutary operation of the waters. In his dress he was 
 " conspicuously queer," as was requisite in a Master of the 
 Ceremonies : he wore a large white hat, — cocked, be it 
 observed, — the buckle of his stock before instead of behind, 
 and, even in the coldest weather, his waistcoat unbut- 
 toned, displaying the bosom of his shirt. He drove six 
 greys in his carriage, and when he went in state to the 
 rooms he was always attended by a numerous escort and 
 a band of music, the principal instruments of which were 
 French horns, — "Sonorous metal, blowing martial sounds.'* 
 On his decease, which took place in 1761, the corporation 
 of Bath, grateful for the benefits conferred on their city 
 
 * " At this period it was the fashion for the ladies to adorn their lieads, before 
 they entered the bath, with all the lures of dress. By these means their charms 
 were set off to such advantage, that the husband of a lady, who, with Nash and 
 other spectators, was admiring the female dabblers, told his wife ' she looked 
 like an angel, and he wished to be with her.* Nash seized the favorable occasion 
 to establish his reputation as a man of gallantry and spirit, and therefore 
 suddenly taking the gentleman by the collar and the waistband of his breeches, 
 soused him over the parapet into the bath."— Life of Beau Nash. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLATINO. 173 
 
 through his means, erected a marble statue of the Grand 
 Master of the Ceremonies in the Pump-room, between the 
 busts of Newton and Pope; and his good-natured friend, 
 the Earl of Chesterfield, in an epigram,> thus did justice to 
 his memory and the taste of the corporation ; 
 
 ** The Statue, placed these busts between, 
 Gives Satire all its strength j 
 Wisdom and Wit are little seen, 
 But Polly at full length." 
 
 The Earl of Chesterfield was a frequent visitor at Bath, 
 where he found many admirers of his wit, and many oppor- 
 tunities of exercising it. Bath, indeed, was the very place 
 for such a genius to shine in, for in no other city in the 
 kingdom were manners and morals, such as his lordship's, 
 more highly appreciated. His lordship was fond of play 
 too; and was partial to the company of Mr. Lookup, one 
 of the most noted professional gamesters of the day. Lookup, 
 as well as Colonel Charteris, — of notorious memory in the 
 annals of gaming and debauchery, — was from the north 
 of the Tweed. He was bom in the neighbourhood of 
 Jedburgh, and was bred an apothecary. On the expiration 
 of his apprenticeship, he proceeded southward, and obtained 
 a situation in the shop of an apothecary at Bath. On the 
 death of his master, he wooed and won the widow ; and 
 having thus obtained possession of about five hundred 
 pounds in ready money, he gave up the shop, and devoted 
 himself entirely to play, an itch for which he is said to have 
 brought with him from his native country. In Lookup's 
 youth, and, indeed, for many years afterwards, a fondness 
 for card-playing was more prevalent in Jedburgh than in any 
 other town on the Scottish border. 
 
 Lookup, having determined to make gaming his business, 
 devoted, like a sensible man, his whole attention to it : he 
 calculated the odds coolly, played steadily, and, consequently. 
 
174 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 won considerably from those fashionable amateurs whose 
 confidence was not according to knowledge. He was not 
 only a proficient in all the usual games at cards, but also 
 played well at billiards. Lord Chesterfield used sometimes 
 to amuse himself at billiards with Lookup ; and on one 
 occasion had the laugh turned against him by a ruse of his 
 antagonist, who, after winning a game or two, asked his 
 lordship how many he would give if he were to put a patch 
 over one eye. His lordship agreed to give him five -^ and 
 Lookup having won several games in succession, his lord- 
 ship threw down his mace, declaring that he thought 
 Lookup played as well with one eye as with two. "I 
 don't wonder at it, my lord," replied Lookup, " for I have 
 only seen out of one these ten years." The eye of which 
 Lookup had lost the use appeared as perfect as the other, 
 even to a near observer. With the money which he had 
 at various times won of Lord Chesterfield, chiefly at Piquet, 
 he built some houses at Bath, which he jocularly called 
 " Chesterfield Row.'' 
 
 Lookup's gambling career, though successful, was not 
 uniformly smooth ; and on one occasion he got himself very 
 awkwardly entangled in the meshes of the law. A gentleman, 
 who had lost between three and four hundred pounds to 
 Lookup at Cribbage, being persuaded that there had been "a 
 
 * An analogous case, at cards, of begging for a point in order to inspire the 
 adversary with an erroneous opinion of the beggar being weak, is thus related 
 by Paschasius Justus of Pope Leo X. His holiness once, when playing at a 
 game simikr to Primcro, held such cards as made it impossible for him to lose, 
 except from the circumstance of his being the last player ; but as his adversary, 
 whose turn it was to declare first, proposed a heavy stake, he concluded that he 
 held as good cards as liimsclf. Being reluctant to yield the game, " give me a 
 point," he cried, " and I ^vill see you." The other, not suspecting that the 
 Pope held such capital cards, readily assented, and consequently lost.— The 
 narrator says that he could applaud the trick, if his holiness had returned the 
 loser his stake.— Pasc. Justi Alcae, lib. i, p. 50. Edit. Neapoli Nemetum 
 [Neustadt, in the diocese of Spires], 1617. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 17o 
 
 puir* upon him, brought an action against Lookup for double 
 damages, according to the statute made and provided for the 
 special protection of the Tom-Noddy class of gamesters, — 
 pitiful, whimpering, greedy fools, who call upon the world 
 to commiserate their losses, though occasioned solely by their 
 attempts on the purses of people more knowing, though not 
 a whit more knavish, than themselves. In the course of 
 some proceedings arising out of this action. Lookup, through 
 the blunder of his attorney, it is said, swore to the truth of 
 a circumstance which was subsequently proved to be false. 
 Lookup was hereupon prosecuted for perjury, and imprisoned; 
 and only escaped the pillory in consequence of a flaw in the 
 indictment : the blunder of his own attorney brings him 
 into peril, and the blunder of his opponent's sets him free ; 
 John a-Nokes's broken arm is a set-off against Tom a-Styles's 
 broken leg ; each party is left to pay his own costs, and thus 
 the Law at least is satisfied. The oyster is swallowed, and 
 the scales of justice are evenly balanced with a shell in 
 each. 
 
 Lookup, like his contemporary, Elwes the miser, who was 
 also a great card-player, frequently lost large sums by 
 projects which he was allured to engage in by the tempting 
 bait of a large return for his capital; a corrective occasionally 
 administered by fortune to her spoiled children when they 
 leave their old successful course of retail trickery, to embark 
 as merchant adventurers on the sea of speculation. But 
 though fortune frowned on him when he gave up gaming as 
 a regular profession, to become the principal partner in a 
 saltpetre manufactory at Chelsea, she yet looked favorably 
 on some of his other speculations which wxre more in 
 accordance with his old vocation : the shares which he held 
 in several privateers, in the French war from 1758 to 1763, 
 paid well ; and he was highly successful as an adventurer in 
 the slave trade. He is said to have died " in harness," — 
 
176 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 that is, with cards in his hand, — when engaged in playing 
 at his favorite game of Humbug, or two-handed Whist. 
 Foote — who is supposed to have represented him in the 
 character of Loader, in the farce of the Minor — is said to 
 have observed, on learning the circumstances of his death, 
 that " Lookup was humbugged out of the world at last." 
 He died in November, 1770, aged about seventy. His 
 biographer thus sums up his character : " Upon the whole, 
 Mr. Lookup was as extraordinary a person as we have met 
 with for several years in the metropolis. He possessed a 
 great share of good sense, cultivated by a long acquaintance 
 with the world ; had a smattering of learning, and a pretty 
 retentive memory ; was fluent in words, and of a ready 
 imagination. We cannot add, he was either generous, 
 grateful, or courageous. In his sentiments, his cunning, 
 and his fate, he nearly resembles the famous Colonel 
 Charteris ; a Scotchman by birth, and a gamester by pro- 
 fession, he narrowly escaped condign punishment for a crime 
 that was not amongst the foremost of those of which he 
 probably might be accused."^ Had he lived in the railway 
 era, he would, most assuredly, have been either a king or a 
 stag royal ; 
 
 "The craven rook and pert jackdaw. 
 Although no birds of moral kind. 
 Yet serve, when dead, and stuffed with straw, 
 To show us which way points the wind." 
 
 The reign of George II is a historical picture of 
 " great breadth,^' abounding in strongly marked characters, 
 strikingly contrasted ; but chiefly undignified, and generally 
 low. Tlie Carnal man is a ruffian rioting in Gin Lane ; 
 whilst the Spiritual is typified by a sinister-looking per- 
 sonage, with lank hair, cadaverous visage, and a cock-eye, 
 
 * The Literary Register, or Weekly Miscellany, p. 296, Newcastle on Tyne, 
 1771. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 177 
 
 preaching Free Grace from a tub to a miscellaneous com- 
 pany at Mile-end Green, — the indifference of the unre- 
 generate being indicated by a prize fight in the back- 
 ground. Here a poor rogue is going, drunk, to Tybiu-u, 
 for having robbed a thief-taker's journeyman of a silver 
 watch, a steel chain, and a tobacco-stopper, — worth alto- 
 gether forty shillings and threepence, the value required 
 by law to entitle the thief-taker to his price of blood ; and 
 there a wealthy soap-boiler, who has made a fortune by 
 cheating the excise, is going in state to Guildhall as Lord 
 Mayor of London. Here a young rake is making violent 
 love to his mother's maid, who has been induced to encourage 
 his attentions from her reading Pamela; and there his 
 aunt, a maiden lady of fifty-two, but having in her own 
 right three thousand a year, is complacently listening to the 
 matrimonial proposals of a young New-Ught preacher. 
 Here is Colley Gibber sipping his wine at the table of " my 
 lord y* and there sits Samuel Johnson, behind the screen 
 in Cave's back shop, eagerly devouring the plate of meat 
 which the considerate bookseller has sent him from his own 
 table. Here are Johnny Cope and the dragoons riding a 
 race from Preston Pans ; and there sits the young ChevaUer, 
 unkempt and bare-legged, smoking a short pipe in a High- 
 land hut. Here hangs the sign of the Duke of Cumberland's 
 head ; and there, grinning down on it from the elevation of 
 Temple Bar, are the heads of the decapitated rebels. Here 
 Ranelagh is seen shut up on account of the earthquake at 
 Lisbon;^ and there a batch of gambKng senators are hurrying 
 
 » "Uninflammable as the times were, they carried a great mixture of super- 
 stition. Masquerades had been abolished, because there had been an earthquake 
 at Lisbon ; and when the last jubilee-masquerade was exhibited at Rxinclagh, 
 the alehouses and roads to Chelsea were crowded with drunken people, who 
 assembled to denounce the judgments of God on persons of fashion, whose 
 greatest sin was dressing themselves ridiculously. A more inconvenient re- 
 formation, and not a more sensible one, was set on foot by societies of tradesmen, • 
 
 12 
 
178 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 down to the House from the club at White's, to give their 
 votes in favour of a bill to repress gaming. 
 
 The several acts passed against gaming, in the reign of 
 George II, appear to have had but Uttle effect in restraining 
 the practice, either at the time, or in any subsequent reign; 
 for though occasionally a soUtary loose fish might become 
 entangled in their meshes, they never interrupted the onward 
 course of the great shoal. 
 
 The shameless inconsistency of many of the noble lords 
 and honorable gentlemen who were parties to the enactment 
 of those laws, is cleverly shown up in an ironical pamphlet 
 entitled, " A Letter to the Club at White's. In which are 
 set forth the great Expediency of repealing the Laws now in 
 force against Excessive Gaming, and the many Advantages 
 that would arise to this Nation from it. By Erasmus 
 Mumford, Esq.," 1750. The following passages appear 
 most worthy of transcription, both as showing the composi- 
 tion of a celebrated club about a hundred years ago, and as 
 containing the pith of the writer's argument. 
 
 " The pertinency of my address to you, my Lords and 
 Gentlemen, on this occasion, must be evident to every one 
 that knows anything of your history ; as that you are a Club 
 of about Five Hundred, much the greatest part of you Peers 
 and Members of Parhament, who meet every day at a 
 celebrated Chocolate House, near St. James's, with much 
 greater assiduity than you meet in the Court of Requests ; 
 and there, all party quarrels being laid aside, all State 
 questions dropped, Whigs and Tories, Placemen and 
 Patriots, Courtiers and Country Gentlemen, you all agree 
 
 who denounced to the magistrate all bakers that baked or sold bread on Sundays. 
 Alum, and the variety of spurious ingredients with which bread, and, indeed, 
 all wares, were adulterated all the week round, gave not half so much offence as 
 the vent of the chief necessary of life on a Sunday."~Earl of Orford*s Memoirs, 
 vol. ii, p. 283. 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLAYING. 179 
 
 for the good of the Public, in the salutary measures of 
 excessive gaming. But then as this is against laws of your 
 own making, though now become old-fashioned, musty 
 things, it would save appearances a little to the world 
 methinks, that they should be repealed in the same solemn 
 form in which they were enacted. And as you are, by your- 
 selves and your relations^ a great majority of the Legislature, 
 and have no party bias whatsoever on this article, so it 
 would certainly be as easy for you, as it is, in my opinion, 
 
 incumbent on you, to accompUsh such a repeal For, 
 
 whatever we mean in our hearts, the forms of government 
 should be carefully preserved; and though gaming is of 
 the highest advantage to this nation, as I shall presently 
 make appear, yet to practise it in defiance of all order, in the 
 very sight, as it were, of the Government, and against the 
 spirit and letter of the laws which you made yourselves, is 
 entirely inconsistent with the character of Patriots, Nobles, 
 Senators, Great Men, or whatever name of public honour 
 you would chuse to call yourselves by. 
 
 " Besides, we have some odd queer maxims in om* heads, 
 that the Law is the same for the King and the Cobler, &c., 
 nor is there in any Act of Parliament that has come to my 
 knowledge, any exception of this same house called White's 
 and the good company who frequent it. If you have any 
 act against Gaming with any such exception in it, be so 
 good as to produce it ; for I believe verily that, besides 
 yourselves, there is not a man in the kingdom who knows 
 any thing of it. I have read the last Act over and over, 
 and I protest that I can't see any such thing; and yet I 
 don't know how to persuade myself that so many noble 
 Lords and so many of the House of Commons, of all parties 
 and denominations, should every day meet together in open 
 contradiction to such an Act, without a saving clause to 
 shelter themselves under. — 
 
180 - PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 " But though it does no other harm at present, yet still 
 it continues to be an act of the Lords and Commons of the 
 kingdom, (of which you, to your eternal praise, are a great 
 part,) and which has had the Royal assent. And whilst it 
 does so continue, it not only hinders the rest of the kingdom, 
 who are so silly as to mind Acts of Parhament, from Gaming, 
 but it prevents a scheme, which I have had in my head for 
 some time, from taking place ; which is, that you should 
 use your utmost endeavours with his Majesty, that he would 
 be pleased, in consideration of the great good of his people, 
 to give neither place nor pension to any Peer, howsoever 
 deserving in all other respects, who is not of your body ; and 
 that a Bill should be brought in to render every one inca- 
 pable of sitting as a member in either House of Parliament, 
 how sound soever his political principles may be, who is not 
 likewise a member of the Gaming Club at White's, This, 
 I apprehend, would be an effectual way of introducing this 
 wholesome innocent diversion into every house of Fashion 
 and Politeness in the kingdom, and make your illustrious 
 body more in vogue, if that can be, than it is at present. — 
 
 " But this scheme, which I apprehend to be of such 
 great utility, can never be executed whilst these Acts of 
 Parliament remain unrepealed There is one dif- 
 ficulty indeed which I am aware of, which, as I don't know 
 how to get over very well myself, I must submit to your 
 greater wisdom ; and that is, getting the king and his chief 
 ministers to consent. For as to the former, though he 
 allows of the practice in his palace once a year, from mere 
 antient custom,^ yet it is well known that he discoiu'ages 
 it very much ; and the moment he heard of a table at his 
 house at Kensington, sent immediate orders to forbid it. 
 
 * The king not only allowed of gaming at the groom porter's at the Christmas 
 holidays, but used to pay a formal visit there himself at the commencement of 
 the "season." 
 
X. 
 
 PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 181 
 
 And as to the Secretaries of State, though they have this 
 diversion once a year or so at their houses, for the entertain- 
 ment of the Foreign Ministers, yet they never play them- 
 selves, nor show any other countenance to it, directly nor 
 indirectly."* 
 
 In the political pamphlets which appeared in opposition 
 to the ministry in the latter part of the reign of George II, 
 the club at White's is frequently alluded to; and in 'A 
 Political and Satirical History of the years 1756, 1757, 
 1758, 1759, and 1760, in a series of one hundred and 
 four Humourous and Entertaining Prints,'^ the gaming 
 propensities of Lord Anson, the circumnavigator, who was 
 at the same time a member of the club and of the govern- 
 ment, are keenly satirised. In Plate 7 he is represented 
 
 • From an advertisement in the public papers, subsequently referred to by 
 the author, it would appear that this compliment to the secretaries of state was 
 ironical. It is there stated that a set of gentlemen of character and fortune 
 had determined to enforce the acts of parliament respecting unlawful games of 
 play, whether with cards or otherwise j and that they were firmly resolved that 
 neither the sanctuary at White's, nor the more sacred mansion of a secretary 
 of state, should prevent their puttmg their design in execution. It is not 
 ^surprising that cards should be a favorite game with diplomatists, seeing that 
 their regular vocation consists in cutting and shufiling, and that their grand 
 game is usually won by a trick. Talleyrand was a capital player both at cards 
 and protocols. Espartcro, when Tlcgcnt of Spain, is said to have played at 
 cards with the ministers as he lay in bed. Cabral, the Portuguese minister, is 
 also a great card-player. 
 
 ' This collection of caricatures is contained in a small volume of a square 
 form, like that of a pocket dictionary. In the title, the work is said to have 
 been "digested and published by M. Darly, at the Acorn in Ryder's Cour^, 
 Cranboum Alley, Leicester Fields." Subsequently, Darly published another 
 volume, of the same size, entitled * A Political and Satirical History, displaying 
 the unhappy Influence of Scotch Prcvalcncy in the years 1761, 1762, and 1763 ; 
 being a regular series of ninety-six humourous, transparent, and entertauiing 
 prints. With an explanatory Key to every print.' These two volumes con- 
 tain the most numerous and interesting series of political caricatures that had 
 liitherto appeared in England. The caricatures which appeared in the Political 
 Register from 1767 to 1772 may be considered as a continuation of the series 
 published by Darly. 
 
182 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 as a Sea Lion, with the body of a man and the tafl of a 
 fish ; in one hand he holds a dice-box, and in the other 
 a card ; and on the wall are two pictures, the one showing 
 an E.O. table, and the other a table covered with money, 
 with the inscription *^ Blades and Whites/' In another 
 print he figures as the Knave of Diamonds, with the in- 
 scription at the top, '^ Hie niger est;'' and at the bottom, 
 "AcAPULCA." In the Key prefixed to the work the person 
 represented is thus denounced: "This caricatura's pro- 
 pensity to gaming tells us at once how valuable he must 
 be to a shipwrecked state, and that he deserves (like a 
 drunken pilot in a storm) to be thrown overboard, to make 
 room for one of clearer brains and more integrity." The 
 three other Knaves are : Spades, inscribed " Monsr. Dupe/* 
 and in the Key it is said that, by the flower-de-luces, seen 
 on the ground, is expressed, " how much this caricatura was 
 connected with our enemies, and was even a Dupe to them 
 against the interests of his country." Hearts, with a 
 fox's head, and inscribed "Monsr. Surecard:" in the Key 
 it is said that this character " infers, by the sliarpness of the 
 nose, that craft and subtilty which is natural to creatures ^ 
 of a similar kind, known by the name of Foxes, and is here 
 pointed out as a Knave." Clubs, with a broken yoke in 
 his hand, and inscribed "Null Marriage;" the Key says, 
 "this caricatura was esteemed the most atrocious Knave in 
 the pack, and the worst of the black sort." 
 
 Another plate in the same series of caricatures displays 
 the gamester's coat of arms. The shield is charged with 
 cards, dice, and dice-boxes, and is siurounded by a chain, 
 from which hangs a label inscribed "Claret." Supporters, 
 two Knaves. Crest, a hand holding a dice-box. Motto, 
 " Co(j it Amor nummi." In Plate 90, of which a copy is 
 liere given, the principal performers figuring on the poli- 
 
v.. 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 188 
 
 tical stage in 1759 are represented as coat cards.^ In the 
 suit of Hearts, the King, Optimus, is George II ; Queen, 
 Britannia; Knave, Pitt. Diamonds, King, the King of 
 Prussia; Queen, the City of London; Knave, Prince Fer- 
 dinand. Spades, King, the King of Poland ; Queen, the 
 Queen of Hungary ; Knave, Holland. Clubs, King, the 
 King of France ; Queen, Gallia ; Knave, Marshal Broghe. 
 In the Key it is said that " the labels and characters here 
 represented are sufficient to explain the meaning of the 
 print, with the least application." 
 
 In a work relating to the authorship of Junius's Letters,' 
 the following account is given of the volume of caricatures 
 in question. It is not, however, correct in every point; 
 for though it may be true that the earlier plates were at 
 first privately distributed, it is certain that subsequently 
 they were publicly sold. The first collection of them, 
 published in a volume, consisted only of the caricatures for 
 1756-7 ; and appears to have been enlarged from time to 
 time, by the addition of such plates as had been pub- 
 lished separately in the preceding year. The edition of 
 the first volume which I have consulted, containing the 
 plates from 1756 to 1760, is the fifth,— a proof that latterly 
 those caricatures were not privately distributed, whatever 
 they might have been at the commencement. Though Lord 
 George Townshend might have supplied the publisher with 
 sketches or hints,^ for some of the subjects, and even have 
 
 • In the same volume there is another plate of the same kind, showing the 
 coat cards for 1756. 
 
 ' A Critical Enquiry regarding the real Author of the Letters of Junius, proving 
 them to have been written by Lord Viscount Sackville. By George Coventry, 
 p. 34, 1825. Copies of two of the caricatures on Lord George Sackville are 
 given in this work. 
 
 « At the foot of the title-page of the second volume, for the years 1761-2-3, 
 there is a notice, that "sketches or liints, sent post-paid [to the publisher], 
 will have due honour shewn them." 
 
184 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 suggested the publication of the series, it would be absurd 
 to conclude that he was the designer of the whole. There 
 are only four subjects in the volume relating to Lord George 
 Sackville ; and they are among the most worthless of the 
 series, both with respect to conception and design. 
 
 " Soon after the unfortunate misunderstanding at Minden, 
 Lord George Townshend (who had formerly been on friendly 
 terms with Lord George Sackville, particularly at the battle 
 of Dettingen) joined with the court party in publicly cen- 
 suring his conduct. He had an ingenious tiun for drawing, 
 and he even went so far as to caricature Lord George 
 flying from Minden, which, with many others, he privately 
 circulated among his friends. This book of caricatures, 
 bearing date from 1756 to 1762, is extremely curious. As 
 they were privately distributed, they are, of course, seldom 
 to be met with. I never saw but one complete set, now in 
 the possession of W. Little, Esq., of Richmond, who has 
 obligingly allowed me to copy the one in question, which is 
 submitted to the reader's inspection. We have Lord 
 Orford's testimony to prove that this book was the produc- 
 tion of Lord George Townshend. Lord Orford has described 
 the first of the series, vol. ii, p. 68, 'A new species of this 
 manufacture now first appeared, invented by Lord George 
 Townshend ; they were caricatures on cards. The original 
 one, which had amazing vent, was of Newcastle and Fox, 
 looking at each other, and crying with Peachum, in the 
 Beggar's Opera, 'JBrot/ier, brother, we are both in the wrong! 
 On the Royal Exchange a paper was affixed, advertising. 
 ' Three -kingdoms to be let : inquire of Andrew Stone, 
 broker, in Lincoln's Inn Fields.' — The whole series forms a 
 curious collection. Those on Lord George Sackville were 
 very severe." 
 
 The example set by the club at White's appears to have 
 been much more influential in promoting gaming than the 
 
PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. 186 
 
 denunciation of an Act of Parliament to have been effective 
 in repressing it : the letter of the act was, indeed, killing, 
 but the spirit of the legislators, as displayed at White's, 
 kept the game aHve. New clubs of the same kind,— ^n the 
 principle of mutual insurance against informers, — were 
 established in the metropolis ; and even in the provinces, 
 country gentlemen and tradesmen, becoming aware of the 
 advantages of the social compact, formed themselves into 
 little clubs for the purpose of indulging in a quiet game at 
 cards or dice. Card-playing about the same time, or a Uttle 
 later, was greatly promoted by the establishment of assembly- 
 rooms in country towns, where cock-fighting squires, after 
 attending the pit in the morning, might enjoy in the evening 
 the more refined amusements of dancing and cards.^ The 
 example set by the higher classes was followed by the lower ; 
 and at a "merry night" in a Cumberland village, some 
 fifty years since, cards were as indispensable as at an assize 
 ball in the county town : with the exception of the dress of 
 the company and the arrangement of the rooms, the one 
 assembly, at the commencement at least, seems to have 
 displayed all the essentials of the other. 
 
 "Ay, lad, sec a murry-neet we've had at Bleckell! 
 
 The sound o* the fiddle yet rings i* my ear; 
 Aw reet clipt and heeled were the lads and the lasses, 
 
 And momiie a clever lish hussey was there : 
 The bettermer sort sat snug i' the parlour; 
 
 r th* pantry the sweethearters cuttered sae soft ; 
 The dancers they kicked up a stour i* the kitchen ; 
 
 At lanter the caird-lakers sat i* the loft."» . 
 
 * « "Et decusobpatrium, etstudiosffi pubis in usus, 
 
 Construxere sacros chartis fidibusque penates." 
 
 C. Anstey, ad C. W. Bampfylde, Epistola, 1777. 
 • * Ballads in the Cumberland Dialect, by R. Anderson. An explanation of a 
 few terms in the above verses will render them more intelligible to the reader 
 who has the misfortune to be unacquainted with the Cumberland dialect. Clipi 
 and heeled, prepared for the sport, like cocks for fightmg. Lishy sprightly, 
 active. Cuttered, cooed, like billing doves. Stour, dust. Lanter, three-card 
 
186 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 The passion for card-playing appears to have been ex- 
 tremely prevalent in the earlier part of the reign of George 
 III.^ In almost every town where there is an assembly- 
 room, traditional anecdotes are handed down of certain 
 keen playen; keeping up the game for twenty-four successive 
 hours, till they were. up to their knees in cards; and there 
 is scarcely a county in England that has not a story to tell 
 of two or three of its old landed gentry being ruined at 
 cards by the Prince of Wales. Even villages have their 
 annals of gaming; of once substantial farmers turning 
 horse-coursers and riding headlong to ruin on a leather 
 plater ; of others going more quietly off at cards, staking 
 their corn before it was housed ; and of certain desperate 
 cock-fighters losing their whole substance at a single match,, 
 and then straightway hanging themselves in their own bam. 
 The love of card-playing, to the great horror of the inordi- 
 nately pious, seems even to have infected ladies who were, 
 in other respects, irreproachable : — good wives, affectionate 
 mothers, teaching their children the Catechism, going re- 
 gularly to church on Sundays, and taking the sacrament 
 every month; yet, alas! dearly loving a snug private party 
 of four or five tables, and immensely fond of Quadrille ; and 
 making but a poor atonement for their transgression by 
 never touching a card in Passion week, nor the night before 
 the Communion, nor even on the Wednesdays and Fridays 
 in Lent,— whenever they could avoid playing, "consistently 
 with good manners."^ 
 
 loo. Caird-lakers, card-players. Lanter, or lant, so common in Cumberland 
 and Nortliumbcrland, appears to have been unknown to a deservedly high 
 authority on all sports and games : " The editor does not know the game of 
 Ztf;/^."— BcU's Life in London, 4th March, 1838. 
 
 * Some curious particulars — somewhat exaggerated — respecting certain great 
 card-players of this period will be found in * The Adventures of a Guinea.' 
 
 * An Address to Persons of Fashion relating to Balls : with a few occasional 
 Hints concerning Play-houses, Card-tablcs, &c. By the Author of Pietas 
 Oxonicnsis. Sixth edition, 1771. 
 
PROGRESS OP CARD-PLATING. 187 
 
 A discourse against gaming, preached in 1793, by Dr. 
 Thomas Rennell, Master of the Temple, seems to have made 
 much noise about the time, but no converts. , The most 
 original passage in the work is the following, wherein he 
 asserts that the habit of card-playing renders the mind 
 insensible of Gospel evidence : in the present day, it may 
 be observed in passing, that a similar effect has been 
 ascribed to the study of Oriel-college logic. " The mind 
 of one immersed in cards soon becomes vacant, frivolous, 
 and captious. The habits form a strange mixture of mock 
 gravity and pert flippancy. The understanding, by a per- 
 petual attention to a variety of unmeaning combinations, 
 acquires a kind of pride in this bastard employment of the 
 faculty of thought, which is so far from having any analogy 
 to the real exercise of reason, that we generally find a 
 miserable eminence in it attainable by the dullest, the most 
 ignorant, and most contemptible of mankind. The game- 
 ster, however, frequently mistakes this skill for general 
 acuteness, and from that conceit either totally rejects the 
 Gospel evidence, or if political or professional considerations 
 render this indecent or inexpedient, he harbours all that con- 
 temptible chicane, all that petty sophistry, all that creeping 
 evasion, vsdth which a selfish heart, and a contracted under- 
 standing, meets and embraces the prevailing heresy of the 
 times in which we live."' 
 
 The following appears to be levelled at an individual of 
 no small reputation in his day, and whose memory is likely 
 to outlast Dr. Rennell's. " What is it that converts those 
 designed by Providence to be the guardians and protec- 
 tors into the bane and curse of their country ? I will 
 
 ' "The causes of infidelity are varions. Before the improved sagacity of 
 Dr. Rennell had discovered that it owed its origin to Popery, his wisdom had 
 detected its source, artfully lurking in the 'unmeaning combinations* of a pack 
 of cards."— Reflections on the Spirit of Religious Controversy, by the Rev. 
 Joseph Fletcher, of Hexham, England, p. 192. 12mo, New York, 1808. 
 
188 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 answer, the gaming table. The reverses here every mo- 
 ment occurring unite beggared fortunes, mortified pride, 
 callous baseness, and inflamed appetites, directing their 
 joint operations to the destruction of that common mother 
 which gave them birth. And here I wish to be rightly 
 understood — that with a frugal, active, dignified poverty, 
 the discharge of public duty is perfectly compatible. 
 Such a poverty was highly reverenced in the best ages of 
 Pagan antiquity, as the nurse of every great and useful 
 exertion ; but as distant as Ught from darkness is such a 
 poverty from that degraded, malevolent, abject mendicity, 
 the offspring of vice, the organ of faction, and the parent 
 of universal prostitution and venality.'' 
 
 Dr. Parr, in his copy of this discourse, wrote the follow- 
 ing note, which may serve as a tail-piece to the present 
 chapter: '*Dr. Rennell is said, with his own hand, to have 
 put a copy of this animated sermon under the knocker of 
 Mr. Fox's door in South street. I could wish the story 
 to be untrue. But the eloquent preacher did not employ 
 his great talents in a sermon against Sabbath-breaking, 
 though his illustrious patron, Mr. Pitt, had lately fought 
 a duel with Mr. Tiemev on Wimbledon Common." 
 
189 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF THE DIFFEItENT KINDS OP CARDS AND THJE 
 MARKS OP THE SUITS. 
 
 Having in the preceding chapters endeavoured to trace 
 the origin of Playing Cards, and to show their progress 
 from the time of their first introduction into Europe, I 
 shall now proceed to give collectively some account of the 
 different kinds of cards, of the various marks that have been 
 employed to distinguish the suits, and of the changes that 
 they have undergone at different periods. 
 
 Most authors who have expressly written on the subject, 
 agi'ee in distinguishing two kinds of cards, namely, those 
 which they call Tarocchi, or Tarots ; and those, consisting 
 of four suits, which are in common use throughout Europe. 
 It is a subject of dispute, among the learned in these 
 matters, which of those two kinds are of the greatest antiquity; 
 Court de Gebehn considers that Tarocchi cards were known 
 to the ancient Egyptians ;^ and Mons. Duchesne is pleased 
 to assume that certain so-called Tarocchi Cards, preserved 
 in the Bibhotheque du Roi, belonged to one of the three 
 packs painted for Charles VI, by Jacquemin Gringonneur, 
 in 1393. Mons. Duchesne is also of opinion that these 
 cards were the same as those which were formerly called 
 
 ' He says that the name is pure Egyptian, and tliat it is composed of the 
 word Tar, signifying road, way j and tho word Ro, Ros, Roo, which means 
 royal : thus we have Tarog— Tarocchi-rtho Royal Road. By such a road as 
 this Mons. Court de Gebclin seems to have arrived at much of his ''recondite 
 knowledge of tilings unknown."— See his Monde Primitif, huitiemo livraison, 
 Dissertations melees : "Du jeu de tarots, oh Ton traite de son origme, oh. Ton 
 explique ses alldgories", et ou Ton fait voir qu'il est la isource de nos cartes 
 modemes ^ jouer."— Tome i, pp. 365-94. 4to, Paris, 1781. 
 
190 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 Naibi in Italy; and in support of it, he alleges several 
 authorities, which seem to him to be decisive of the fact, 
 but which really prove nothing more than that Chartae 
 and Naibi were synonymous.^ He produces no evidence 
 to show that the scries of painted and engraved figures, 
 now usually called Tarocchi, were originally known either 
 by that name, or by that of cards ; while from a passage 
 cited by Mons. Leber, from Raphael Volaterranus, it would 
 appear that Tarocchi Cards, properly so called, were not 
 invented till towards the close of the fifteenth century ; and 
 from the same author we learn that a pack of such cards 
 consisted of the four suits of common cards, together with 
 twenty-two symbolical figures, similar to those which are 
 assumed by Mons. Duchesne to have been the original 
 Tarocchi. Tarocchi cards— called Tarots by the French — 
 are still used in several parts of France, Germany, and 
 Italy ; and an account of the manner of playing the game 
 is to be found in the edition of the 'Academie des Jeux,' 
 published by Corbet, Paris, 1814. 
 
 Mons. Duchesne calls this game Tarocchino, and distin- 
 guishes it from that played with the old series of figures, 
 which he supposes to have been the original Tarocchi ; but 
 so far from there being any evidence to show that these 
 figures were at their first introduction known either by the 
 name of Tarocchi or of Cards, there seems greater reason to 
 conclude that they have only obtained this name in compara- 
 tively recent times, in consequ<}nce of some of them being 
 
 » "Uno dcrniJjre citation aclicvra do ddmontrcr quo Ics cartes ct ics naibi 
 sent bicn la memo clioso ; lo Traitd do Tb^ologic do Saint Antoinc, dvcquo do 
 Florence en 1457, porte : Et idem videtur de chariis vel naibis j ct encore dans 
 un autre endroit du mcme ouvrage: Defadoribus et venditoribus alearum et 
 iaxillarum et chartarum et naiborum"~-Vr6cia Historique et Explicatif sur les 
 Cartes h jouer, prefixed to the specimens of cards published under the title of 
 ' Jeux de Cartes Tarots ct dc Cartes Numdralcs, du xiv"" au xvm"* Si^cle,* 
 by the Society of Bibliophiles Franjais. Imperial 4to, Paris, 1844. 
 
DIPPERENT KINDS. 191 
 
 used in combination with common cards, at a game called 
 Tarocchi, wliich was also the name given to the cards with 
 which it was played. The earliest writers who mention 
 Tarocchi as a kind of cards, always speak of them as con- 
 sisting of four suits, — Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money, — 
 together with a certain number of other cards, representing 
 various characters and emblematical figures. 
 
 A pack of Tarots,^ as at present used in France, corre- 
 sponds in every particular with those called Tarocchi by 
 writers of the sixteenth century. It consists of scvcnty-cight 
 cards ; that is, of four suits of numeral cards, and twenty- 
 two emblematic cards, called Atous.^ The marks of the 
 suits are usually Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money ; and 
 each suit consists of fourteen cards, ten of which are "pips" 
 or low cards and the other four are coat cards, — namely. 
 King, Queen, Chevalier, and Valet. Of the Atous, twenty- 
 one are numbered consecutively from 1 to 21 ; that which 
 is not numbered is called the Fou, — the Clown or BujBFoon, 
 — and in playing the game is usually designated " Mat." 
 The Fou has of itself no positive value, but augments that 
 of any of the other Atous to which it may be joined. The 
 other Atous are numbered and named as follows : 
 
 1. The Bateleur, or Juggler; called also Pagad. 2. Juno. 
 
 * The word Tarot has been supposed to be a corruption of Taroiichi^Cards 
 marked on the back with lines crossing lozenge-wise, and witfi Irttlc spots, are 
 called Cartes Tarot^es ; and in France card-makers appear to have been formerly 
 called Tarcoticrs. Mcncstricr conceives that it was from these " lignes firett^es 
 en forme de rezeuil" cards were named Tarcuits^ and Cartes Tarautees. He 
 says that TarG.-^/aut, dechct, ^^d?^,— signifies properly a hole, un frou; and 
 ho derives it from the Greek npetv, to bore. From Tare he also derives Tariff, 
 a ruled book for entering the duties on goods. Mons. Duchesne says that 
 Tarot " vicnt en effet de Tltalien tarrochio, dont ik v<Jrit6 nous ignorons encore 
 la signification." 
 
 « Mons. Duchesne thus accounts for those cards being called Atous : "Ces 
 cartes sont dites a tutti, ^ tons, c'cst-^dire sup6rieures h toute autre, et n*ap- 
 partenant a aucune coulcur." In other games at cards, the French Jtout has 
 the same meaning as the English Trump, 
 
192 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 8. The Empress.^ 4. The Emperor. 5. Jupiter. 6. L'Amou. 
 reux. 7. The Chariot. 8. Justice. 9. The Capuchin, called also 
 the Hermit. 10. The Wheel of Fortune. 11. Fortitude. 
 12. Lc Pcndu— a man suspended, head downwards, by 
 one leg. 13. Death. 14. Temperance. 15. The Devil. 
 16. The Maison-Dieu, or Hospital — a tower struck by 
 lightning. 17. The Stars. 18. The Moon. 19. The Sun. 
 20. The Last Judgment. 21. The End of the World.— Of 
 these the first five are called petita atom, and the last five 
 grands atous. Seven cards are also especially distinguished 
 as Tarots, or Atous-tarots ; these are the End of the World, 
 the Buflbon, the Bateleur, and the four Kings.^ 
 
 According to Cicognara,3 the inventor of the game of 
 Tarocchino, — or Tarots, as above described, — was an Italian, 
 who resided at Bologna, prior to the year 1419 ; and the 
 account which he gives is to the following eflect : " There 
 is preserved in the Fibbia family, one of the most ancient 
 and illustrious of that city, a portrait of Francis Fibbia, 
 Prince of Pisa, — who sought refuge at Bologna, about the 
 commencement of the fifteenth century, — ^in which he is 
 represented holding in his right hand a parcel of cards, 
 
 * The Empress is supposed to have been substituted for the Pope, who 
 occurs in the old series of figures assumed by M. Duchesne to have been the 
 
 . original Tarocchi. In a similar manner, L'Amoureux is supposed to have been 
 substituted for Apollo; the Chariot for Mars; the Capuchin or Hermit for Saturn; 
 the Wheel of Fortune for Astrology ; and Le Pendu for Prudence. 
 
 « The figures of two or three of the Atous are sometimes differently repre- 
 sented. In a pack now before me, inscribed "Cartes des Suisses," manufactured 
 at Brussels, in No. 2, instead of Juno, there is a figure inscribed "Le 'Spagnol, 
 Capitano Eracasse;** in No. 5, Bacchus supplies the place of Jupiter; and 
 No. 16, which is inscribed "La Eoudre," shows a tree struck by lightning, in- 
 stead of a tower. In this set, the Pou is numbered 22. Tarots are generally 
 about a fourth longer, and a little wider than English cards, and are usually 
 coarsely coloured. 
 
 * Memorie spcttanti aUa storia deUa Calcografia, dalconte Leopold Cicognara. 
 8vo, Prata, 1831.— Cited m Duchesne's Precis Historique sur les Cartes ^ 
 jouer, prefixed to the specimens of playing cards published by the Soci^t^ des 
 Bibliophiles Franpais. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 193 
 
 while others appear lying on the ground ; among the latter 
 are seen the Queen of Batons, and the Queen of Money, 
 the one being ornamented with the arms of the Bentivoglio 
 family, and the other with the arms of the Fibbia. An 
 inscription at the bottom of the pictiu'c infonns us that 
 Francis Fibbia, who died in 1419, had obtained, as the 
 inventor of Tarocchino, from the Beformers of the city, the 
 privilege of placing his own shield of arms on the Queen of 
 Batons, and that of his wife, who was of the Bentivoglio 
 family, on the Queen of Money ; " a distinction," observes 
 Mons. Duchesne, " which nevertheless does not exclude the 
 supposition that Francis Fibbia, Commander-in-chief of the 
 Bolognese forces, had rendered more important services to 
 his countrymen than teaching them to play at Tarocchino." 
 Supposing Cicognara's account to be correct, it yet proves 
 nothing with respect to the comparative antiquity of the 
 two kinds of cards which compose the pack for the game of 
 Tarocchino, or Tarots. Mons. Duchesne, however, having 
 assumed that the old series of emblematic figures called 
 Tarocchi cards were the oldest, sees no difficulty in the 
 matter, but unhesitatingly concurs with Cicognara in 
 ascribing the invention of Tarocchino to Francis Fibbia, 
 without inquiring whether Fibbia had merely combined 
 into one pack two kinds of cards abeady well known, or 
 whether he was the ftrst deviser of the four suits which con- 
 stitute the most important portion of the pack, and which 
 give to the game all its spirit. Seeing that Fibbia w^as 
 honoured for his invention by the Reforming magistracy 
 of Bologna, — where both card-playing and the manufacture 
 of cards appear to have been pretty extensively carried on 
 about 1423, — the most probable conclusion would be, that 
 he had deserved well in their opinion, not from having 
 converted by new combinations a previously innocent and 
 amusing game into a hazardous and exciting one, but in 
 consequence of his having shuffled a few moral Tarocchi 
 
 13 
 
194 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 into the old pack of numeral cards of four suits, whether 
 of Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money, or of Bells, Hearts, 
 Leaves, and Acorns. In support of this conclusion, it may 
 further be observed, that though the manufacture of cards 
 was extensively carried on both in Italy and Germany, 
 before the year 1450, no so-called Tarocchi cards of that 
 period have been discovered which can fairly be supposed 
 to have been intended, either from their size or execution, 
 for the common purposes of play j while, on the contrary, 
 there arc in existence several specimens of numeral cards 
 of four suits, cither stencilled or engraved on wood, and 
 evidently of a cheap manufacture, for common use, of a date 
 not later than 1450. 
 
 The kind of game for which the emblematic figures 
 usually called Tarocchi cards were used, remains to be dis- 
 covered. Mons. Duchesne has, indeed, hazarded a conjecture 
 on the subject, which is equally incapable of refutation or 
 of proof. "The number of players," he says, "necessary to 
 form a party, would scarcely be limited to two, and probably 
 might vary from three to twelve, or rather from tlu*ee to 
 eiglit; and the manner of playing might simply consist in 
 the appropriate laying down of such of the figures as, ac- 
 cording to an order agreed upon, might belong to the suit 
 of the card first played. The holder of certain privileged 
 cards would have doubtless some additional advantage; 
 and we may further suppose that each player being obliged, 
 in turn, to lay down a card draAvn at random, striking con- 
 trasts resulting from unexpected combinations would afford 
 a subject of amusement. This supposition would seem to 
 agi'ce with the subject of a book entitled ' Les Cartes Par- 
 lantes,'^ printed at Venice, in 1545; each card there has 
 
 » This book was written by the notorious Pietro Aretine. A second edition 
 was published in 1589, and a third in 1651. The title of the last is *Le Carte 
 Parlanti ; Dialogo di Partenio Etiro; [the anagriim of Pietro Aretine] nel 
 quale si tratta del Giuoco con morahtn piaccvolc.* 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 195 
 
 conferred on it an interpretation or allusion, more or less 
 ingenious, applicable to the figure which it represents: thus 
 the Pope represents fidelity in the game and sincerity in 
 the player; the Emperor, the laws of the game; the Valets, 
 the service attached to the game; the Swords, the death 
 of despairing gamesters; the Batons, the punishment of 
 those who cheat ; Money, the sustenance of play ; and the 
 Cups, the drink over which the players settle theu* disputes." 
 Mons. Duchesne's conjecture can scarcely be said to be sup- 
 ported by the conceits of Aretine ; who, moreover, in the 
 whole course of his book, speaks of cards as a hazardous, 
 exciting game, at which both money and credit might be 
 lost ; while Mons. Duchesne asserts that the game played 
 with Tarocchi was merely one of amusement, originally 
 devised to instruct children under the semblance of play. 
 
 The earliest known specimens of what are called Tarocchi 
 cards are those preserved in the Bibliotheque du Roi, at 
 Paris, and which are supposed by Mons. Duchesne to have 
 formed a portion of one of the three packs painted for the 
 amusement of Charles VI, in 1393.* They formerly belonged 
 to Mons. de Gaignieres, who had been governor to the grand- 
 children of Louis XIV, and who bequeathed them, together 
 with his entire collection of prints and drawings, to the 
 king, in 1 7 1 1 . Those cards appear to have been seen in the 
 possession of Mons.de Gaignieres by the Abbe de Longuerue;' 
 
 > Though Mons. Duchesne generally speaks of those cards as if it had been 
 positively ascertained that they were painted by Jacquemin Gringoimeur, we 
 yet find Ihe following salvo, in the Precis Historique : " Mais le fait de leur 
 haute destination a I'usage d'un roi, ne repose que sur des conjectures incertaines ; 
 esp^rons qu'un jour quelque antiquaire favorisd par iin heurcux hasard aura peut- 
 etre le bonheur de changer nos doutcs en certitude." 
 
 « Tlie Abbe's notice of those cards is by no means precise ; and when he 
 speaks of the four monarchies contending with each other, it is evident that he 
 had either an imperfect recollection of them, or that he supposed some old 
 numeral cards, of four suits, to have belonged to the same series.—-" J'ai vu 
 chez M. de Ganieres un jeu de cartes (je ne sais s'il ^toit complet) telles qu*elles 
 
196 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 and also by Dr. Martin Lister, who thus mentions them in his 
 accomit of his journey to Paris, in 1C98 : '* I waited upon 
 the Abbot Droine to visit Mons. Guanieres [de Gaignicres] 
 at his lodgings in the Hostel de Guise. One toy I took 
 notice of, which was a collection of playing cards for 300 
 years. The oldest were three times bigger than what are 
 now used, extremely well limned and illuminated with gilt 
 borders, and the pasteboard thick and firm ; but there was 
 not a complete set of them." 
 
 The follomng particulars respecting those cards arc 
 chiefly derived from Mons. Duchesne's description of them 
 in his 'Observations sur les Cartes a jouer," published in the 
 'Annuaire Historique' for the year 1837. There are seventeen 
 of them, and there can scarcely be a doubt of their having 
 formed part of a set of what are called Tarocchi cards, 
 which, when complete, consisted of fifty. They are painted 
 on paper, in the manner of illuminations in old manuscripts, 
 on a gold ground, which is in other parts marked with 
 ornamental lines, formed by means of points shghtly pricked 
 into the composition upon which the gilding is laid. They 
 are surrounded by a border of silver gilding, in which there 
 is also seen an ornament, formed in the same manner, by 
 means of points, representing a kind of scroll or twisted 
 riband. Some parts of the embroidery on the vestments of 
 the different figures are heightened with gold, while the 
 weapons and armour are covered with silver, which, like 
 that on the borders, has for the most part become oxydizcd 
 tlu-ough time. There is no inscription, letter, nor number, 
 to indicate the manner in which they were to be arranged. 
 Mons. Leber agrees with Mons. Duchesne in ascribing them 
 
 ^toicnt dans Icur origlnc. H y avoit un papc, dcs cmpcrcurs, Ics quatre mo- 
 narchies, qui combattoicnt Ics uns centre les autres : ce qui a donnd naissance 
 a nos quatre coulcurs. Elles 6toient longucs de 7 a 8 pouces. C'cst en Italic 
 que ccttc bcUc invention a pris naissance dans Ic XIV* sicele." — Longueruana, 
 torn.' i, page 107. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 197 
 
 to a French artist of the time of Charles VI, and even seems 
 inchned to conclude that they might have been intended 
 for the amusement of that lunatic king. Looking at those 
 cards, however, as they appear in the fac-similes pubUshed 
 by the Society of Bibhophiles Fran^ais, I should rather take 
 them to be the work of an ItaUan artist, and be inclined 
 to conclude, as well from the general style of the dra\\ing 
 as from the costume, that they were not of an earher date 
 than 1425. 
 
 The following is Mons. Duchesne's enumeration of the 
 seventeen cards which he supposes to have been executed 
 by Gringonneur : the names in capitals are those which 
 occur in a series of so-called Italian Tarocchi cards, with 
 which he considers them to correspond. 
 
 1. Le Fou — the Buffoon. This figure is found in the 
 Tarots of the present day, and is perhaps the same character 
 as that which in the series of old Italian engravings — called 
 Tarocchi cards — is inscribed Misero i. 
 
 2. LEcuyer — the Squire. Chevalier vi. 
 
 3. L'Empereur — the Emperor. Imperator viiii. 
 
 4. Le Fape'-the Pope. Papa x. 
 
 5. Zes Amour eux — the Lovers. Young men and women 
 courting, while two winged Cupids are discharging arrows 
 at them. Mons. Duchesne gravely queries whether this 
 subject does not represent Apollo and Diana killing the 
 children of Niobe, and whether it ought not to be considered 
 as corresponding with Apollo xx. It has, however, as 
 little relation to the story of Niobe as it has to Apollo, as 
 figured in the engraving referred to. 
 
 0. La Fortune — Fortune. This figure, standing on a 
 circle which represents the world, holds a globe in one 
 hand, and in the other a sceptre. Mons. Duchesne con- 
 siders that it corresponds with that named Astrologia, in 
 the series of ItaUan engravings, and there erroneously 
 
198 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 numbered xxxviiii, instead of xxviiii. — Bartsch, it seems 
 had not observed this error. 
 
 7. La Temperance — Temperance. Temperancia xxxiiii. 
 
 8. La i<brc^— Fortitude. Fortbzza xxxvi. 
 
 9. La Jttstice — ^Justice. Justicia xxxvii. 
 
 10. La Lime — the Moon. Luna xxxxi. 
 
 11. Z^ /Sbto7— the Sun. Sol xxxxiiii. 
 
 12. Le Char — the Chariot. The subject here is a figure 
 in armour, standing on a kind of triumphal car, and having 
 in his right hand a battle-axe. Mons. Duchesne says that 
 this subject certainly corresponds with Marte xxxxv. 
 
 13. L'Ermite — the Hermit. This figure is supposed to 
 correspond with that named Saturno xxxxvii. 
 
 The four following subjects have no corresponding figures 
 in the scries of old Italian engravings, supposed by Mons, 
 Duchesne and others to be Tarocchi cards : they are, how- 
 ever, to be found among the *' Atous*' of the modern game 
 of Tarots. 
 
 14. Le Pendu — A man hanging from one leg, head 
 downwards. Court de Gebelin, speaking of this figure as 
 it is seen in a modem pack of Tarots, conjectures, with his 
 usual absurdity, that the card- maker had erroneously repre- 
 sented it upside down. On turning it the contrary way, 
 he Eces in it an emblem of Prudence,— to witj a man stand- 
 ing upon one foot, and sagely deliberating where he has to 
 place the other. — The figure of Le Pendu, even when thus 
 viewed, is much more like a capering opera-dancer, than a 
 prudent philosopher cautiously picking his steps ; and bears 
 not the slightest resemblance to the figure of Prudence, in 
 the series of old engravings, called Tarocchi cards. 
 
 15. Za Mort — Death. 
 
 IG. La Maison-Dieu — ^The Hospital. A tower struck 
 by lightning. 
 
 17. Le Jugement dernier — The last Judgment. 
 
Old Painted Cards ascribed to Qringonneur.-' La Ju3tico/ Ip. 108.) 
 
 1 
 
sX^^"-^^-^^^0::XX>CXXX!>:: 
 
 
 Old Painted Cards ascribed to Gringonneur— ' La Lune.' (p. 191) 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 199 
 
 These seventeen subjects, engraved in lithography, and 
 carefully coloured by hand after the original drawings, are 
 given in the ' Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numcrales,' 
 published by the Society of Bibliophiles Fran9ais, 1844. 
 The two annexed cuts will afford some idea of the style of 
 the drawing, and of the manner in which the ornaments are 
 pricked into the gold ground. They are of the same size as 
 the originals ; the one is that named Justice, No. 9, and the 
 other that named La Lune, No. 10, in the preceding enu- 
 meration. It may be here observed that the latter is totally 
 different from that named Luna xxxxi, in the series of old 
 Italian engravings, with which it is supposed by Mons. 
 Duchesne to correspond : the only figure common to both 
 is that of a crescent moon. The drawing indeed seems to 
 be an emblem of Astrology, which, in the Italian engravings, 
 is represented by a winged female figure, having on her 
 head a crown of stars, and holding in her left hand a book, 
 and in her right a divining rod. 
 
 The complete series of old Italian engravings, known to 
 collectors of prints by the name of Tarocchi cards, consists 
 of fifty pieces, divided into five classes distinguished by the 
 first five letters of the alphabet, A, B, C, D, E, but numbered 
 consecutively from 1 to 50, commencing with the class 
 marked E. At the foot of each subject is engraved its 
 name ; together with the letter of its class, and its number, 
 which is given both in Roman and Arabic numerals, — the 
 Roman being placed immediately after the name, and the 
 Arabic on the extreme right. The distinctive letter of the 
 class is on the left. Zani^ has conjectured that the letters 
 might have been intended for abbreviations of Atutto, 
 Battoni, Coppe, Denari, and Espadone, — Atous, Batons, 
 
 » Matcriali per servirc alia storia dell* origine e de' progrcssi dell* incisione in 
 rame e in Icgno, col. da Pictro Zani. 8vo, Parma, 1802. Tlie author's observa- 
 tions relating to cards arc to be found at pp. 78-84, and pp. 149-93. 
 
200 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 Cups, Money, and Swords. Spadone, however, and not 
 Espadone, is the proper Italian name for swords ; but as 
 the names are in the Venetian dialect, Mons. Duchesne 
 appears inclined to allow that the form Espadone might 
 have been admitted into it at that period. That the letters, 
 however, had no such meaning, and that they were merely 
 used to mark the order of each class, seems to be proved 
 by the fact that in another set of the same subjects, exe- 
 cuted about the same period, the numeral 5 is substituted 
 for the letter e. Even if Zani*s supposition were correct, 
 it would only strengthen the conclusion that those so- 
 called Tarocchi cards originated in an attempt to recom- 
 bine, under new emblems, the principles of an old game 
 which had acquired a disreputable character. Whatever 
 the game might have been, it has long become obsolete ; 
 and the only reason for supposing it to have been cognate 
 with that of cards, is grounded on the fact that a certain 
 number of the characters of those so-called Tarocchi cards 
 occur as Atous in the pack of Tarocchi or Tarots, previously 
 described. 
 
 Of those old Italian engravings there are two series 
 known to amateurs, agreeing in the subjects, but differing in 
 their style of execution ; though it is evident that the one 
 has been copied from the other.^ In one of them, which is 
 considered by Bartsch to be the earhest, the date 1485 is 
 inscribed on a tablet in the hands of the figure named 
 Arithmeticha xxv.^ In the other series, which is by much 
 the best engraved, and is certainly the earhest, there is no 
 date ; and the figure which there represents Arithmetic, 
 appears to be counting money. This series Mons. Duchesne 
 
 ' There was also a scries of the same subjects engraved in the sixteenth 
 century. 
 
 '"' Baitsch, Pcintrc-Gravcur, Svo, Vienna, 1812.— His notices of old cards 
 are to be found in vol. x, pp. 70-120; and vol. xiii, pp. 120-38. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 201 
 
 thinks was executed about 1470; and some writers have 
 supposed that the subjects were engraved by Tomaso 
 Finiguerra. Zani, however, is inclined to believe that they 
 were engraved at Padua ; while Otley ascribes them to a 
 Florentine artist. Seeing, however, that the names are in 
 the Venetian dialect, and that authorities on the subject of 
 old Italian engraving disagree with respect to them, I am 
 inclined to suppose, without any regard to their style of 
 execution, that they were either engraved by a Venetian 
 artist, or for the Venetian market. It has also been sup- 
 posed, but erroneously, that they were designed by Andrea 
 Mantegna, to whom a number of other things of a similar 
 kind have, with equal probability, been ascribed; and 
 amongst the dealers in old engravings, at Paris, they are 
 commonly known as Cartes de Baldini. Both the originals 
 and the copies are of great rarity ; and though several single 
 subjects are to be found in the possession of amateurs, it is 
 questionable if there be more than four collections in Europe, 
 whether private or national, that have either the one series 
 or the other complete. In the British Museum there is a 
 complete series of the originals, and also forty-five of the 
 copies ; the five pieces wanting in the latter are : Misero j, 
 Fameio II, Imperador villi, Primo Mobile xxxxviiii, 
 and Prima Causa xxxxx. There is also a complete series 
 of the originals, in the ' Bibliothcque du Roi ;' and copies 
 of them are given in the ' Jeux de Cartes Taruts et de Cartes 
 Numerales,' published by the Society of BibUcphiles 
 Fran^ais. Fac-similes of two, — Papa x and Rhetorica 
 xxiii, — are also given by Singer in his * Researches into the 
 History of Playing Cards.' From their size — about nine 
 inches and three quarters high, by about four inches wide,— 
 as well as from other circumstances, Mr. Singer considers 
 that they were not intended for any game analogous to that 
 of cards, properly so called. Mons. Leber considers them 
 to have been merely *' Cartes de Fantaisic," and observes 
 
202 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 that subjects so delicately engraved on copper, when the 
 invention of the art was still recent, could scarcely have 
 been intended to receive the colouring required for the com- 
 pletion of a pack of cards.^ It, however, may be observed 
 that colour is not essential to a pack of playing cards ; and 
 that several packs of cards of four suits, evidently intended 
 for play, without being coloured, were delicately engraved 
 on copper, before the end of the fifteenth century. 
 
 Even Mons. Duchesne, while contending that those fifty 
 old engravings were really Tarocchi cards, admits that they 
 bear no relation to any games played with numeral cards, 
 which, according to the number of players, and the regula- 
 tions of each game, always consist of a number which is 
 divisible by four; for instance, 20 for Bouillotte ; 28 for 
 Brclan ; 32 for Piquet, and several other games ; 36 for 
 Trappola; 40 for Ombre; 48 for Reversis; 52 for Lans-. 
 quenet, and several other games; 96 for Comet; 104 for 
 Lottery ; 312 for Trente-et-un ; and 78 for Tarots. " The 
 ancient Tarocchi cards," he says, "have not then been 
 intended for games of calculation [jeux mathematiques], but 
 solely for an instructive game. In this game, consisting of 
 five classes, we find the seven planets, representing the 
 celestial system ; the seven virtues which constitute the 
 basis of all morality; the sciences, which man alone is 
 capable of acquuing, and the knowledge of which raises 
 him above all other animals ; the Muses, whose cultivation 
 yields so many charms to life ; finally, several of the con- 
 ditions of life in which man may be placed, from misery, 
 the most painful of all, to that of the most elevated, the 
 
 » " Singer fait rcmarqucr, avcc raison, qu*on n'a pas d'cxcmple de cartes i jouer 
 d'aussi grundcs dimensions, qu'il n*y a ici dcs flgurcs sans pieces numerales, et 
 que, d'ailleurs, les snjcts ue sout pas ceux dcs tarots ordinaires. U aurait pu 
 ajouter que dcs gravurcs c\6cni6c3 avcc tant dc wins, que les ciiefs-d'ccuvro 
 d'un art nouveau dont le premier mdrite s'appr^ciait par la beaute de Tempreinte, 
 n*ont pu ctrc destines a reccvoir reiiluniinurc qui eutrc essentieliement dans la 
 confection du jcu de cartes."— lltudcs Historiques sur les Cartes a jouer, p. 18. 
 
DIFifERENT KINDS. 203 
 
 Sovereign Pontificate."^ A complete series of those old 
 engravings consists of fifty pieces, as has been previously 
 observed, named and numbered as follows : 
 
 [Class E. — The Conditions of Life ^ 
 
 •E-l 
 
 -MlSERO -I- 
 
 1*1- 
 
 •E-l 
 
 -Eameio -n- 
 
 I-2* 
 
 •E-l 
 
 •Aktixan •m^ 
 
 1*3* 
 
 •E-| 
 
 •Merchadante -Tin- 
 
 1*4* 
 
 •E| 
 
 •ZlNTILOMO -y- 
 
 1*6* 
 
 •E-l 
 
 •CUAVALIER -VI- 
 
 1*6* 
 
 -E-l 
 
 •DoxE -vn- 
 
 1*7* 
 
 -E-l 
 
 •Re -Vin- 
 
 1-8- 
 
 -E| 
 
 Imperatob •VTITT' 
 
 1-9- 
 
 -E-l 
 
 •Papa -X- 
 
 [Class ^,—The Muses.] 
 
 jlO* 
 
 -D| 
 
 •Cat.tope -xr 
 
 1 -11* 
 
 •D-| 
 
 •Urania -xn- 
 
 1*12* 
 
 •D| 
 
 •Terpsicore -XIII* 
 
 1*13* 
 
 -D| 
 
 •Erato •Xlin- 
 
 I-14- 
 
 -D-l 
 
 •POLIMNIA *-XV^ 
 
 |15* 
 
 •D| 
 
 'Tm,u -XVI- 
 
 1*16* 
 
 -D-| 
 
 •Melpomene -XVII* 
 
 1-17* 
 
 •D-l 
 
 •Euterpe •XVIII- 
 
 1-18- 
 
 •D-l 
 
 •Clio •XVIIII- 
 
 1*19- 
 
 -D-l 
 
 •Apollo -XX* 
 
 [Class C. — Th Sciences.] 
 
 1*20* 
 
 •c-| 
 
 •Gramjiatica •XXI* 
 
 1*21* 
 
 •c-| 
 
 •LoicA •xxn- 
 
 |-22- 
 
 •C-| 
 
 •Rhetorica -XXni* 
 
 1 -23- 
 
 -c-| 
 
 •GEOMETRLi XXim- 
 
 1-24- 
 
 •c-| 
 
 •Aritumeticha •XXV* 
 
 1*25* 
 
 •C-| 
 
 •MusiCHA -XXVI- 
 
 1 -26- 
 
 •€•1 
 
 •PoEsiA •XXVII- 
 
 1-27- 
 
 •c-| 
 
 •PiiiLosoFiA -xxvin- 
 
 |-28* 
 
 •0-1 
 
 •Astrologu -XXXVim-* 
 
 |-39* 
 
 •C| 
 
 •TUEOLOOU 'XXX* 
 
 |-30* 
 
 < Observations sur lea Cartes a jouer. 
 
 • This subject is erroneously numbered, both in the Boman characters and in 
 the cyphers, as has been previously observed. 
 
204 
 
 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 •B.| 
 •B'l 
 •B-l 
 •B-l 
 •B-l 
 •B-l 
 •B| 
 •B-l 
 •B| 
 •B| 
 
 [Class B. — The Virtues^ 
 
 •Iliaco XXXI- I -SI- 
 •CiiRONico 'XXXir ....4'32- 
 
 •CosMico -xxxiii- I -sa- 
 
 •Temperancia XXXIIII- | -S^- 
 
 •Prvdencia -XXXV- I -as- 
 
 •FoiiTEZA 'XXXVI- I 'SG- 
 
 •jusTiciA -xxxvn- I -sr- 
 
 •CiiAKiTA -xxxYm- I -38- 
 
 •speranza xxxvim- I -so- 
 
 •Eede -XXXX- I •40- 
 
 [Class A. — The Celestial System^ 
 
 k'\ 
 
 •Luna -XXXXI- 
 
 -41' 
 
 A-| 
 
 •Mercuric -XXXXII- 
 
 •42 
 
 A-l 
 
 •Venus XXXXIII- 
 
 •43 
 
 A-l 
 
 •SoL -XXXXIIII- 
 
 -44 
 
 A-l 
 
 •Marte -XXXXV- 
 
 -45 
 
 •A-l 
 
 -JuriTER -XXXXVI- 
 
 •4G 
 
 •A-| 
 
 •Saturno XXXXVII- 
 
 •47 
 
 •A-| 
 
 •OCTAVASPERA-XXXXVm- 
 
 •48- 
 
 •A-| 
 
 •PrimoMobile -XXXXVim- 
 
 •49 
 
 •A-l 
 
 •Prima Causa XXXXX- 
 
 •50- 
 
 Having now given such an account of the so-called 
 Tarocchi cards, as may enable the reader to determine for 
 himself, both Avith respect to their original use, and their 
 relation to playing cards proper, I shall now proceed to 
 notice some of the principal varieties of numeral cards ; 
 that is, of cards consisting of four suits, and each suit con- 
 taining a certain immber of coat cards, together with eight 
 or ten lower cards, having their numeral value designated 
 by the marks of the suit to which they belong. 
 
 The oldest specimens of undoubted playing cards are 
 either stencilled, or engraved on wood ; and of a date which, 
 looking at the style of their execution, the drawing, and the 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 205 
 
 costume of the figures, cannot fairly be supposed to be later 
 than 1440. Amongst the earliest are the stencilled cards 
 preserved in the print-room of the British Museum, and 
 previously described at page 89. In these the coat cards 
 appear to have been a King, a Chevalier, and a Fante, 
 Footman, or Knave ; without any Queen. The marks of 
 three of the suits are Hearts, Bells, and Acorns ; the mark 
 of the fourth suit does not occur, — as the specimens 
 preserved are far short of a complete pack, — but it is highly 
 probable that it was Leaves, called Griin by the Germans, 
 as in the old pack formerly belonging to Dr. Stukeley, and 
 described by Mr. Gough, in the eighth volume of the 
 'Archoeologia.' 
 
 The cards formerly belonging to Dr. Stukeley were given 
 to him by Thomas RawUnson, Esq.^ They were found in 
 the cover of an old book, — supposed to be an edition of 
 Claudian, printed before the year 1500, — and one or two 
 leaves of an edition of the Adagia of Erasmus were inter- 
 spersed between the layers of the cards, thus forming a 
 kind of pasteboard. The marks of the suits are Hearts, 
 Bells, Leaves, and Acorns ; and the coat cards arc the King, 
 Chevalier, and Knave. The numeral value of the lower 
 cards, from the Deuce to the Ten, is indicated by a repeti- 
 tion of the marks of the suits, as in modern cards. As 
 there is no Ace, this pack, supposing it to be complete, 
 would consist of forty-eight cards. These cards are rudely 
 coloured, and of smaller size than those in the British 
 Museum. On the Deuce of every suit is a shield, displaying 
 what is supposed to be the card-maker's arms, namely, a 
 kind of pick-axe, with one of the ends blunt like a hammer, 
 
 ' Tlicse cards were exhibited to tlic Antiquarian Soeiety by Dr. Stukeley, in 
 1703. They were purchased in 1770, by Mr. Tutet, and on liis decease, they 
 were bouglit by Mr. Gough. In 1810 they were in the possession of Mr. 
 Triphook, tlie bookseller. 
 
206 riiAYlNO CARDS. 
 
 and a mallet, in saltire. Fac-similes of Dr. Stukeley's 
 cards are given in Singer's Researches. 
 
 As the distinctive marks of the suits on the oldest cards 
 in existence are Hearts, Bells, Leaves, and Acorns, it may 
 reasonably be supposed that these marks were used at as 
 early a period as any of the others which occur on cards of 
 a later date, but yet executed before the close of the 
 fifteenth century. Next to these in point of antiquity, 
 and perhaps of as early a date, arc Swords, Cups, Batons, 
 and Money, which would appear to have been the most 
 common marks on early Italian cards, and to have been 
 almost exclusively adopted in Spain. For the sake of 
 distinction, in future, cards with these marks will be 
 referred to as Spanish cards, as in Spain the suits are still 
 distinguished by Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money ; while 
 cards having Hearts, Bells, Leaves, and Acorns, will be 
 referred to as German cards, as such appear to have been 
 the kind most generally used in Germany. Of the marks 
 on what were more particularly called " French cards," 
 in the sixteenth century, — Cccur, Trefle, Pique, and Carreau, 
 or as we call them, Hearts, Clubs, Spades, and Diamonds, 
 —two of them at least, the Cocur and the Pique, arc evi- 
 dently derived from the Heart and the Leaf of the earlier 
 pack, while there is good reason to believe that the form of 
 the Trefle was copied from that of the Acorn. ^ 
 
 The mark now called the Ttejle, in France, was formerly 
 
 * Mons. Duchesne expresses liimsclf on this subject, as follows: "Les enseignes 
 employees pour Ics couleurs ont 6prouvd beaucoup de variations : cceur, carreau, 
 trefle ct pique sont les plus rdpanducs ; mais, en Italic ct en Espagne, ellcs 
 sont encore designees par cmjieSy deniers, batons, epces. En Allemagne on dit 
 rougcy greloUy glands et vert. Quclquefois, en conservant les coeurs, les deniers 
 ont etc remplaces par dcs grclots ; puis des glands tiennent lieu des treflcs, et des 
 feuilles de Hcrre rcmplaccnt les piques, dont clles ont la forme."— Observations 
 sur les Cartes u joucr. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 207 
 
 known as the Fleur. Peignot, referring to a poem entitled 
 "La Magdaleine auDesert de la Sainte-Baume en Provence," 
 printed at Lyons, in 1668, says : "We learn from this 
 poem that, in 1668, the word Trefie was not yet in use, 
 as the designation of one of the suits of cards ; that suit 
 was then called Fleura, The Valets were also then termed 
 Fousr 
 
 The type of the Carrcau, or Diamond, is not to be found 
 in any of the marks of the other two packs above noticed. 
 In the time of Pictro Arctinc, the suits of French cards 
 appear to have been known in Italy by the names of Cori, 
 Quadri, Fiori, and Cappari,* as we learn from his ' Carte 
 Parlanti,' first printed in 1545, in which a Paduan card- 
 maker holds a long dialogue, moral and entertaining, with 
 his cards : 
 
 ** Paduan, As French cards are used in Italy, tell me, I 
 pray, what, amongst that people, may be the signification 
 of Capers ? [Cappari.] 
 
 Cards, Their piquancy whets the appetite of tavem- 
 hauiiters. 
 
 Paduan, And the Diamonds ? [Quadri.] 
 
 (7«rd&. The firmness of the player. 
 
 Pflj^ij^^;?. And the Hearts ? [Cori.] 
 
 Cards, Inclination to cheat in play. 
 
 Paduan. And the Flowers ? [Fiori.] 
 
 Cards. The pleasure of saying a good thing."' 
 
 The invention of cards with these marks, and having a 
 Queen for the second coat card, instead of a male figure, as 
 in the Spanish and German cards, has been claimed by the 
 
 > Mons. Duchesne says that the mark which the Erench call Pique was called 
 Capprel in Italy, from its resemblance to the fruit of the Caper.— Precis His- 
 torique, prefixed to Jeux de Cartes Tarots ct Numcrales, p. 11. 
 
 * Carte Parlauti, p. 57, edit. 1651. 
 
208 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 French ; and this substitution has been considered by some 
 French writers as peculiarly characteristic of the gallantry 
 of their nation. The French also appear to have been the 
 first who gave to their coat cards the names of historical 
 personages. From those names, and the marks of the suits, 
 Pcre Daniel has been enabled to discover the origin and 
 meaning of the game of Piquet, which he supposes to have 
 been devised about 1430, in the reign of Charles VII; 
 admitting, however, that Playing Cards of another kind 
 were of a much earlier date, but yet considering even these 
 to have been of French invention. 
 
 In the time of Pere Daniel, the coat cards were named as 
 follows : 
 
 SUIT. 
 
 KINGS. 
 
 QUEENS. 
 
 VALETS. 
 
 CCEUR. 
 
 CHARLEMAGNE, 
 
 JUDITH. 
 
 LA HIRE. 
 
 CAKKEAU. 
 
 C^SAR. 
 
 RACHEL. 
 
 HECTOR. 
 
 TREFLE. 
 
 ALEXANDER. 
 
 ARGINE. 
 
 LANCELOT.' 
 
 PIQUE. 
 
 DAVID. 
 
 PALLAS. 
 
 HOGIER. 
 
 These names, which appear to have been given to the 
 French coat cards, at an early period, were not unifonnly 
 retained; in the time of Henry IV, the Kings were 
 Solomon, Augustus, Clovis, and Constantino; and the 
 Queens, Ehzabcth, Dido, Clotilde, and ''Pantalisea;" while 
 the Valets had no proper names, but were merely designated 
 from their office, and all the characters appeared in the 
 costume of the period. In the reign of Louis XIV, how- 
 
 » The name of Lancelot did not really appear on the Valet of Trcfle, in the 
 time of Pere Daniel; but from a passage in Daneau's 'Liber de AJea, ou Breve 
 remontrance sur Ics jeux de Cartes ct de Dez/ printed in 1579, he concluded, 
 —and, in this instance, correctly,— that Lancelot was the old name. By a 
 royal ordinance of 1G19, the card-makers of France were required to put their 
 names and devices upon the Valet of Trcfle; and, from this circumstance, he 
 considers that the name of Lancelot was omitted. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 209 
 
 ever, the former names and an antique costume were 
 restored. 
 
 According to Pere Daniel's reading of the cards, which 
 
 is of the same ingenious character as that of the soldier who 
 
 is said to have used his pack as a Manual of Devotions,^ 
 
 the Ace is the Latin As, a piece of money, which also si<y. 
 
 - nifies wealth ; and as money is the sinews of war, the Ace 
 
 has for this reason the precedence at Piquet. The Trefle, 
 
 or clover plant, which abounds in the meadows of France, 
 
 denotes that a general ought always to encamp his army in 
 
 a place where he may obtain forage for his cavahy. Piques 
 
 and Carreaux signify magazines of arms, which ought always 
 
 f^ to be well stored. The Carreaux were a kind of heavy 
 
 arrows which were shot from a cross-bow, and which were 
 
 so called from their heads being squared [carre]. Ca3m^, — 
 
 Hearts, — signified the courage of the commanders and the 
 
 ^7 soldiers. 
 
 David, Alexander, Caesar, and Charlemagne are at the 
 head of the four suits at Piquet, because troops, hovvever 
 brave and numerous, yet require prudent and experienced 
 ^ .leaders. The Queens are, Argine, for Trefle; Rachel, for 
 T Carreau; Pallas, for Pique; and Judith, for Coeur. In Argine, 
 * V Pere Daniel finds the anagram of Regina, and having made 
 J this capital discovery, he is enabled to determine that this 
 : ; Queen was Mary of Anjou, wife of Charles VII. Rachel 
 represents the fair Agnes Sorel, mistress of Charles VII; 
 and the chaste and warlike Pallas is but an emblem of Joan 
 of Arc. Judith is not the Jewish heroine who cut ofi* the 
 head of Holofemes, but the Empress Judith, wife of Louis 
 le Debonnaire; but even this Judith is merely a repre- 
 sentative of Isabel of Bavaria, wife of Charles VI. In David 
 
 » * The Perpetual Almanac, or a Gentleman Soldier*s Prayer-book, shewing 
 how one Kichard Middleton was taken before the Mayor of the city he was in 
 for using cards in church, during Divine Service.* 
 
 14 
 
 •■^> 
 
 % 
 
210 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 he sees a typification of Charles VII, in consequence of u 
 conformity in their destinies : David, after having been loiif.- 
 persecuted by Saul, his father-in-law, at length obtained thr 
 crown ; but, in the midst of his prosperity, was troubled 
 with the revolt of his son Absalom : and Charles VII, afte] 
 having been disinherited and proscribed by his fathei 
 Charles VI, — or rather by Isabel of Bavaria, — glorious!} 
 reconquered his kingdom ; but the latter years of his hT( 
 were rendered unhappy by the restless spirit and wickec) 
 character of his son, Louis XL 
 
 In his accoimt of the Valets, Pere Daniel is not so imagi- 
 native as in the explication of the double and triple 
 characters which he sees represented by the Kings anc: 
 Queens. La Hire is the famous Stephen de Vignoles 
 sumamed La Hire, a devoted adherent of Charles VII 
 wliile Hector is supposed to be intended for Hector d( 
 Galard, another famous captain of the same period. Hogici 
 and Lancelot are allowed to pass simply in their own propei 
 characters, as heroes of romance. ^ 
 
 It would appear to be the opinion of Mons. DuchesnC; 
 that the oldest French Piquet cards that have been dis- 
 covered, are those formerly belonging to a Mons. Ilenin.. 
 who found them in the cover of an old book. Mons. Heuin 
 having disposed of them to Messrs. Colnaghi, the well- 
 knowTi printsellers, of London, they were purchased of the 
 latter for the Bibliotheque du Roi. They are engraved on 
 wood, and coloured; and in the table of contents prefixed 
 
 ' Daniel, * Mc^moirc snr rOrigine du jeu dc Piquet, trouv6 dans I'histoire d< 
 France, sous le rbgne de Charles VII/. printed in the Journal de Trdvoux, for 
 May, 1720. A summary of this memoir is given by Peignot, who question; 
 the correctness of Daniers explanations, but yet does not venture to say what 
 they really are — mere gratuitous conceits. . It would seem that the French 
 consider the invention of Piquet as a point of national honour, and that the 
 native author who should call it in question, would render himself liable to fc 
 "suspicion of incivism." 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 211 
 
 to the * Jeux de Tarots et de Cartes Numerales/ it is as-! 
 serted they were executed about 1425.^ But whatever may 
 be their date, they are not, in my opinion, of so early a* 
 period as either the old uncoloured cards, preserved in the] 
 British Museum, previously described at page 88 ; or as 
 those formerly belonging to Dr. Stukeley. I indeed ques-' 
 tion much if they be really older than the coloured Frenchi 
 cards, the four Valets, now in the British Museum, and 
 of which some account will be found in a subsequent page. ; 
 The old French cards in question have the outlines 
 printed in pale ink, and the colours appear to have been ! 
 applied by means of a stencil. There are ten of them, all \ 
 impressed on one piece of paper ; and they are placed in ; 
 two rows, of five each, in the following order : ; 
 
 Valet, King and Qtjeen of Trejle. King and Queen of Carreau. \ 
 
 Valet, Queen and King of Pique. Queen and King of Cceur. ] 
 
 On each of those cards, except the King of Coeur, there ; 
 is an inscription in Gothic letters. On the Valet of Trefle ■ 
 is the name Rolan, while the King is named Faut-sou, — j 
 Penniless ; and the Queen, Tromperie, — Deceit. The King ' 
 of Carreau bears the name Coursube, which in old romances \ 
 is the name given to a Saracen King ; and on the Queen of i 
 Carreau is the inscription En toi te Jie, — Trust to thyself; 
 *' that is," says Mons. Duchesne, " ne te fie qu'en toi, — 
 trust to thyself only. The Valet of Pique bears an inscription 
 which Mons. Duchesne reads ctardcy and of which he says 
 he can make nothing. On the Queen of Pique is an 
 inscription which appears to Mons. Duchesne to be te aut 
 diet, but the meaning of which he cannot divine. Mons. 
 Leber, however, reads it Leaute rf/^^,— -leal homage ; and 
 so gives it, in unmistakable characters, in the copy of this 
 card, in his 'Etudes Historiques.' The King of Pique bears 
 
 * "Ces cartes rarissimcs faisaicnt partie d'un jeu de cartes numerales grayees 
 sur bois sous notre roi Charles VII, vers 1425." 
 
212 TLAYING CARDS. i 
 
 the name of Apollin, which is the name given to a Saracen i 
 idol in old romances. The inscription on the Queen of 
 Cceur is la foy et pdu — la foi est perdue, — faith is lost. 
 
 It is supposed that there was also an inscription on the \ 
 King of Coeur, but that it has been cut off, as this card is 
 deficient in its due proportions.* The annexed four cards, 
 executed in their proper colours, are copied from those 
 given by Mons. Leber in his ' Etudes Historiques.' The 
 whole ten are given in the * Jeux de Tarots et de Jeux ; 
 Numerales,' published by the Society of Bibliophiles 
 Fran^ais. 
 
 Mons. Leber considers that the names Coursube and 
 Apollin, which occur on these cards, corroborate his opinion 
 that cards were of Eastern origin, and introduced into 
 Europe by the Saracens, or Arabs.^ Though agreeing with 
 
 » Duchesne, * Observations snr les Cartes Ik jouer,* in the Annuaire Historique, 
 pp. 204-7, 1837 ; and Leber, 'Etudes Historiques sur les Cartes ajouer,' pp. 6-8, 
 and p. 72, 1842. 
 
 * Mons. Leber insists that those names confirm the testimony of Covclluzzo 
 —previously quoted at page 23— that the game of cards was brought into 
 Vitcrbo, m 1379, and that it came from the country of the Saracens. Mons. 
 Leber even calls the figures " Gallo-Sarrazines," evidently wishing it to be 
 supposed that they had been copied from a Saracen or Arabic type. — ^The 
 following is a summary of his notions of the changes made in the characters, 
 when cards were first introduced amongst Clu-istian nations : "Le roi de Carreau I 
 
 de notre jeu dc Charles VII porte le nom de Couesube, pretendu hcros sarrazin 
 dont parlcnt les vieux romanciers ; et le nom d' Apollin, inscrit a cote du roi de 
 Fique, est celui d'une idole imaginaire ^galement attribuee aux Sarrazins. 
 
 ". . . On a du d'abord, a quelques exceptions pres, remplacer les idoles 
 par des figures compatibles avee les dogmes et la morale du christianisme. Le 
 pape, chef dc VEglise chr6tieune, a pu etre substitu^ a Vichnou ; Vermite h. un 
 dervis ; la maisonLieu a une pagode ; et, quant aux symboles g6n^raux, tels que lo 
 soleilt hmorl,\eju^ement, auxquels sont associ^s \q bdteleur et le houffon ou 
 fout il a 8ufl5 d'y attacher un nouveau sens mystique sans rien changer aux images. 
 Les memes substitutions s'op^rent dans les portraits des princes et des h^ros, 
 figures d'un autre ordre qui sont passdes exelusivement, avec leur suite, dans ] 
 
 r<$conon)ic du jeu Franfais."— Etudes Historiques sur les Cartes a jouer, p. 72. 
 — Mons. Leber appears here to narrate a dream which he had after rocking 
 himself asleep ou his Arabian hobby-horse. 
 
\_ 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 
 
 213 
 
 Mons. Leber, in the opinion that cards are of Eastern origin, \ 
 
 I cannot yet see how this opinion is confirmed by two ; 
 
 names, which, as designating a Moorish king, and a Maho- : 
 
 metan idol, appear to have been merely the invention of a ; 
 
 French romance writer, and to have been capriciously ! 
 
 bestowed upon a King of Diamonds and a King of Hearts \ 
 
 by an old French card-maker. The supposition, indeed, | 
 
 that figures with these names were to be found on old 
 
 Arabic cards is most preposterous; there is not a shadow j 
 
 of evidence to show that any characters, whether real or ; 
 
 imaginary, were ever popularly known by these names, 
 
 amongst people of Arabic origin; and even if there were . 
 
 the painting them upon cards would have been considered i 
 
 as a violation of the law of Mahomet, by whom all such | 
 
 representations were strictly prohibited. With equal pro- ; 
 
 bability.Mons. Leber might assert that cards were a Jewish : 
 
 invention, because the names of David, Rachel, and Judith I 
 
 are to be found on them ; or that Piquet was invented m j 
 
 the time of Charlemagne, in consequence of one of the , 
 
 Kings bearing his name, and two of the Valets being named ; 
 
 after two of his Paladins,-Hogier and Roland. The long | 
 
 note in the ' Precis Historique sur les Cartes a jouer pp. | 
 
 13-17, on the subject of Coursube and Apollin, and Mons. | 
 
 Leber's more lengthy comment on it, have much of the, 
 
 character of that kind of discussion which was compared by 
 
 Demonax to one man mUking a he-goat, and another holdmg 
 
 a sieve to catch the milk. 
 
 The originals of the annexed four cards, representing the 
 Valets, or Knaves, of the four suits known m England as 
 Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades, are m my opmion o^ 
 at least, as early a date as the cards contammg the nam^ 
 Coursube and Apollin. Mons. Duchesne and Mons. Leber 
 judging from the costume of the last-named cards «greem 
 suppoing, or, rather, confidently assertmg, that they were 
 
214 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 executed about 1425, in the reign of Charles VII. Con- 
 clusions, however, drawn from the costume displayed on 
 cards are not of much weight in the determination of a 
 date, seeing that persons supposed to be well acquainted 
 with the subject of costume have not been able to deter- 
 mine, from that alone, the date of any old drawing, even 
 within fifty years. To whatever period the costume of the 
 ''Coursube*' cards may belong, that of the four Knaves 
 may be fairly presumed to be of as early a period; but yet, 
 looking at the costume of the latter, and the style of theii 
 execution, I should not take them to be of an earlier date 
 than 1480. Supposing them to be of that date, I think 
 it will be generally admitted, by all acquainted with the 
 subject, that, in point of drawing, as expressive of action 
 and character, they may fairly rank with the best speci- 
 mens of wood-engraving executed previously to that 
 period. 
 
 Those four Knaves, which are now in the print-room of 
 the British Museum, were discovered by the writer, in the 
 covers of an old book, vvhich he bought of Mr. Robert 
 Crozicr, bookseller, 27, Bow Street, about the latter end 
 of December, 1841. The book, which is a; small quarto, 
 had formerly belonged to the Cathedral Library of Peter- 
 borough,^ and its subject is the Sermons of St. Vincent de 
 Ferrer, a Spanish friar, of great repute in his day, who died 
 in 1419: it wanted both the title-page and the last leaf, 
 and, consequently, had no date ; but, looking at the cha- 
 racter of the type, — old Gothic — and the rude execution of 
 the initial letters, I should conclude that it was printed in 
 France, within the last ten years of the fifteenth century. 
 
 • Tliis book was sold, together with others from the Cathedral Library of 
 Peterborough, by Mr. Hodgson, 192 Elect street, Dec. 13—18, 1841. In 
 Jiis catalogue. No. 1492, it is thus described ; " Sermoues M. Vincentii (wants 
 end).'* 
 
'\ 
 
7. 
 
/• 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 215 
 
 The other leaves forming, with the cards, the " boards" of 
 the cover, were portions of the gloss, or commentary, of 
 Nicholas de Lyra, on the Old Testament ; which leaves, 
 apparently, are of a date somewhat older than the volume. 
 Seeing that old cards have so often been found in the 
 covers of old books, it might be conjectured that certain 
 pious persons had made it a point of conscience to thus 
 employ them, for useful purposes ; this supposition is, how- 
 ever, rendered untenable by the fact of those cards being 
 intermixed with the pious lucubrations of Nicholas de Lyra. 
 Besides the two squares of paper containing the four Knaves, 
 there were also two other squares, consisting of " pips" 
 of Diamonds and Hearts, which were so arranged that each 
 square of paper might be cut into four cards : the low cards 
 on one square were, the Nine, Four, Five, and Seven of 
 Diamonds; and those on the other, the Ten, Four, Five, 
 and Eight of Hearts. The " pips" on those low cards were 
 evidently impressed by means of a stencil. 
 
 On one square of paper were the Valets of Clubs and 
 Spades, — Lancelot and Hogier; and on another, the 
 Valets of Diamonds and Hearts, — that of Diamonds 
 being named Rolant, and that of Hearts containing the 
 inscription, "Valery: f." Though each piece of paper 
 contained four cards, it yet displayed only two diflFerent 
 characters,— the Valet of each suit occurring on it being 
 repeated in the alternate compartments. The outlines of 
 the figiu-es and the names have evidently been engraved on 
 wood, and are printed in a brownish colour,— something 
 like Indian ink mixed with bistre ; and the colours have 
 been laid on by means of stencils. The names of these 
 Valets, -Rolant, "Valery: f," Lancelot, and Hogier,— com- 
 pared with those occurring on other French cards of an 
 early date, seem to prove that, originally, the French coat 
 cards received their names merely at the caprice of the 
 
216 PLAYING CARDS- 
 
 card-maker. Any argument, therefore, respecting the 
 origin of cards, or the invention of Piquet, as founded on 
 the names of the coat cards, must be utterly without 
 foundation. 
 
 With respect to the names of those Valets, it seems to 
 be generally agreed that Roland, spelled Rolant on the 
 cards, was the nephew of Charlemagne, so famed in 
 romance, and that Hogier, or Ogier, was the renowned 
 Hogier of Denmark. According to a modern author, this 
 hero was a grandson of Pepin of Heristal, the great- 
 grandfather of Charlemagne; and the appellation, "of 
 Denmark," was conferred on him, not from his being of 
 that kingdom, but from his being a native of Dane-marche, 
 that is, of the district now called Ardennes. The same 
 author also informs us, that Hogier was a descendant of 
 St. Hubert of Ardennes; and, for a confirmation of the 
 fact, refers to the dog seen in an old Valet of Spades, 
 of which he gives a copy in his work : in the irregular 
 line of the more distant ground, in the same card, he sees 
 an indication of the uneven surface of the district of 
 Ardennes.* An inspection of the four Valets in question 
 will enable any person to decide on the value of his specu- 
 lations: three of those Valets, — Rolant, Hogier, and Lancelot, 
 —are accompanied by dogs; and the line of the more 
 distant ground in two of the subjects is nearly level ; while 
 the sUght eminence in the third— Rolant— evidently indi- 
 cates a rabbit-burrow. If such stuff as Mons. Barrois 
 
 ' " LMmage du valet de pique porte aveo elle une preuve de la nationality 
 ardennoise; Ogier, comme tons les descendants de Saint Hubert d' Ardennes, avait 
 
 le privilege de gu6rir Fhydrophobie et d'en preserver L'action 
 
 est r^clproque : le chien ne suit pas, il s'clance pour implorer protection et 
 
 assistance, et le neveu de Saint Hubert aecorde son intervention 
 
 II est a remarquer que le corps du cliicn est en partic cache par rescarperaent 
 du terrain, caractcristiquc du pays dcs Ardennes."— Elcmcus Carlovingiens 
 linguistiqucs et litt^raires (par J. Barrois), p. 265, Ito, Paris, 1846. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 217 
 
 drivels forth on the subject of cards pass for antiquarian 
 knowledge in France, it would seem that an ass-load of 
 useless book-learning constituted the grand qualification 
 of a French antiquary. 
 
 With respect to Lancelot, the reader is left to determine 
 whether the name were intended for one of the Paladins of 
 the court of Charlemagne, or Lancelot du Lac, one of the 
 Knights of King Arthur's Round Table. The appearance 
 of this name on the Valet of Clubs proves that Daniel was 
 right in his conjecture, as has been previously observed ; 
 though Mons. Leber seems to argue that he either was, or 
 ought to have been, wrong.^ 
 
 The name Valery, which occurs on the Knave of Hearts, 
 has not been found on any one of the other old cards 
 hitherto discovered ; and from the circumstance of its having 
 the letter / after it, which might be intended to signify 
 "fecit,'* it might be supposed that it was the card-maker's 
 name. It is, however, to be observed that the word "fecit" 
 is of ver}' rare occurrence, as signifying the work of the 
 artist whose name precedes it, on engravings, for whatever 
 purpose executed, of the fifteenth century. It may even be 
 asserted, with small hazard of contradiction, that / as an 
 abbreviation of "fecit," in its artistic appHcation, is not 
 
 ' "Le P. Daniel pose en fait que *le nom du quatri^me valet (le valet de 
 trefle) est inconuu, parce qu*il n*y a pas longtemps que les faiseurs de jeux de 
 cartes I'oni aboli, en mettant leur nom tl la place de celui de ce valet.' D croit 
 pourtant I'avoir trouv6 dans le traits de Daneau, d'ou il resulterait, selon lui, 
 que c'etait Lancelot. Si Daniel avait pu consulter les pieces du XVI« siecle, 
 il n'aurait pas liasard<$ ce jugement conjectural ; il aurait craint que sa conjec- 
 ture ne fut pas exacte, parce que les noms des cartes ayant beaucoup vari^, 
 Lancelot pouvait n'etre point celui du valet de trefle du temps de I'auteur 
 dont il s'appuie. H n*aurait pas dit que les faiseurs de cartes ont aboli ce 
 valet' pour mettre leur nom a la place du sien, parce qu'il aurait appris que 
 cette substitution de noin leur fut impos^e par une ordonnance de Louis XIII, 
 a laquelle ils ont du se soumettre." — Etudes Historiques sur les Cartes a 
 joucr, p. 32. 
 
218 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 to be found on a single engraving, whether on wood or 
 copper, executed previous to the year 1500. 
 
 For whatever person the name of Valery may have beeii 
 intended, it seems certain that it is not to be found as that 
 of a distinguished character in any of the old French 
 romances. Mons. Paulin Paris, having been consulted on 
 this subject, thus gives his opinion, in a letter addressed to 
 his friend, Thomas Wright, Esq., so well known for his 
 numerous publications on Middle- Age Literature ; " The 
 name of the Valet of Hearts seems to me extremely curious, 
 for it ought necessarily to bring to mind the name of 
 Erart de Valeriy the famous companion of Charles of Anjou, 
 King of Sicily, to whom his contemporaries chiefly ascribed 
 the gain of the battle of Tagliacozza, in which Manfred 
 [the opponent of Charles] was killed.* It might, therefore, 
 be supposed that the pack [to which the four Valets in 
 question belonged] was either of SiciUan or Italian fabrica- 
 tion; for the names Lancelot, Roland, Ogier, and Valeri 
 were equally familiar to the Sicilians of the fourteenth 
 century. I have said a few words about this Erard de 
 Valery in the article on Charles of Anjou, in my Romancero 
 Frangois."^ 
 
 Though by no means agreeing with Mons. Paulin Paris, 
 that these cards were either of Italian devising, or manu- 
 facture, I am yet inclined to think that his conjecture about 
 the name of Valery is correct, and that a corroboration of it 
 
 ' Charles of Anjou, brother of St. Louis, received the investiture of the king- 
 dom of Naples and Sicily, in 1265. 
 
 * " Lc nom du valet de caur me paroit extremcment curieux ; car il doit 
 n^cessairement rappeler le nom d'Erart de Valeri, le fameux compagnon de 
 Cliarles d' Anjou, roi de Sicile, celui auquel les contemporains attribuoient en 
 grandc partie le gain dc hi bataille de Tagliacozza, dans laquclle pi^rit Manfred. 
 Nous pouvons done croirc que le jcu aura ^tc fait en Sicile -ou en Italic; car 
 les quatre noms Lancelot, Roland, Ogier, et Valeri dtoicnt egalcmcnt familiers 
 aux souvenirs dcs Sicilicns du XIV • siccle. J'ai dit un mot de cet Erard de 
 Valery a Tarticlc dc Charles d'Anjou, dans raon Romancero Franjois." 
 
DIPFBRBNT KINDS. 219 
 
 IS to be found in the inscription on the Valet de Pique, in 
 the "Coursube" cards, previously noticed at page 21 L This 
 inscription is read darde, by Mons. Duchesne; but, to my 
 eye, the letters, as they appear in the fac-simile given in the 
 specimens of cards published by the Society of Bibliophiles 
 Frangois, appear much more Uke the name erarde ; and if, 
 on a careful examination of the original, it should be 
 ascertained that this was the word intended, I should then 
 unhesitatingly conclude that the person represented by this 
 card was Erard de Valery. The objection that one of 
 those cards is the Valet of Hearts, and the other the Valet 
 of Spades, is of no weight, for the old French card-makers 
 were by no means consistent in the practice of always giving 
 the same name to the same card. From the red rose which 
 appears on the shield held by Valery, an Englishman might 
 be justified in supposing that those cards, if not of EngUsh 
 manufacture, were more especially, if not exclusively, fabri- 
 cated for the English market, at a period shortly after the 
 accession of Henry VII,^ when the Red Rose of Lancaster 
 had obtained the ascendency. By assuming, indeed, a small 
 portion of French hcense on this subject, it might even be 
 asserted that those cards were of English manufacture; 
 seeing that they were discovered in the covers of a book 
 which had formerly belonged to an EngUsh monastery, and 
 that the features, expression, and bodily proportions of the 
 Valets are rather characteristic of Englishmen than French- 
 men. In support of this speculation, it may further be 
 observed that, in former times, monks were accustomed to 
 act as their own bookbinders, and that there is reason to 
 
 * Henry VII ascended the tlirone in 1485. — Mons. Duchesne observes that, 
 of all the old cards preserved in the Bibliotheque du Roi, only one displays a 
 rose, — namely, a king. There is an old coat card, engraved on copper, in the 
 print-room of the British Museum, which, like that aUudcd to by Mons. 
 Duchesne, has a rose as the mark of the suit. 
 
220 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 believe that playing cards were manufactured in England as 
 early as 1403.* 
 
 In the latter quarter of the fifteenth century, several packs, 
 or sets, of cards were engraved on copper, having the suits 
 distinguished by figures evidently introduced according to 
 the fancy of the artist, and bearing no resemblance to those 
 which occur on cards of an earlier date. As the art of 
 engraving on copper was then of recent invention, and its 
 productions comparatively scarce and high priced, it may be 
 concluded that those cards were chiefly intended for the 
 amusement of the wealthier classes. Though Mons. Leber 
 is of opinion that such cards were not intended for the 
 purpose of play, it is yet certain that they might be so 
 employed ; seeing that they consist of the same number of 
 suits as the common cards of the period, and have also in 
 each suit, like the latter, a certain number of coat cards, and a 
 certain number of others which have their value determined 
 by the number of marks impressed on them. One of Mons. 
 Leber's reasons for concluding that such cards were not 
 intended for the purposes of play, is, that being delicately 
 engraved on copper, it cannot be supposed that they were 
 meant to receive the colouring which, in his opinion, was 
 essential to a pack of cards.^ It may, however, be observed 
 that people may play very well with uncoloured cards, 
 more especially when the suits are so strikingly distinguished 
 as in the cards alluded to. 
 
 * Sec tho prohibition against the importation of playing cards, in 1403 ; 
 enacted by Parliament, in consequence of the complaints of the manufacturers 
 and tradesmen of London and other parts of England, against the importation 
 of foreign manufactured wares, which greatly obstructed their own employment, 
 previously referred to at page 96. 
 
 • Mons. Leber, after having noticed Bulger's objection to the so-called 
 Tarocchi cards, from their size and want of numeral cards, thus proceeds : " II 
 aurait pu ajouter que dcs gravurcs cx<3cut6cs avec tant de soins, quo Ics chcfs- 
 d'ccuvrc d'un art nouveau, dont Ic premier mdritc s*appr6ciait par la beauts de 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 221 
 
 Perhaps the earliest specimens of the cards in question 
 are those which have Hares, Parroquets, Pinks, and Colum- 
 bines as the marks of the suits, and of which a complete 
 pack, or set, of fifty-two pieces, is now in the Bibliotheque 
 du Roi.^ They are not cut up, but appear just as they 
 came from the hands of the printer, and each separate piece of 
 paper contains either four or six cards. The four Aces form 
 one plate; the numeral cards from Four to Nine are contained 
 on four plates ; and the Twos and Threes appear promis- 
 cuously mixed with the coat cards on five plates more. 
 
 Tiie form of these cards is circular, and in each suit there 
 are four coat cards, namely, a King, a Queen, a Squire, and 
 a Knave.^ The distinction between the two latter is not 
 indeed very clearly expressed in the costume ; though there 
 cannot be a doubt that the lowest character is that wliich in 
 
 rempreinte, n'ont pu etre destines h. recevoir renluminure qui entre essentielle- 
 ment dans la confection du jeu de cartes ; et cette observation s'applique a 
 plusieurs suites d'estampes du mcme genre et du meme siecle, dont quelques-unes 
 sont conserv6cs au cabinet royal. L^, commc dans Ics collections de Londres 
 etd'Alleinagne, elles sont toutcs en feuilles et en noir. Non-seulement Tetranget^ 
 des signes distinctifs des couleurs, mais la forme meme de ccs gravures, repous- 
 serait Tidde d'une destination semblable h, celle du jeu de cartes europ^en. Lcs 
 unes arrondies en medaillons, rappellent le champ circulaire des cartes indiennes : 
 d'autres couvrent un carr^ d'in-i"; les plus communes sont des carres longs; 
 mais au lieu des couleurs propres aux cartes a jouer, on n'y voit que des images 
 d'oiseaux, de quadrupedes, de fleurs, de fruits ; ce sont des perroquets et des 
 paons, des lievres et des ours, des singes et des lions, des grenades, des roses, et 
 tons autres objets dont le choix devait etre puremcnt arbitraire, quandil n*^tait 
 pas Texpression d'un jeu nouveau."— Etudes Historiques sur lcs Cartes h jouer, 
 p. 18. 
 
 * Those cards formerly belonged to a Mons. Volpato, and wore purchased of 
 lum, for the Bibliotheque du Roi, in 1833. He received in exchange some 
 cards of the same pack ; and the set, completed with fac-simil^ drawings of such 
 as were wanting, were recently in the possession of Messrs. Smith, of Lisle-street, 
 Leicester-square, to whom they were sent by Mons. Volpato for sale. 
 ^ ' Tlie third character in those coat cards cannot properly be called a Cavalier, 
 and has indeed very little pretensions to the designation of Squire. The Knaves 
 are evidently common foot-soldiers, such as were known in Italy by the name 
 ofFanti. 
 
223 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 each suit is represented as running, and thus plainly cor- 
 responding with the Italian Fante. The highest of the 
 numeral cards is the Nine, there being no Ten in this pack, 
 ^rhe respective number of each is marked at the top in 
 Arabic cyphers, and at the bottom in Roman numerals. 
 At the bottom also, within the outer circle of the border, arc 
 the letters T. W., probably intended for the initials of the 
 engraver.* Whoever he might be, his name is imknown ; 
 and only one other subject of his engraving is noticed by 
 Bartsch. In the annexed specimens are shown the King, 
 Queen, and Ace of Hares ; the Squire of Columbines ; the 
 Deuce and Squire of Pinks ; and the Knave and Nine of 
 Parroquets. On each of the Aces there is an inscription 
 on a scroll, as on the Ace of Hares; on the latter, the 
 language is low German — " Piatt Duitsch" — and the words 
 form a rhyming couplet : 
 
 Ave mi deint me vin, 
 Daerom mot ic en lepus sin. 
 
 The precise meaning of this it is not easy to make out ; 
 
 but taking the contracted word Ave to have been intended 
 
 for Auwe, a meadow, the couplet may be thus " done into 
 
 English;" 
 
 Me o*er fields men keen pursue, 
 Therefore I*m the Hare you view. 
 
 But supposing the word Ave to have been meant for Augen, 
 the eyes, and giving a shght turn to one or two other 
 words, the meaning would be that the hare was called 
 Lepus — quasi Lippus — on account of its blear eyes. 
 
 Mons. Duchesne says that, on the plate containing the 
 Aces, there is a date written in an old hand, but he omits to 
 
 » From the difSculty of giving in a wood-engraving those small letters with 
 sufBcient clearness, they are omitted in the annexed specimens. The numerals 
 are also omitted, except in the Two of Pinks. 
 
Circular Cards. XVth Century, (p. 223.) 
 1 
 
i 
 
Circular Cards. XVth Century, (p. 222.) 
 2 
 
I 
 
Circular Cards. XVth Century, (p. 222.) 
 3 
 
i 
 
Circular Cards. XVth Century, (p. 222.) 
 
 4 
 
I 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 223 
 
 mention what it is. In the ' Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de 
 Cartes Numerales/ where all the fifty-two pieces are given, 
 they are said to have been engraved about 1477. These 
 cards, though of the same form, and having the same marks 
 of the suits as those described by Bartsch, and noticed by 
 Singer, are yet the work of a different engraver. 
 
 In the circular cards described by Bartsch and Singer, 
 the inscription on the Ace of Hares is in Latin, and the 
 initials of the engraver, T. W., are wanting. From a 
 wrapper, of which a fac-simile is given by Singer, it would 
 appear that those cards were engraved at Cologne ; and it 
 has been supposed that they are of as early a date as 1470. 
 They are unquestionably the work of either a German or 
 a Flemish artist ; and some amateurs of engraving have 
 erroneously ascribed them to Martin Schon, or Schongauer. 
 Bartsch, in his description of them, includes a fifth suit, 
 namely, that of Roses; and says that each suit consisted of 
 thirteen cards, which would thus give sixty-five pieces for 
 the complete pack. Mr. Singer, also, in his account of 
 such of those cards as were formerly in the collection of 
 Mr. Douce, gives it as his opinion, that the complete pack 
 ought to consist of five suits of fourteen cards each, — in all, 
 seventy pieces.* Mons. Duchesne, however, thinks that 
 those authors are wrong, and that the complete pack con- 
 sisted of only four suits of thirteen cards each, as displayed 
 by those preserved in the Bibliotheque du Roi. But as he 
 entirely overlooks the difficulty of accounting for a suit of 
 Roses, engraved in the same style, he does not seem to be 
 justified in pronouncing so decisively that Bartsch and 
 Singer are wrong in supposing that a complete pack con- 
 sisted of five suits; for it is by no means unlikely that a 
 fifth suit might have been introduced by the artist, with a 
 
 ♦ Bartsch, Peintre-graveur, torn, x, pp. 70-6.— Singer, Researches into the 
 History of Playing Cards, p. 45-6, also pp. 205-8. 
 
224 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 view of giving variety to the game, but which might have 
 been subsequently discarded, as inconsistent with the old 
 established principles of the game, and as only making it 
 more complicated, without rendering it more interesting. 
 
 There is another pack, or set, of cards, also engraved on 
 copper, and of the same period as those last described, 
 which seems to requu-e some notice here, not only on 
 account of the marks employed to distinguish the suits, but 
 also on account of the means by which those marks were 
 repeated on the dijQTerent cards. The complete pack appears 
 to have consisted of fifty-two pieces ; each of the four suits 
 containing four coat and nine numeral cards — the place of 
 the Ten, as in the other two packs, being supplied by a fourth 
 coat card. The marks of the suits are : 1, Human figures ; 
 2, Bears and Lions ; 3, Deer ; and 4, Birds. These cards 
 are of large size, being about five inches and seven eighths 
 high, by about three and a half wide. The name of the 
 engraver is unknown ; but they are believed to be the work 
 of the German artist usually known to amateurs as ** The 
 Master of 14C0." In the coat cards the mark of the suit 
 is impressed from a different plate; and as it sometimes 
 occurs surrounded by the work of the coat card, it has 
 been ascertained that in such instances a blank space had 
 been left for its subsequent impression. The marks on the 
 numeral cards were also printed in the same manner, by 
 means of impressions from separate plates. 
 
 In the collection of Thomas Wilson, Esq., there were 
 twenty-nine of those cards, together with fourteen drawings 
 of other cards of the same pack, and eleven animals on sepa- 
 rate plates, forming the marks of the suits.^ Those cards were 
 purchased of Mr. Wilson by Mr. Tiffin, printseller, West 
 
 * In the 'Catalogue Raisonnd of the select Collection of Engravings of an 
 . Ainateur* [Mr. Wilson] a full description is given of those cards, pp. 87-91. 
 4to, 1828. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 225 
 
 Strand, who again sold them to the Bibliotheque du Roi, 
 where others of the same pack are also preserved. Fac- 
 simUes of thirty-seven are given in the ' Jeux de Cartes 
 Tarots et de Cartes Numerales/ published by the Society 
 of Bibliophiles Francois. In the Table des Matieres pre- 
 fixed to that work, it is indeed said that there are forty; but, 
 on looking at their plate, No. 91, it will be perceived that the 
 three coat cards there given do not properly belong to the 
 pack in question ; for the mark on two of them is a kind of 
 flower something like a sweet-pea, and on the other it is a 
 rose.i Mons. Duchesne, who appears to have supplied the 
 Precis Historique prefixed to the work above named, should 
 have distinctly mentioned that the three coat cards in 
 question were not of the same pack or set, which has Human 
 figures, Bears and Lions, Deer, and Bu-ds, as the marks of 
 the suits. If they really did belong to the same pack, it 
 must then have consisted of at least six suits. 
 
 The annexed four cards, engraved on copper, are copied 
 from specimens given by Breitkopf, in his 'Enquiry into the 
 Origin of Playing Cards ;* who there describes them as 
 ''German Piquet cards of the fifteenth century with Trappola 
 characters."^ The complete pack appears to have consisted 
 
 * One of these cards, a Queen, is evidently copied from the Queen of Deer, 
 but having a kind of flower as the mark of the suit, instead of a Deer. Those 
 two Queens, so precisely the same in form, attitude, and costume, most certainly 
 did not belong to the same pack. 
 
 * 'Deutsche Piquet-Karten aus den XV lahrhunderte mit Trappola Blattem.* 
 The use of the word Trappola by writers on the history of playing cards, without 
 clearly explaining the sense in which they employ it, leads to much confusion. 
 It properly signifies a game; which may be played with any kind of numeral 
 cards consisting of four suits, whatever the marks may be. Breitkopf seems 
 hero to apply the term "Trappola Blattem" to cards which have Swords, 
 Batons, Cups, and Money as the marks of the suits; in the same manner as the 
 cards now in common use in this country are called by writers on the subject, 
 French Piquet cards. It is never, however, supposed that the game depends in 
 the least on the marks of the suits. 
 
 15 
 
226 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 of fifty-two cards; each of the four suits contaminga King, 
 Queen, and Valet, or Knave, as we term the character; 
 together with ten numeral cards. The marks of the suits 
 were Swords; Clubs (proper, not Trefles); Cups; and 
 Pomegranates. The latter mark is substituted for that of 
 Money ; and was perhaps intended by the artist to com- 
 memorate the marriage of Philip the Fair, son of the 
 Emperor Maximilian, with Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand 
 and Isabella, King and Queen of Spain; who, on their sub- 
 jugation of the kingdom of Grenada, in 1497, appear to 
 have adopted the Granada^ or Pomegranate, as one of their 
 badges.^ The cards unquestionably belong to that period ; 
 and in support of the speculation, it may be further ob- 
 served that they are generally ascribed to Israel van Mecken; 
 who, as a native of Bocholt, was a subject of PhiUp, who 
 inherited the Netherlands, in right of his mother, Mary of 
 Burgundy. 
 
 Von Murr, in the second volume of his Journal, gives a 
 description of a nearly complete pack of those cards, which 
 were then in the possession of a gentleman named Silberrad, 
 residing at Nuremberg, but which are now in the British 
 Museum.^ He calls them old Trappola cards, and says that 
 they are certainly of an earUer date than the time of Israel 
 van Mecken the younger ; or rather, that they were 
 engraved by Israel the elder. "The suits," he says, 
 " are distinguished, after the Italian manner, by Spade ; 
 CoppB ; Danari (represented by Pomegranates) ; and 
 
 ' From the time of the marriage of Joanna's sister, Catherine of Arragon, 
 with Arthur, Prince of "Wales, till about the time of her separation from his 
 brother, Henry "Viil, the pomegranate was frequently introduced as an ornament 
 in the royal decorations and furniture of the English court. 
 
 * Those cards were purchased of Messrs. Smith, of Lisle street, who also 
 supplied the Museum with the two sets of old Italian engravings, usually 
 called Tarocchi cards. 
 
Swords (p. 227.) 
 
I 
 
 Cups. (p. 227.) 
 
I 
 
Batons, (p. 227.) 
 
•» I ' 
 
» 
 
 Vi»ir 
 
 Money, (p. S27.) 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS, 227 
 
 Bastoni."* The cards displayed in the preceding specimens 
 are : the Deuce of Swords ; the Valet of Cups ; the Ten of 
 Pomegranates; and the Ten of Clubs. In the latter, the Club 
 seen on the banner is rough and knotty, and not an arti- 
 ficially-formed Baton, as is sometimes seen on old Italian 
 cards : it has previously been observed that the Bastoni 
 were sometimes called Colonne, from their being something 
 Uke slender pillars. 
 
 It would appear, from the testimony of contemporary 
 authors, that the cards most commonly used in Italy in the 
 latter part of the fifteenth century, were those which had 
 Spade, Coppe, Bastoni, and Danari — Swords, Cups, 
 Batons, and Money, — as the marks of the suits. These 
 continued to be the common marks on ItaUan cards in the 
 sixteenth century, and even to a much later period; and 
 such also would appear to have been the marks of the cards 
 used in Spain, from the period of their first introduction 
 into that country, to the present day. The annexed wood- 
 cuts, copied from a plate in Breitkopf,^ are the Sevens of each 
 of the four suits in a pack of Tarots. The marks are precisely 
 the same as in modern Tarots ; and there is reason to be- 
 lieve that they are nearly the same, with respect to form, as 
 those of the earliest Italian Tarocchi cards, properly so called. 
 
 The relation which the marks of the suits bear to each 
 other in the three varieties of cards most generally known 
 in Europe, will perhaps be best understood from the follow- 
 ing summary, which shows, at one view, the names given to 
 the suits of each variety in the country where such cards were 
 chiefly used. 
 
 * " Die Karte ist nach Walsicher Art in Spade, Coppe, Danabi, (die aberliier 
 als Granatapfel vorgesteilt sind,) und Bastoni getheilet."— Von Murr, Journal 
 zur Kunstgeschicht, iiv Theil, s. 200. 
 
 ' Breitkopf improperly calls those cards ** Traj)polier-Karie"'-TrapTpo]& 
 cards. Arctiuc, in his ' Carte Parlanti/ makci a distinction between the game 
 of Trappola, and that played with Tarocchi caras. 
 
JJ28 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 GERMAN CARDS. 
 
 German Names of the Suits. 
 
 Hebzew, Oder Roth. Geun. Eichbln. Schbileit. 
 
 (Hearts, or Rep, Geeen (Leaves). Acoens. Bells.) 
 
 SPANISH AND ITALIAN CARDS. 
 
 
 Spanish Names. 
 
 
 COPAS. 
 
 EsPADAS. Basics. 
 Italian Names. 
 
 Obos. 
 
 COPPB. 
 
 Spade. Bastoni. 
 
 Danari. 
 
 (Cups. 
 
 Swords. Clubs, or Batons. 
 FRENCH CARDS. 
 
 Monet.) 
 
 • 
 
 French Names. 
 
 
 CCEUB. 
 
 Pique. Triple 
 
 Carreau. 
 
 (Heabts. 
 
 Spades. Clubs. 
 
 Diamonds.) 
 
 In the oldest cards of the German and Spanish type 
 there appears to have been no Queen. In the German 
 pack, the second coat card was a kind of superior officer, 
 distinguished as Ober,— Upper, Superior ; while the third, 
 corresponding with our Knave, was namedUNTER, — Inferior.^ 
 The Spaniards called the second coat card Caballo, — the 
 Horseman or Knight ;— and the Knave they called Sota, 
 a word which, in the Dictionary of the Spanish Academy, 
 
 * " n y a dans chaque cotJeur un roi, nn officier sup^rieur ou capitame nottim^ 
 Ober, et un bas-oflOLcier, appel^ Unter. On appelle encore de nos jours dans 
 Tempire, oli les mots franpais ne sont pas si en vogue, les officiers sup^rieurs 
 oberleute, et les bas-oflficiers unterleute. Les Eranpais ont substitu^ ^ la place de 
 PoflBicier une dame, et a la place des bas-officiers des valets, ou des braves, comme 
 Bullet les nomme. Le bas-officier des glands est nomm^ en Allemagne, der 
 grosze mentzel, et celui de vert, der kleine mentzel; enfin. Fas porte le nom de 
 (^w.'*— Heineken, Iddc g^n^rale d'une Collection compile d'Estampes, p. 239- 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 229 ] 
 
 is said to be derived from the Italian soto, signifying 'under/* 
 The Italians called their second coat card Cavallo, and the 
 third Fante ; in each of the four suits the principal coat i 
 card was the King. It would, however, appear that at an \ 
 early period, the Italians occasionally substituted a Queen | 
 for the Cavallo; and if the cards formerly belonging to the I 
 Marquis Girolamo be really of so early a date as is assigned i 
 to them by Millin,^ it would seem that the French have no 
 just title to the '* honour" of being the first to introduce a \ 
 Queen as the second coat card, and that in having made 
 " Place aux Dames," in the pack, they had only followed \ 
 the example set them by the Itahans. i 
 
 Millin's notice of those cards is to the following efiect : 
 "In the collection of the Marquis Girolamo, at Venice, 
 there are some cards of very early date, — about the begin- 
 ning of the fifteenth century. They are larger than the \ 
 ordinary cardsW the present day ; they are also very thick - \ 
 and the material of which they are formed resembles the ; 
 cotton paper of ancient manuscripts. The figures, which j 
 are impressed — * imprimees' —on a gold ground, consist of ] 
 three Kings, two Queens, and two Valets, one of the last 
 being on horseback. Each figure has a Baton, a Sword, or ] 
 a piece of Money [as the mark of the suit]. The design is . 
 very like that of Jacobello del Fiore ; but the work has the 
 appearance of impression, and the colours seem to have j 
 
 ' ** SoTA. La tercera figura, que ti^nen los naipes, la qual representa el 
 infante, 6 soldado. Dixose de la voz Italiana soto, que vale debaxo, porque vd 
 despues de las figuras de Key, y Caballo, qne le son superiores." — ^In a superficial 
 paper on old playing-cards, by the baron de RcifTenberg, printed in the * Bulletins 
 de r Acaddmie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres, et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique/ 
 No. 10^ 1847, the Sota is transformed into a female : " Dans les jeux de cartes \ 
 espagnols, la dame et le valet 6taient remplac^s par le cavallo et la sota, le j 
 cavalier et la/ille." '; 
 
 * Mons. Duchesne, is of opinion that the Marquis Girolamo*S cards belonged < 
 to the same pack or set as the so-called Gringonneur cards preserved in the | 
 Bibliotheque du Roi. If Millin's description, however, be correct, Mons. | 
 Duchesne is unquestionably wrong. ] 
 
230 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 been applied by means of a stencil. They are the most 
 ancient specimens of their kind."* 
 
 As the names. Clubs and Spades, given to two of the 
 suits in this country, by no means correspond with the 
 marks by which they are distinguished, — to wit, the French 
 ^<^^ and Pique— 1 am inclined to consider them as the 
 old names for the suits of Bastoni and Spade ; Clubs being 
 merely a translation of Bastoni, and Spades probably a 
 corruption of Spade, or Espadas, — Swords.^ Erom these 
 names, indeed, it may be fairly supposed that the cards 
 first known in England were those having Swords, Clubs, 
 Cups, and Money, as the marks of the suits ; and that two 
 of those suits retained their names when the old cards of 
 Spanish or ItaHan type were superseded by those of more 
 
 • Millin, Pictionnaire des Beaux Arts^ torn, i, p. 201. Paris, 1806. Quoted 
 by Peiguot.— Jacobello del Piore flourished about 1420.^A set of cards, " con- 
 taining figures of the gods, with their emblematic animals, and figures of birds 
 also," were painted for Philip Visconti, Duke of Milan, who died in 1447. 
 Decembrio, in his life of this prince, in the 20th volume of the * Rerum Italica- 
 rum Scriptores,* says that they cost fifteen hundred pieces of gold, and were 
 chiefly executed by the prince's secretary, Martianus Terdonensis. Prom the 
 context, it appears that they were not mere pictures, but were intended for 
 some kind of game. — ^Aretine, in his * Carte Parlanti,' speaks with admiration of 
 a pack of cards pamted by Jacopo del Giallo, a Florentine artist who flourished 
 about 1540. 
 
 * It is but fair to observe here that tlie Dutch name for the suit which we 
 call Spades, is Scopy a Shovel, or Spade; and that as this name has been evidently 
 given to the suit from the mark bearing some resemblance to a spade, the same 
 suit might have been called Spades by the English for the same reason. This 
 objection, however, does not afl'ect the conjecture with respect to Clubs. In 
 the Nugae Vcnales, printed in Holland, 1648, we meet with the following : 
 " Query. Why are the Four Kings of cards, Diamonds, Trefoil, Hearts,, and 
 Spades — Rhombuli, Trifolii, Cordis, et Ligonis — always poor? — Answer. Be- 
 cause they are always at play ; and play, according to the proverb, is man's 
 perdition. Their state is also in other respects most miserable; for when through 
 them much money is lost, they arc condemned to the flames, and burnt like 
 wizards." Tlie modem Dutch names for the suits of Prench cards are Hart, 
 — ^Hcart ; Rui/tf a lozenge-shaped figure, a diamond-shaped pane of glass, — 
 Diamonds ; Klaver, Clover, Trefoil,— Clubs ; Scop, a Spade, Shovel, or Scoop, 
 — Spades. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 231 
 
 recent French design. There are also other circumstances 
 which strengthen the conclusion, that cards, on their first 
 introduction into England, as a popular game, were brought 
 either from Spain or Italy ; the character of the third coat 
 card, the Knave, or Jack, is more in accordance with the 
 Spanish Sota, or the ItaUan Fante, than with the French 
 Valet, which, in the earhest French cards, always bears the 
 name of some person of note, either in romance or history. 
 The term Valet, at the time when it was first bestowed on 
 the third coat card by the French, did not signify a 
 "Gentleman's Gentleman" or a menial servant; but was 
 more especially appUed to young noblemen — ^the " Dilecti 
 Regis" — holding appointments at court. The term Knave 
 was never applied, like Valet, to signify a courtier, or person 
 of distinction ; it was used to signify a serving-man of 
 low condition. It seems to be derived from the same 
 root as the German Knabe, the primary meaning of which 
 is a Boy, but which was also used, in the same way as the 
 Latin Puer, to signify a servant. Subsequently the term 
 Knave became obsolete in the sense of servant, and was 
 exclusively applied to designate a dishonest person. The 
 term Jack, another name for the Knave of cards, was in 
 former times very frequently applied to a " serving-man of 
 low degree," without any regard to the name which might 
 have been given to him by his godfathers and godmothers. 
 Though Dr. Johnson, and most other English lexico- 
 graphers, derive the term Jackanapes from Jack and Ape, 
 and though this derivation seems to be supported by the 
 meaning attached to the term by one of the earliest writers 
 who makes use of it, yet " Jack-a-Naipes," that is. Jack of 
 Cards, is at least as probable an etymology ; and much more 
 so than that of "Jack Cnapa," suggested by Sharon Turner, 
 in his 'History of England,' from which the following passage 
 is extracted. 
 
232 PLAYING CAEDS. 
 
 " In the British Museum, Vesp. B, 16, is a ballad written 
 at this time on the catastrophes of the Duke of Suffolk and 
 his friends. (Temp. Henr. VI, May, 1450.) It treats these 
 horrors with an exulting levity, which shows the barbarous 
 unfcchngness of poHtical rancour; but it is curious for 
 giving the names of those friends of the government who 
 were most hated by the people. They are the clerical 
 statesmen who were employed either in the offices of govern- 
 ment or on its embassies, and it shows how much the 
 dominant church had, by these employments, become iden- 
 tified with the crown. It designates the Duke of Suilblk 
 by the cant term of ' Jac Napes,' and is perhaps the eariiest 
 instance we have of the abusive application of the word 
 Jackanapes. Our lexicographers derive this word from 
 Jack and Ape ; but the ballad shows, that Napes was a term 
 of derision signifying a Knave ; and must therefore be the 
 Saxon Cnapa, which bore also this meaning. This will ex- 
 plain the reason why our third figured card is called Jack, and 
 also Knave. The word Jackanapes therefore seems to be 
 Jack Cnapa, and to mean Jack the Knave. In this sense 
 it is applied to Suffolk; and as the Knave is next in power 
 at cards to the King and Queen, the nickname may be 
 used in the ballad with an allusion to Suffolk's being the 
 prime minister of Henry and Margaret."^ 
 
 The following are two of the stanzas of the ballad in 
 which the term occurs : 
 
 " In the moneth of May, when grass grows grene, 
 Fragrant in her flowres with swete savour, 
 Jac Napes wold on the see, a maryner to ben, 
 With his clogi and his cheyn to seke more tresour. 
 
 ** Swych a payn prikked him, he asked a confessour ; 
 Nicholas said, I am redi the confessour to be; 
 He was holden so, that he ue passed that hour : 
 For Jac Napes saule, * placebo et dirige.' " 
 
 * Sharon Turner's History of England, vol. iii, p. 80. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 233 
 
 Mr. Turner's remark, that " the ballad shows that Napes 
 was a term of derision, signifying a Knave, and must 
 therefore be the Saxon Cnapa,'* does not appear to be 
 well founded; for if it were derived from Cnapa, and 
 merely signified a Knave, or Cheat, it is diflicult to conceive 
 why it should be written Napes, and not Knave, or Knape, 
 as required, according to Mr. Turner's etymology ; besides, 
 it is evident from the context, that, in the mind of the 
 writer, the idea of a Jac Napes was associated with that of 
 a monkey, or an ape, with his clog and his chain. That 
 this was not the primary signification of the term, may 
 be confidently asserted; and no writer who has derived 
 it from Jack and Ape, has produced any authority to 
 show that it originally meant a man who travelled about 
 with apes or monkeys. In the following passage, from a 
 tract printed about 1540,* the term '*YacX: an najjea** 
 evidently refers to a mummer or bufibon in a particoloured 
 dress, like that of a knave of cards. The writer, after 
 having noticed the assembling of the poor on hoUdays, at 
 the "personisbame,"^ and there committing "ydolatrein 
 mayntenynge his ambision, pride, and bestly lyvinge," 
 thus proceeds: "Nobyl statis were better to hunte the 
 bull, here, hert, or ony othere thynge lyke to suckure the 
 powre with the mette, then to here Sir Jhon Singyl Sowle 
 stombel a payer of mattens in laten, slynge holy water, 
 curse holy brede, and to play a caste lyke yack an napes 
 in a foles cotte." When John Bale, in his work entitled, 
 * Yet a Course at the Romish Foxe,' speaks of Jack-a-Napes 
 
 » " Here begynncth a traetys callyde tlie Lordis llayle handlydo by the 
 Bushoppes powre theresshere Thomas Solme." — ^Without date. At the end : 
 " Prynted at Basyl by me Theophyll Emlos, undere the sygne of Sente Peters 
 Kay." — 16mo. In one passage Henry VUI is appealed to as then living. 
 
 * To the bam or grange of monasteries a chapel was frequently attached, 
 which used to be attended on holidays by country people who lived at a distance 
 from the parish church. 
 
234 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 " swearing by his ten bones/* it would seem that he in 
 some manner or other associated the term with the Jack-a- 
 Naipes, or Jack of Cards ; for his ten bones can only be 
 supposed to relate to the numerical value of the Jack of 
 Naipes, as a coat card. In Bale's time a " card of ten" 
 would appear to have been a general expression for a coat 
 card, as well as for a card distinguished by that number of 
 pips. 
 
 Fyrste pycke a quarell, and fall out with hym then. 
 And soo outface hym with a carde of ten. 
 
 SkeltotCi Bowghe of Court. 
 
 From the following passage in Pulci's *MorganteMaggiore/ 
 it would seem that, in Italy, in the fifteenth century, the 
 King of cards was occasionally referred to as the type of a 
 presumptuous person : 
 
 "E com* e* giunse, gridava il gigante ; 
 Tu se* qui, Re di Naibi, o di Scacchi, 
 Col mio bataglio convien cVio t'ammachi." 
 
 " And when the two together came, the giant shouted out, 
 And here you are, my King of Cards, or e*en of Chess, pardie ! 
 My club then with your shoulders must without delay make free." 
 
 ': In Scotland, about 1508, the Knave of cards was the 
 representative of a forward impertinent person, — a very 
 Jack-a-Naipes, — as is evident from the " Flyting of Dunbar 
 and Kennedy," where the latter, among other bad names, 
 calls the former ** Valet of cards : 
 
 " Waik walidrag, and verlot of the cairtis."' 
 
 Even in modem times the Knave of Hearts has been 
 referred to as the ideal of a presumptuous, thickset little 
 
 • * The Poems of William Dunbar, now first collected, with notes and a 
 memoir of his life, by David Laing/ vol. ii, p. 67, 1834!.—Tn the notes to this 
 edition, there are several references to the card-j)laying of James IV of Scotland. 
 His majesty, it would seem, was accustomed to play with the " French Leich," 
 John Damiun, whom he aflcrwards promoted to the abbacy of Tungland. 
 Damian, who broke Ills thigh in an attempt to fly from the top of Stirb'ng castle, 
 is the person ridiculed by Dunbar as the " Fenyet Friar of Tungland." 
 
DIPFERENT KINDS. 235 
 
 man, as appiears from the following passage which occurs in 
 the second edition, of Brockett's Glossary, 1829, under the 
 word Purdy. 
 
 '' Purdy, a little thickset fellow. — I owe this word," says 
 Mr. Brockett, " to the communication of a clerical friend 
 in the county of Durham, who first heard it at Barnard 
 Castle. On ascertaining the meaning, the following dialogue 
 took place. 
 
 Q. What does Purdy mean ? 
 
 A, A Uttle throsian-up thing Uke a Jack at Warts. 
 [Jack 0* 'Arts, — Jack of Hearts.] 
 
 Q. What's that ? 
 
 A, Something like a lime-burner, 
 
 Q. What is a lime-burner ? 
 
 A, Oh, nobbut a Kendal stockener, 
 
 Q. What is that ? 
 
 A. A little thickset fellow." 
 
 If cards were actually known in Italy and Spain in the 
 latter part of the fourteenth century, it is not unlikely that 
 the game, as a common amusement, was introduced into 
 this country by some of the English soldiers who had served 
 under the banners of Hawkwood, and other Free Captains, 
 in the wars of Italy and Spain, about the period in question. 
 But, however this may be, it seems at least certain that the 
 earliest cards commonly used in this country, were of the 
 same kind, with respect to the marks of the suits, as those 
 used in Italy and Spain. 
 
 The German cards of the fifteenth century, and even of 
 a much later period, display more of fanciful embellishment 
 than the cards of other countries ; more especially in the 
 numeral, or low cards; which, in addition to the "pips," 
 or marks of the suits, frequently contain figures of men 
 and women, quadrupeds, birds, foliage, and such like, 
 introduced by way of ornament, at the caprice of the 
 
236 
 
 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 designer. These ornamental appendages are frequently of 
 a grotesque character, and sometimes indecent. The two 
 annexed figures are the second coat cards of the suits of Griin 
 
 and Eicheln,-— Leaves, and Acorns, — in a pack of German 
 cards engraved on wood, of the date 1511. The figures are 
 drawn with great freedom, and are much in the style of 
 Lucas Cranach. On the Two of Acorns are the letters F.C.Z.; 
 the F and the C being probably the initials of the designer, 
 and the Z signifying that he made the drawings, — zeichnet. 
 On the Two of Leaves are two shields suspended from a tree ; 
 the one displays two strait swords, in saltire ; and the other 
 the arms of the house of Saxony, the same as are frequently 
 seen in wood engravings designed by Lucas Cranach. In 
 a third shield at the bottom of the same card, are a 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 
 
 237 
 
 pickaxe and mallet, in saltire, the same as in Dr. Stukeley's 
 cards, and probably the mark of the card maker. Thirty- 
 six cards of this pack, which appears to have originally 
 
 consisted of fifty-two, are preserved in the Bibliotheque 
 du Roi ; and fac-similes of them are given in the * Jeux 
 de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numerales,' published by the 
 Society of Bibliophiles Fran^ais, planches 92-95. 
 
 Specimens of a pack of cards designed by Erhard Schon, 
 and engraved on wood, are given by Singer in his Researches. 
 In this pack, the marks of the suits are Flowers, Pomegra- 
 nates, Leaves, and Roses. ^ These cards are very inferior, 
 
 * A few single cards, apparently belonging to this pack, preserved in the 
 British Museum, are ascribed to Hans Sebald Behaim. 
 
238 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 both in design and execution, to those just described, of the 
 date 1511. Erhard Schon flourished about 1530. About 
 1550, Virgil SoUs engraved a pack of cards on copper, 
 with Lions, Apes, Peacocks, and Parrots as the marks of 
 the suits : they are noticed by Bartsch, in his ' Peintre- 
 Graveur' ; and six of the pack were recently in the posses- 
 sion of Messrs. Smith, of Lisle street. 
 
 The best of all the fanciful cards that appeared in 
 Germany during the sixteenth century, are those engraved 
 on wood from the designs of Jost Amman. They were 
 pubhshed at Nuremberg in 1588, in a quarto volume, with 
 illustrative verses, in Latin and German, composed by 
 J. H. Schroter, the imperial poet-laureate.^ From the fol- 
 lowing verses, — ^ Liber de Seipso,' — it would seem that 
 those cards were not designed for the purposes of play : 
 
 " Chajlta mihi titulum tribuit Lusoria ; lusus 
 Et chartae in pretio rnunera vulgus habet. 
 Sed nee ego laudes moror aut ccnvicia vulgi ; 
 Sit mihi sat clans posse placere viris. 
 " Hos rogo, ut a remm quondam graviore vacantes 
 Cura, si chartis ludere forte velint, 
 Colludent nostris: sine rixis, vulnere, morte, . 
 Lndenti quoniam lucra benigna dabunt." 
 
 In this set of cards, the marks of the suits are Books; 
 Printers' inking balls ; Wine-cups, of metal " formed by the 
 skill of the goldsmith ;" and Goblets, with bosses of glass 
 or earthenware. Correct and beautifully executed spe- 
 cimens of those cards are given in Singer's 'Researches,' 
 pp. 180-96. 
 
 The four annexed German cards, are the Sevens of the 
 
 * Those cards are the rarest of all Jost Amman's nnmerons works. The first 
 title of the Tolume is " Jodoci Ammanni, civis Noribergensis Charta Lusoria, 
 Tetrastichis illustrata per Janum Heinrichum Scroterum de Gustrou." Then 
 follows a long explanatory title m German, and the imprint, " Gedruct zuNurn- 
 berg, durch Leouhardt Heussler, Anno, 1588." . There is a copy of the work 
 in the British Museum. 
 
i 
 
i 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 
 
 239 
 
 ioxa^viisxSchellen; Her zen, oder Moth; Grun; Eickeln, — 
 Bells ; Hearts, or Red ; Green, or Leaves ; and Acorns. 
 They are copied from Breitkopf, and are of the seventeenth 
 century. The four small ones given below are of the same 
 period, and were probably intended for the amusement 
 of children,— like the "pretty little cards for pretty Uttle 
 fingers," manufactured at the present day. The subjects 
 are, the second Coat card and the Three of Leaves; the Four 
 of Acoms; and the Six of Hearts. 
 
 
 ^r%M3.m^ 
 
 
 ^^^to 
 
 " ^ 
 
 C^^^So^ 
 
 
 ^^■M ^ J, 
 
 ' , 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 l.^"- 
 
 ^^^^^L 
 
 . ' 
 
 ^^A 
 
 As small bells were worn as omaments by the emperors 
 of Germany and the higher classes in the 12th and 13th 
 centuries, Breitkopf is inclined to think that bells might 
 have been introduced on cards as a distinctive mark of the 
 
240 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 class of kings and nobles ; and that cards might even 
 have been known in Germany at the period referred to. In 
 corroboration of his opinion, he gives a plate, entitled 
 ^^ Alte Deutsche Furst Schellen-tracht** — that is to say, 
 Ancient German Princely Bell-costmne, — containing four 
 figures, all adorned with small bells. The first figure is 
 that of the Princess Wulphilde, who was li\ing in 1138 ; 
 the second and third represent the Emperor Henry VI, who 
 died in 1197; and the fourth is that of the Emperor 
 Otho IV, who died in 1218.^— Breitkopf's conjecture 
 is imdeserving of remark : had he assei-ted that his old 
 German emperors and princes were adorned with bells to 
 indicate their rank and precedence, in the manner of leading 
 packhorses, he would perhaps have been as near the truth. 
 
 The tinkle of the bell rouses the questing spirit of Mons. 
 Leber, who pursues the inquiry with singular ardour and 
 perseverance, though not with success. His researches, 
 however, on the subject of bells, though throwing not a 
 glimmer of light on the history of cards, are yet so 
 amusing, that they are here given entire, notes and all. 
 They also furnish an additional proof of the wide field 
 aflbrded for speculation by the history of cards. 
 
 *' After the Fou of European Tarots, the Bells on Indian 
 cards are another proof of the Oriental origin of the game. 
 The use of bells in India, whether as a mark of distinction 
 and greatness, or as a means of diversion, is of remote 
 antiquity; while everything shows that they were not 
 known to the ancient nations of Europe. The Baladins 
 and female dancers of India have their legs decked with 
 small bells, which they shake when dancing ; and certain 
 idols are decorated with the same ornament ; girdles formed 
 of bells are also worn by infants, without any other clothing; 
 
 ' Breitkopf, [Jrsprung der Spielkarten, s. 33. 
 
4 
 DIFFBRBNT KINDS. 241 
 
 and sometimes a single bell supplies the place of the girdle. 
 Herbert relates that ' as this bell contains a viper's tongue, 
 it might be supposed to be annoying and disgraceful. It 
 is, however, neither the one nor the other, for it is made au 
 ornament, and it is esteemed one of their most superb, 
 when given by the king to a person whom he wishes to 
 honour.'^ — We have already said that the use of bells for 
 various purposes is of great antiquity ; and a proof of this 
 is furnished by the Pentateuch.^ Bells appear to have 
 passed from the Hebrews to the Arabs, and to have been 
 with these two nations the same as we see them to have 
 been in India, a sign of distinction and power, when not 
 prostituted to the use of the Baladins. An English author, 
 who has not been unmindful of the remarks of Calmet,* 
 mentions, in the following terms, a kind of devotion paid 
 to the bell among the Arabians : 'The Arabian courtesans, 
 like the Indian women, have little golden hells fastened 
 round their legs, neck, and elbows, to the sound of which 
 they dance before the king. — The Arabian princesses wear 
 golden rings on their fingers, to which little bells are sus- 
 pended, as in the flowing tresses of their hair, that their 
 superior rank may be known, and they themselves receive 
 in passing the homage due to them/*— Such are bells in 
 the East : let us now see what they have been in Europe at 
 different periods. 
 
 "The Emperor Henry IV, who died in 1197, and 
 Wulphilde, the wife of Count Rodolph, living in 1138, are 
 represented in ancient monuments in habits ornamented 
 
 * " Voy. les Voyages de Samuel Purchas j ceux de Thomas Herbert en Perse 
 et dans plusieurs parties de TOrient ; le Suppl. t. ii, des Ceremonies relig., avec 
 les figures dc B. Picart, et la- PI. de la fete de Huly, t. i, 2* part, des memes 
 Ceremonies, p. 138." 
 
 * " Notamment Exode, c. xxxix, v. 25." 
 
 ' "Voy. D. Calmet, Dictionn. de la Bible, au mot Clochette." 
 
 * " Lalla llookh, an oriental romance, by T. Moore." 
 
 10 
 
242 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 with bells similar to those which are seen on Tarots. It 
 would seem that this singular ornament, which subsequently 
 became the attribute of the bufFoon, or professional jester, 
 was then a mark of dignity in the West as well as in the 
 East, and that it held a conspicuous place amongst the dis- 
 tinctive ornaments of the princes and nobles of Germany, 
 from the eleventh to the thirteenth century.^ Some EngUsh 
 critics, however, have supposed that the bell indicated 
 falconry,^ a sport which the high nobility only had the 
 privilege of indulging in ; and it is certain that small bells 
 were attached to the feet of trained falcons.^ But the 
 question is, did the bells stand for the falcon, and was the 
 falcon, indeed, a mark of high nobility ? 
 
 "What renders this conjecture probable is, that we find 
 the use of the small bell [grelot] established in the West 
 before the introduction of heraldic signs, and that we have 
 no evidence of its having been known to the ancient Greeks 
 and Romans.* As the bell was used in falconry by princes 
 and nobles of the first class, it might thus become the 
 emblem of the falcon, and, subsequently, that of the nobihty 
 
 > " Voy. Breitkopf, Urspmng der Spielkartcn, p. 33, et la PL de Henri VI 
 et de Wulphilde (d'apres I'Archdologie, sauf erreur). Les memcs figures, 
 copi^ics par Janscn, so rctrouvcnt t. i, dc son Essai sur I'Originc dc la Gravurc 
 en Bois et en Taillc-douce. Paris, 1808, 2 vol. in-8. Le costume en a 6i6 
 (jvidemmcnt rajcuni, mais il est hors de toutc vraisemblance qu'on y ait suppos^ 
 line parure dc grclots ^trangere au monument original." — Mons. Leber, in citing 
 Breitkopf, spells his name with uniform inaccuracy. 
 
 ' " Gough, d'apres Stukeley, Archseologia, t. viii, p. 152 ; et Smger, p. 73." 
 
 ' " La Fauconnerie de Guillaume Tardif, eh. x, p. 61 ; et les Oiseaux de 
 Proie, par G. B., p. 122 du reeueil de J. du Fouilloux, ^dit. de Paris, 1614, 
 in.4, fig." 
 
 * " Quoiqu*on ait souvent traduit les mots crotalum et crusma, — rporaXov, 
 KpuKTuUf — par grelot, et r^ciproquement, on croit que les instruments ainsi 
 nommds par les Grecs et les Roraains n'etaient pas ce que nous appelons des 
 grelots ; et, en efTct, la figure du grelot ne se retrouve dans aucun monument 
 d'une antiquitd bien etablie. Voy. P. A. Lampe, De Cymbalis veterum, lib. i, 
 cap. 4, 7, 8, et fig., pp. 26 et 44, Holl., pet. in.l2." 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 243 
 
 to whom it was confined. The falcon, and things per- 
 taining to falconry, were certainly among the marks of 
 grandeur with which the sovereigns and barons of the 
 middle ages loved to surround themselves in their formal 
 displays, and which alone were sufficient, in the same manner 
 as armorial bearings, to indicate the rank of the persons to 
 whom they belonged. In the tapestry ascribed to Queen 
 Matilda, Harold is seen travelling with his falcon on his 
 fist; and the Count Guy de Ponthieu, who conducts him 
 prisoner to Beaurain, carries also his bird in the same 
 manner, although he, doubtless, had no thought of the 
 chase.* Besides, sceptres are surmounted with three- 
 branched fleurons, like those which form the ornament on 
 the top of a falcon's hood.^ We also see hawks and falcons 
 on ancient tombs; and it is not unlikely that they were 
 there placed as indications of rank before the introduction 
 of armorial bearings. The same conventional distinctions 
 were still in existence in much more recent times ; for Anne 
 de Montmorency made his entiy into London as ambas- 
 sador of Francis I, preceded by twenty-six gentlemen of 
 the best houses of France^ each bearing a falcon on his fist ;* 
 and even our kings themselves, on occasions of grand display, 
 were preceded by their falconers fully equipped. Falconry 
 was not known to the ancients ; but it is certain that it was 
 in use among the nations of the North before the conquest 
 of the Gauls by the Franks. Sidonius Apollinaris com- 
 memorates the skill of a person named Vectius in the art of 
 training dogs, horses, and birds of prey : " In equis, canibus. 
 
 • " Voy, les comp. 2 et 8 de la pi. 56 des Monuments de la Monarchic fran- 
 ?aise, par Montfaucon." 
 
 ^ " Ibid. pi. 55, d'apr^s nne miniature d'un manusc. angl. du X" siecle. 
 
 » "Hist, de la Maison de Montmorency.— Le Grand, Vie privee des Franj. 
 torn, ii." 
 
244 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 accipitribm instituendis, spectandis, circumferendis, nulli 
 sccundus/** 
 
 *' The question, however, would still be, ' if bells were used 
 in falconry at so early a period ?' and it may be presumed 
 that they were not so used until long afterwards. 
 German princes, as referred to by Breitkopf, are decorated 
 with them as marks of high birth, on monuments from the 
 eleventh to the thirteenth century. Now, it was just to- 
 wards the close of the eleventh century, that the intercoiu*se 
 between Europeans and Orientals became more extended 
 by means of the crusades ; and the invention of heraldry is 
 of the same period. Armorial bearings, which originated 
 in over-sea expeditions and in tournaments, are not of 
 higher antiquity than the eleventh century ; their use be- 
 came more frequent in the twelfth ; and, in the thirteenth, 
 we find them generally established.^ From the concurrence 
 of these circumstances, it may be concluded that bells of 
 this kind were brought into Europe from the East, towards 
 the end of the eleventh century; and, that on their first 
 introduction, the German nobility adopted them as marks 
 of distinction, either from the idea of grandeur attached to 
 them by the people from whom they had them, or on 
 account of the noble bird to whose use they had dedicated 
 them; and that this mark of nobihty fell into disuse when 
 heraldry could supply its place by signs better adapted to 
 gratify the pride of the great, on account of their indicating, 
 at the same time, both rank and personal distinction. The 
 
 » " Sidonius Apollinaris, Epist. 9, p. 245 de Tddit. in-4 de Savaron. Ce com- 
 mcntatcurallegueun passage de Prosper, lib. iii, cap. 17, de Vita contemplativa, 
 oil il est aussi question d*oiseaux et de chiens de chasse : * Utuntur accipitribus 
 ac saginatis canibus ad venatum.* " 
 
 « "Suivant Fopinion la plus gen^ralement adoptee, et que partagerent Velser, 
 Duchesne, Tauchet, Du Tillet, Blondel, les freres de Sainte-Marthe, Spelman, 
 le P. Mencstrier et autres. Voy. le Traits de VOrigine des Armoiries, de ce 
 dernier. Paris, 1679, in-12, pp. 53 et suiv." 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 245 
 
 Bayeux tapestry, already referred to as the work of Queen 
 Matilda, seems to confirm this opinion. The conquest of 
 England by William Duke of Normandy was achieved in 
 1066 ; and the tapestry representing it is supposed to be 
 of the same century: and of this there could be no doubt, 
 if it were true that the work was executed by the wife of 
 William, and her attendants.^ It may thus have been 
 worked about twenty or thirty years before the first crusade, 
 which was determined on at the council of Clermont, held 
 by Urban II, in 1095. Now, the birds of chase which 
 some of the persons in this tapestry carry on their fist, have 
 no bells at their feet. We perceive there only the jesses, 
 or leathern strings with tassels at the ends, which serve to 
 retain the bird.^ These jesses, without any appearance of 
 bells, are easily to be distinguished in the compartment 
 which contains the inscription. Dux Willelm : Cum 
 Haraldo : Venit : Ad Palatin. If this be not evidence 
 that bells of this kind were not then common in Europe, it 
 is at least a proof that they were not then used in falconry, 
 although this sport had been practised for several 
 centuries.'** 
 
 Mons. Leber calls both Spanish and German cards 
 Tarots, even though they may contain no Atous ; which yet 
 appear to have been the veiy pieces which Were more 
 especially distinguished as Tarocchi or Tarots; and from 
 the use of which, in combination with other cards, a particular 
 kind of game was called Tarocchino, or Tarocchio. Thus, 
 in consequence of his not sufficiently distinguishing between 
 Spanish and German cards, he speaks of the marks which 
 
 * " Sentiment adopts par le president Henault : * Mathilde . . . broda en 
 laine un monument qu'on voit dans I'^glise de Bayeux, de I'expedition de son 
 mari en Angleterre ; la mort ne lui permit pas de rachever.* (Hist, de Fr. 
 sous les ann. 1067-74.)" 
 
 « « Voy. Fauconueric de G. Tardif." 
 
 » Leber, Etudes Histoiiques sur les Cartes a jouer, pp. 80-4. 
 
246 PliAYJNG CARDS. 
 
 occur on them indiscrimiiiately ; and explains Swords and 
 Money as if they belonged to the same pack which has one 
 of its suits distinguished by Bells. His account of the 
 marks on the French cards is to the following effect. " The 
 C(£ur explains itself; it is a symbol of the most noble and 
 generous sentiments, and more especially indicates courage, 
 valour, and intrepidity, qualities the most brilliant in princes. 
 The lV(^e has its name from its resemblance to the plant 
 so-called ; though properly it is a Flower,, or rather a Fleuron 
 with three branches, symbolical of the mysterious number 
 Three, which, in ancient times, was regarded with rehgious 
 veneration. This number being the first which contained 
 in itself the principal characteristics of numbers, — namely. 
 Unity and Plurality, Odd and Even, — became the symbol 
 of a union of the most excellent virtues, such as Power, 
 Wisdom, Love ; and, by analogy. Sovereignty, Wisdom, 
 Justice. It is this three-branched Fleuron which appears 
 on the monuments of the French kings of the first and 
 second race; but, in consequence of its being badly designed 
 and worse understood, it became confounded with the 
 heraldic Fleur-de-Lis, and is in fact now displaced by it. 
 The Carreau scGms to have been better understood by the 
 French than their neighbours, with whom this figure is a 
 jewel, a precious stone, an ornamental article. The Enghsh 
 take it for a diamond, and the Spaniards, for a jewel worn 
 by ladies, or for the decoration of the toilet. Their 
 error has doubtless arisen from the comparison which they 
 made between the Carreaux of cards and the figures of 
 precious stones which they had before their eyes.^ The 
 
 ' There is every reason to believe that the suit of cards which vre call Diamonds 
 was not so named in consequence of the mark being mistaken for the symbol 
 of a precious stone, but merely on account of its form. The Dutch call the same 
 suit Ruijt, in consequence of its form being like a lozenge-shaped pane of glass. 
 The Diamonds on cards are, in Northumberland, more especially amongst the 
 colUcrs, frequently termed Fkks, in consequence of the acute angular points 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 247 
 
 diamonds and precious stones forming the ornaments of 
 royal vestments, and of dresses of court ladies, have 
 usually the form of carreaux, and are painted in vermilion, 
 or in carmine in the manuscripts of the middle age; and 
 this conventional form, having been adopted by heralds, 
 was introduced into armorial bearings as the made and 
 lozenge. The Carreaux of cards, however, have no con- 
 nexion with diamonds and precious stones, any more than 
 they have with the quarrells or square-headed arrows of a 
 crossbow. The Carreau, as well as each of the other marks 
 of the suits, is a symbol, and not a rebus. All icono- 
 graphers represent Fortune as standing, upon one foot, on 
 a wheel or a ball, to signify her instability. The contrary 
 idea was necessarily attached to the figure of a square or 
 a cube, considered as a firm and immoveable base. It was 
 for this reason that the ancients placed the figure of Wisdom 
 and Firmness on a cube ; and Aristotle speaks in the same 
 sense when he informs us that a true philosopher ought to 
 be square,— carre — that is to say, immoveable in courage 
 and virtue. Heraldry has also admitted the square, placed 
 lozenge-wise, as an emblem of Constancy and Firmness ; 
 and the Squares of cards, called Carreaux, can only be sup- 
 posed to have the same signification. As to the Pique^ 
 there can be no doubt with respect to its meaning. It 
 represents the head of a lance, and is thus an emblem of 
 military force. The Germans, however, seem to have mis- 
 conceived the character of this figure, which they converted 
 into a Leaf, — Griln;^ — but this mistake, or rather this 
 
 being something like the Picks used in hewing coals. The Spanish name Oros 
 appears to have been originally applied to the suit called by the Italians Iknan 
 oxDanari, without the least reference to the French Carreaux. ^T\ig mistakes 
 on this subject appear to be exclusively Mons. Leber's own. 
 
 » The probability is on the other side, namely, that the German 6run, or 
 Leaf, was the original of the Prench Pique. No French cards hitherto dis- 
 covered are of so early a date as those which have Bells, Hearts, Leaves, and 
 Acorns as the marks of the suits. 
 
248 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 difference, may be ascribed to the imperfection of the painting 
 in ancient cards; and more especially to the coarseness 
 of the first essays of wood-engraving, in which it was almost 
 impossible to distinguish the figure of a leaf from that of a 
 pike-head. On comparing the earUest German cards with 
 shields of arms, of the same period, and with old wood- 
 engravings which contain trees, it will be immediately seen 
 how easy it was to confound the two forms. There is no 
 difference between the Piques of cards and the leaves of 
 the tree on the right of the woodcut of St. Christopher of 
 the date 1423 ; and the Crequier^ of heraldry is precisely 
 the same as the seven of Pique^ in German cards of the 
 fifteenth century. But whatever may have been the cause 
 of this anomaly, it is generally admitted that the Pique in 
 French cards is the figure of a weapon ; and it can scarcely 
 be doubted that it was the equivalent of the Sword in the 
 Tarots. In this respect the Spanish and Itahan nomencla- 
 ture is in perfect accordance with our own. In the 
 southern parts of Europe the French Pique is La Picca or 
 La SjpadaP 
 
 Thus, according to Mons. Leber, the four suits of French 
 cards hav6 the following signification : Cgeur, valour, great- 
 ness of soul ; Trefle, wisdom and justice united with 
 power; Carreau, firmness, stability, constancy; Pique, 
 physical force, or the power of the military. The suits, 
 again, may be considered as representing four monarchies, 
 or political societies; namely, Cceurs, governed by a generous 
 and courageous prince ; Trebles, by a sovereign just, wise, 
 
 > The Crcquicr is a kind of wild plum-tree, and its leaves are borne as the 
 family arras of the house of Crequi. Armorial bearings of this kind are called 
 " armoiries parlantei* by French heralds. 
 
 » Mons. Leber should have said " Sept de Griin;" but then this would have 
 destroyed the anomaly which he was desirous of illustrating ; for there is nothing 
 auouuilous in the Leaves on German cards having a resemblance to the leaves of 
 a purlicuhir tree. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 249 
 
 and powerful ; Caereaux, by a king consistent in principle, 
 and decided in action ; and Piques, by a warlike prince, 
 who owes his power to his arms. 
 
 Though Mons. Leber has freely censured Daniel for 
 writing on the subject of cards chiefly from books, without 
 referring to cards themselves, he is yet exceedingly prone to 
 follow Daniel's example ; and though his explanation of the 
 symbolical meaning of cards be less extravagant than the 
 latter's account of the origin and signification of the game 
 of Piquet, it can scarcely be called more reasonable ; since 
 both writers interpret the marks on the cards according to 
 their own conceit. The one informs us that the Trefle 
 signifies that a general ought only to encamp in a place which 
 affords plenty of fodder for his cavalry ; and the other says 
 that the Carreau, which, as it stands, in the cards, seems the 
 very emblem of instability, signifies firmness, stability, 
 constancy; an! interpretation which seems to rest chiefly on 
 the ingenious hypothesis of the Carreau being an emblem 
 of the cube. 
 
 The variations which occur on cards from the com- 
 mencement of the sixteenth century, either as regards the 
 marks of the suits or the names of the coat cards, throw 
 no light on their origin; as such variations have evidently 
 been introduced merely at the caprice of the card^maker in 
 accordance vrith the prevalent taste of the period. In a 
 pack of French cards, engraved by Vincent Goyraud, in 
 the time of Henry IV, all the coat cards appear in the 
 costume of the period; though the Kings and Valets still 
 display in their dress that variety of colour which is to be 
 seen on cards of an earUer period, but which, at that time, 
 appears to have been out of fashion. Such cards would 
 appear to have been in common use in England in the 
 early part of the reign of James I. In Rowland's 'Knave 
 of Hearts,' first printed in 1612, the Knave, in his sup- 
 
250 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 plication to the card-makers, complains of the piebald suits 
 which he and his fellows are compelled to wear.^ In the 
 pack referred to the names and designations of the Coat 
 cards are as follows : I 
 
 Suits. 
 
 CCEUR. 
 
 Caereau. 
 
 Treple. 
 
 Pique. 
 
 Kings. 
 
 Salomon, 
 
 Anguste. 
 
 Clods. 
 
 Constantine. 
 
 Queens. 
 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 Dido. 
 
 Clotilde. 
 
 Pantalisee. 
 
 Valets. 
 
 Valet de Court, 
 
 VaUt de Chasse. 
 
 Valet d'Eti, 
 
 Valet de Noblem, 
 
 The Valet de Court has his hat under his arm ; the Valet 
 de Chasse holds a dog in a leash ; the Valet d'Ete carries a 
 large flower ; and the Valet de Noblesse bears a hawk on 
 his fist. The mark of the card-maker appears on two of 
 the Valets, namely, on the Valet of Coeur, and on the 
 Valet of Pique. A pack of those cards is preserved in the 
 Bibliotheque du Roi ; and fac-similes of the Kings, Queens, 
 and Valets, in their proper colours* are given in the 
 * Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numerales,* published 
 by the Society of Bibliophiles Fran9ais. From those fac- 
 similes the outlines of the four Valets here given have been 
 copied. 
 
 In the same work are given fac-similes of coat cards 
 executed in the reign of Louis XIII, and displaying the 
 costume of that period. The names given to the Kings, 
 Queens and Valets on those cards are : Coeur, Alexandre, 
 Pentasilee [Penthesilea], Roland. Carreau, Cirus Major, 
 Roxane, Renault. Tt4jley Ninus, Semiramis ; the name of 
 the Valet wanting.^ Pir^ue, Jule Caesar, Pompeia, Roger. 
 Each of the Aces is surrounded with an ornamental border- 
 ing; and at the foot is an inscription, which, when read 
 consecutively, through all the four, is as follows; ''Vive le 
 Boy I Vive la Beyne \ Tayme V Amour \ Et la Court!' 
 
 » See the passage at length, p. 135. 
 
 * On this card the name of the manufacturer appears — ^P. De Lestre — 
 tODfcthcr with his mark. 
 

 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 251 
 
 Some of the specimens of Portuguese cards given in the 
 * Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numerales' have very 
 much the appearance of having been originally suggested 
 by, if not copied from, an Oriental type ; more especially 
 in the suits of Danari and Bastoni, — Money and Clubs. 
 In those cards the circular figure, generally understood as 
 representing Danari, or Money, is certainly much more 
 like the Chahra, or quoit of Vichnou, as seen in Hindos- 
 tanee drawings, than a piece of coin ; while on the top of 
 the Club there is a diamond proper, which is another of 
 the attributes of the same deity. The dragon seen on each 
 of the Aces is perfectly Oriental in character; and the 
 shields which appear on the Kings and Queens are very 
 much like those which are to be seen in Hindostanee 
 drawings. The coat cards in this pack are King, Queen, 
 and Horseman ; and the suits are Coppe, Danari, Bastoni, 
 and Spade — Cups, Money, Clubs proper, and Swords. The 
 Queen, which here appears as the second coat card, is of 
 unusual occurrence in cards of this kind, and more especially 
 in such as are of Spanish or Portuguese manufacture.^ In 
 two of the suits, — Clubs and Swords, — the Queen appears 
 in the act of encountering a dragon. The coat cards and 
 aces have letters both at top and bottom, indicating the 
 suit, and the rank or name of the card. Specimens of 
 those cards, which appear to have been executed in 1693, 
 are preserved in the Bibliotheque du Roi. The four annexed 
 cuts show the outlines of the four Valets. The letters 
 
 * In a pack of modem Portuguese cards now before me there is no Queen ; 
 and the suits are Hearts, Bells, Leaves, and Acorns. The figures of the coat 
 cards are half-lengths and double— "de duas Cabepas;" so that a head is 
 always uppermost whichever way the card may be held. In a pack of modem 
 Spanish cards,—" Naypes Rcfinos" — also without a Queen, the figures are also 
 double ; but the suits are Copas, Oros, Spadas, and Bastos,— Cups, Money, 
 Swords, and Clubs proper.— On modern German cards the figures are frequently 
 represented double in the same manner. 
 
252 
 
 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 CC, CD,CB,CS, signify respectively the Caballo, or Chevalier 
 of Coppe, Danari, Bastoni, and Spade. 
 
 > 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 253 
 
 The most remarkable changes that cards have midergone, i 
 with respect to the characters displayed on them, are to be i 
 found in certain packs manufactured at Paris in the time J 
 of the Revolution. Specimens of the coat cards of two of i 
 those packs engraved by Chossonnerie and Gayant, in 
 1793-4, are given in the ' Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de 
 Cartes Numerales/ In one of them the places of the Kings ■ 
 are occupied by four Philosophers, namely, Moliere, La 
 Fontaine, Voltaire, and J. J. Rousseau; the Queens are \ 
 substituted by the four Virtues, Prudence, Justice, Tem- 1 
 perance, and Fortitude ; while the Valets are superseded by \ 
 four Republicans, one of whom is a grim-looking ruffian, with \ 
 a red cap on, and his shirt-sleeves turned up, brandishing 
 a pike; the second is a soldier armed with a musket; the ■[ 
 third an artilleryman ; and the fourth a young man, in 
 fancy costume, armed with a musket. In the other pack, j 
 four Sages, Solon, M. P. Cato, J. J. Rousseau, and J. J. 
 Bnitus, serve instead of Kings ; four Virtues, as in the \ 
 other pack, represent the Queens; though with this dif- \ 
 ference, that Temperance is displaced by Union; while ] 
 four " Braves," — Annibal, Horatius, P. Decius Mus, and 
 M. Scaevola, supply the place of Valets. \ 
 
 Another pack of Republican cards of the same period is ' 
 thus described by Peignot, in his ' Analyse de Recherches ; 
 sur les Cartes a jouer.* 
 
 "For Kings we have Genii; for Queens, Liberties; '. 
 and for Valets, Equalities. In place of the King j 
 of Hearts there is the Genius of War,— 'G^nie de la ^ 
 Guerre.' This Genius, which is winged, is seated on 
 the breech of a cannon; he holds in the right hand a 
 sword and a wreath of laurel, and in the left, a \ 
 shield, round which is the inscription, *Pour la Bepuhlique 1 
 Frangaise* On the right, read vertically from the top, \ 
 is the word 'Force: At the feet of the Genius are a 
 
254 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 bomb, a lighted match, and a heap of bullets. At the 
 bottom of the card is the inscription, * Par brevet d^ inven- 
 tion. Naume et BugoueCy au Genie de la Eep.fran^* 
 
 " For the Queen of Hearts : * Libert^ des Cultes,' 
 — Religious Liberty. This is a female seated, very badly 
 draped, and with her legs bare. She holds a pike sur- 
 mounted with a red cap ; and on a bannerol attached to 
 tlie pike are the words *Dieu seuV Towards her feet are 
 seen three volumes, inscribed ' Thalmud,' * Coran/ and 
 ' Evangile' The vertical inscription is, ' Fraternite! 
 
 "Knave of Hearts : * Egalit^ des Devoirs,' — Equality 
 of Duties. This is a soldier seated on a drum, with his 
 musket between his knees. In his left hand he holds 
 a paper containing the words, ' Pour la patrie! The 
 vertical inscription is ' Securite' 
 
 " King of Spades : ' G£nie des Arts,'— the Genius of 
 Arts. The figure of Apollo with a red cap on his head; in 
 one hand he holds the Belvedere statue of himself, and in 
 the other a lyre. The vertical inscription : * Gout* At 
 the bottom, emblems of painting, sculptm'e, and such like. 
 
 " Queen of Spades : * Libert^ de la Presse,' — Liberty 
 of the Press. A female figure with a pen in one hand, and 
 with the other sustaining a desk, on which lies a roll of 
 paper partly unfolded, and displaying the words ' Morale^ 
 Religion^ Philosophie, Physique^ Politique, Ilistoire! At 
 the bottom, masks, rolls of manuscript, and such like. 
 
 "Knave of Spades: 'Egalit^ de Rangs,' — Equality of 
 Ranks. The figure of a man whose costume accords rather 
 with that of a ' Septemhriseur' than with that of a mere 
 ' SanS'Culotte of the period. He wears sabots, and has a red 
 cap on his head. He has no coat on, and his shirt-sleeves 
 are tucked up to the elbows. His small-clothes are loose 
 at the knees, and his legs are bare. He is seated on a large 
 stone, on which is inscribed: 'Demolition de la Bastille. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 255 
 
 10 Aout, 1792/ Under his feet is a scroll inscribed 
 * Noblessey and displaying shields of arms. The vertical 
 inscription is 'Puissance' 
 
 "King of Clubs: * G^nib de la Paix/ — Genius of 
 Peace. In his right hand he holds the 'Fasces* and an 
 olive branch, and in the left a scroll containing the word 
 'Lois' The vertical inscription is ' Prosperite' 
 
 "Queen of Clubs: 'Liberty du Mariage/ — Liberty of 
 Marriage. The figure of a female holding a pike sur- 
 mounted with the red cap ; and on a scroll attached to the 
 pike is the word 'Divorce! The vertical inscription is 
 ' Pudeur! On a pedestal is a statue of the crouching Venus 
 entirely naked, — without doubt intended for the emblem of 
 Modesty. 
 
 "Knave of Clubs: 'Egalit^ de Droits,' — ^EquaUty of 
 Rights. A judge in tricolor costume, holding in one hand 
 a pair of scales, and in the other a scroll containing the 
 inscription 'La hi pour tons! He is trampUng on a 
 serpent or dragon, the tortuous folds of which represent 
 legal chicanery. The vertical inscription is ' Justice! 
 
 "King of Diamonds: *GiSnie du Commerce,' — the 
 Genius of Commerce. He is seated on a large bale, which 
 contains the inscription ' P, B, d!inv, /. D. a Paris! 
 In one hand he holds a purse, and in the other a caduceus 
 and an olive-branch. The vertical inscription is ' Bichesse! 
 At the bottom are an anchor, the prow of a ship, a portfoho, 
 and such like. 
 
 "Queen of Diamonds: 'Libert:!^ des Professions,' 
 —Liberty of Professions and Trades. A female figure who, 
 in the same manner as the other three Liberties, holds a 
 pike surmounted with the red cap. With the other hand 
 she holds a cornucopise and a scroll containing the word 
 ' Patentes! The vertical inscription is 'Industrie! 
 
 ''Knave of Diamonds : 'Egalit6 de Couleurs,'— Equality 
 
256 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 j 
 
 of Colours. The figure of a Negro, seated, and leaning upon ' 
 a musket. Below is the word * Ca/e.' Near to him are \ 
 a sugar-loaf, a broken yoke, fetters, iron collars for the neck, 
 and such like. The vertical inscription is * Courage,* 
 
 " Such are the coat cards of this Republican pack. The 
 numeral cards are the same as the old ones, with the 
 exception of the Aces, which are surrounded by four fasces 
 placed lozcnge-wise, with these words: * Za Loi. Rep, 
 Frang./ the whole coloured blue. It is scarcely necessary 
 to say that those ridiculous cards had not even a momentary 
 vogue." 1 
 
 The coat cards of a Republican pack, of recent American 
 manufacture, have been forwarded to me by a friend, 
 resident at New York. From the name of the maker, 
 — R. Sauzade, — which occurs on the Ace of Spades, I am 
 inclined to think that their invention is to be ascribed 
 rather to a Frenchman than to an American. For the 
 Kings we have: HeartSy Washington; Diamonds, John | 
 Adams, the second President of the United States; Cluhs, 
 Franklin; Spades, La Fayette. For the Queens: Hearts, 
 Venus, — modestly concealing her charms with a mantle, in 
 
 » Peigiiot, Analyse de Reclierches sur les Cartes a jouer, pp. 288-90. Paris, j 
 1826. Tte following passage relative to the change of manners which suc- 
 ceeded the Revolution is quoted by Mons. Peignot from a periodical entitled 
 *Le Corsaire:* — "Les cartes en vogue jusqu'a la revolution furent totalement 
 abandonndcs pendant les tcrriblcs anndcs dc notre bouleverscment politique. 
 Le boston, le grave wisth, le s^millant reversis, n*6toicnt plus conserves que 
 chcz quelques bons bourgeois, dont ils n'avoient jamais sans doute enflamm^ les 
 passions, ou dans quelques vieilles maisons du Marais et du faubourg Saint- 
 Germain. La bouillotte ii'^toit guere connue que de quelques marchands ; et 
 meme Topinion publique fl^trissait ceux dont une ignoble avidity comproraettoit . 
 la fortune. La mode avoit mis en faveur la conversation, les soirees musicalcs, 
 les soirees dansantes. L'ecart^ a paru, et ce jeu niais et insipide a fait revivre 
 parmi nous toutes les fureurs du gothique lansquenet. Plus de conversation, 
 plus de danses ; la senate ou la romance du jour sont interrompues par le en 
 des joucurs ; le bal est desert, ou n'est plus peuple que de vieux amateurs ; 
 tandis que la jeunesse s'emprcsse autour dcs tables d'ecarte." 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 257 
 
 accordance with American notions of delicacy. Diamonds^ 
 Fortune ; Clubs, Ceres ; Spades, Minerva. The Knaves 
 are represented by Four Indian chiefs. The figures appear 
 to be engraved on copper, and are coloured. The marks 
 of the suits are the same as those on the cards in common 
 use in England. Those cards, I am informed, are held in 
 no estimation by the card-players of America, who continue 
 to prefer those of the old pattern. — ^The chief town in 
 America for the manufacture of cards is Boston ; whose 
 discreet, meeting-going people seem to have no objection to 
 make a profit by supplying the profane with the instruments 
 of perdition. 
 
 No cards of an " instructive" character have ever obtained 
 popularity amongst regular card-players ; for when people 
 sit down to play at cards they do not like to have their 
 attention withdrawn from the game by the historical or 
 biographical reminiscences suggested by Coat cards, either 
 containing portraits of distinguished characters, or comme- 
 morating remarkable events ; and least of all can they bear 
 that the heads of a sermon or moral lecture should be pre- 
 sented to them in the shape of the four cardinal virtues ; 
 which are just as appropriate in a pack of cards as they 
 would be on the proscenium of her Majesty's Theatre. 
 
 The best of the costume cards that I have seen are those 
 designed by Armand Houbigant, a French artist, who 
 named them " Cartes Royales," and obtained from Louis 
 XVIII, a license to manufacture them for general use, in 
 1818. They did not, however, acquire any vogue, and are 
 now seldom to be met with, except in the collections of 
 amateurs of prints. The coat cards, which are etched, and 
 delicately coloured by hand, display the costume of the 
 French Court at four different periods. The characters 
 represented are as follows. 
 
 Sjoades, King, Charlemagne, "Carolus Magnus;" 
 
 17 
 
258 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 crowned, and seated on a throne, with a globe in the right 
 hand, and a long sceptre in the left. — Queen, Hildegarde, 
 second wife of Charlemagne ; erect, crowned, and holding 
 a book in her hands. — Knave, Roland, described in 
 romances as the nephew of Charlemagne ; and said to have 
 been killed at the battle of Roncevalles in 778 ; holding 
 a spear and shield, and clothed in armour, which appears 
 rather to belong to the sixteenth century than to the time 
 of Charlemagne. 
 
 Diamonds, King, Louis IX, " Sainct Loys ;" crowned, 
 seated on a throne, wearing a blue robe powdered with 
 fleurs-de-Ks, and having a sceptre in his left hand. — Queen, 
 Blanche de Castille, wife of Louis VIII, and mother of 
 St. Louis; erect, crowned, and holding a rosary in her 
 right hand. — Knave, Sire de Joinville, the biographer of 
 Louis IX, and one of the nobles of his court ; clothed in 
 chain-mail, over which is a surcoat of arms. 
 
 Clubs, King, Francis I ; seated, wearing the broad 
 bonnet in which he is usually represented, and holding a 
 sceptre. — Queen, Marguerite de Valois, Queen of 
 Navarre, sister of Francis I ; erect, holding a rose in her 
 right hand. — Knave, Bayard ; in plate-armour, leaning on 
 a kind of pedestal on which is inscribed " Sans peur, sans 
 reprocJie** 
 
 Hearts, King, Henry TV ; seated, holding a sceptre, 
 and wearing the characteristic hat and feather which, in 
 modem times, are designated by his name. — Queen, Jeanne 
 d'Albret, mother of Henry IV ; erect, holding a fan in her 
 right hand.— Knave, Sully ; bald and bearded, as he is 
 usually represented in engravings, holding in his right hand 
 a paper inscribed " Economic Boy} ..,.** 
 
 * a description of tlic same cards by Mons. Amanton, member of the Aca- 
 demy of Dijon, is given in Peignot's Analyse, p. 291 : "Dans ce jeu," says 
 Mons. Amanton, "Ics portraits dcs rois sont iihs ressemblans, les costumes du 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 259 
 
 A set of Picture Cards, published by Cotta, the book- 
 seller of Tubingen, in one of his Card Almanacs — 
 ' Karten Almanach' — is noticed by Mons. Peignot* The 
 designer has chosen for the coat cards the principal charac- 
 ters in Schiller's Joan of Arc, and has clothed them, as well 
 as he could, in the costume of the period. The King of 
 Hearts is Charles VII; the Queen, Isabella of Bavaria; 
 the Knave, La Hire. — The King of Clubs is the EngUsh 
 commander, Talbot, dying ; the Queen, Joan of Arc ; 
 the Knave, Lionel, taking away the sword of Joan of Ai-c. 
 — The King of Diamonds is Philip, Duke of Burgundy ; 
 the Queen, Agnes Sorel ; the Knave, Raimond, a villager. 
 — The King of Clubs is R^n^ of Anjou, with the crown 
 of Sicily at his feet ; the Queen, Louise, sister of Joan of 
 Arc; and the Knave, Montgomery, on his knees, and 
 weeping. The low cards from 1 to 10 also contain fanciful 
 designs ; but with the subjects so arranged that the numbers 
 and marks of the suits can be readily distinguished. The 
 subject of the Pour of Clubs is an illustration of Burger's 
 ballad of Leonore — ^Death armed, and mounted on horse- 
 back, appears to be threatening with his dart a young 
 woman who rides behind him ; the scene is laid in a church- 
 yard, and a skeleton appears crawling towards an open 
 grave. The mark of the suit is seen on four crosses in the 
 churchyard. Cotta's Card Almanack first appeared in 
 1806, and was continued for several years. It was pub- 
 lished as a small pocket volume of a square form ; and the 
 illustrations consisted entirely of fanciful cards, — the mark 
 of the suit being always introduced into each subject, 
 
 temps bien observes; et mcme Ics noma des personnagcs sont dcrits en carac- 
 tcres de I'^criture en usage dans le si^cle ou ils ont vecu. Malgrc la perfection 
 du travail, ces jolis dessins n*ont pu I'emporter sur les ancieunes images in- 
 formes, qui rappellent I'enfancc de Tart ; tant la force dc I'habitudc est tyran- 
 nique." 
 
260 PLATING CAEDS. 
 
 either by hook or by crook. The designs for the cards in 
 the first four volumes, from 1806 to 1809 inclusive, are 
 said to have been made by a lady. — ^Numerous packs of 
 fancy cards have appeared in Germany since the commence- 
 ment of the present century; some displaying costume, 
 ancient and modem ; some representing eminent characters, 
 and others devoted to the illustration of trades and pro- 
 fessions. In one of them, published at Frankfort-on-the- 
 Maine, in 1815, in memory of the principal military events 
 of 1813-14, the Duke of Wellington figures as the Knave 
 of Diamonds, and Marshal Blucher as the Knave of 
 Clubs. 
 
 In 1811 two different packs of caricature cards, imitated, 
 or rather adapted, from the picture-cards in Cotta's Almanack, 
 appeared in England. The one was published by S. and J. 
 Fuller, Rathbone place, London ; and the other, by Jones, 
 at the Repository of Arts, Market hill, Cambridge. Neither 
 of those packs was intended for the purposes of play. 
 They have very much the appearance of having been de- 
 signed by the same artist. On the Avrapper of both packs 
 the inscription is the same ; " Metastasis. Transformation 
 of Playing-cards." — A set of costume cards was published 
 by Ackermann, in the 'Repositoiy of Arts,' in 1806: a 
 particular description of them would be just as interesting 
 as a description of the plates in * La Belle Assemblee' of the 
 same period. 
 
 A pack of cards published by Baker and Co., in 1813, 
 requires more particular notice. On the wrapper they are 
 entitled "Eclectic Cards;*' and in a pamphlet giving an 
 account of them, they are announced as " Complete, Grand, 
 Historical, Eclectic Cards, for England, Ireland, Scotland, 
 and Wales ; being a Selection or an Eclectic Company of 
 Twelve of the most eminent Personages, that ever distin- 
 guished themselves in those respective Countries, for Heroic 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 261 
 
 deeds, Wisdom, &c. And the other Forty Cards descrip- 
 tive of the Local and National Emblems of the Four 
 Nations. 
 
 Historian, Poet, Painter, all combine. 
 
 To charm the eye, the taste and mind refine ; 
 
 Fancy and sentiment their aid impart. 
 
 To raise the genius, and to mend the heart." 
 
 These cards, which are considerably larger than those in 
 common use, display considerable skill and fancy in the 
 designs, and are beautifully coloured. Hearts and Diamonds 
 are retained as marks of two of the suits; but Acorns are 
 substituted for Clubs; and instead of Spades there is a 
 " true representation of the real Spata, which is not a coal- 
 heaver's spade, but a two-edged heavy sword, without a 
 point, as used by the ancient Britons to fight with ; cut, 
 hew, and slash down, either enemy or tree. So says our 
 ancient history." A fac-simile of this formidable 
 weapon is here subjoined, in order that the 
 reader may judge for himself of its peculiar 
 fitness for cutting, hewing, or slashing down. 
 It has very much the appearance of a heavy 
 cast-metal article, new from the Carron foundry, 
 and of modern Gothic design. In the de- 
 scriptive pamphlet, the coat cards are thus 
 explained: 
 
 "FOR ENGLAND. 
 
 King of Clubs, — ^Arthur, the Great and Victorious Hero, 
 King of Britain. 
 
 Queen of Clubs, — ^Elizabeth, the Wise and Virtuous Queen 
 of England. 
 
 Knight of Clubs, —Sir John Falstaff, the Facetious Knight, 
 and companion of Henry V, Knight of England. 
 
262 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 FOE IRELAND. 
 
 King of Hearts, — Gathelus, the Grecian Prince, King of 
 Ireland. 
 
 Queen of Hearts, ^^coi\% his Wife, the Egyptian Prin- 
 cess, Queen of Ireland. 
 
 KniffJd of Hearts. — Ossian, the Warrior and Poet, Son 
 of Fingal, Knight of Ireland. 
 
 FOR SCOTLAND. 
 
 Kinff of Diamonds, — Achaius, the fortunate Contem- 
 porary, and in alliance with Charlemagne, King of Scots. 
 
 Queen of Diamonds. — Mary Stuart, the unfortunate* 
 Dowager Queen of France, and Queen of Scots. 
 
 Knight of Diamonds. — Meriin, the Magic Prophet, 
 Cabinet Counsellor to Vortigern, Aurelius Ambrosius, Uter 
 Pendragon, the Father of King Arthur, and to King Arthur, 
 who was his Pupil, Knight of Scotland. 
 
 FOR WALES. 
 
 King of Spata, — Camber, the third Son of Brute, King 
 of Cambria. 
 
 Queen of Spata. — Elfrida, the beautiful Queen of Mona, 
 and of the Mountains. 
 
 Knight of Spata. — ^Thaliessin, the Welch Bard and Poet, 
 dressed like a Herald or King at Arms of the Divine and 
 Ancient Druids, as he sang to King Henry II of the great 
 deeds of Arthur, the justly termed hero of the British Isle, 
 Knight of Cambria.'' 
 
 " In the selection which we have made,'* say the pro- 
 prietors, " to form our set of court cards, we have chosen 
 them from among those characters who have rendered 
 themselves most conspicuous in the history of the United 
 Kingdom. In this particular, we have had recourse not 
 only to historical truth, which we have rigidly observed, 
 but we have taken care to fix upon personages, who lived 
 at different periods, and which are calculated in colour. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 268 
 
 variety of dress, and characteristic features, to form an 
 agreeable and elegant contrast, and to avoid that unpleasant 
 monotony which must have taken place if they had all been 
 selected from the same period of time ; and it will be a 
 peculiar gratification to us, in our attempts to form a set 
 of cards, should we contribute in the smallest degree, to 
 augment the elegant and rational amusements of taste and 
 fashion. 
 
 " Nor have we been inattentive to minor objects in our 
 anxiety to complete the plan. We believe it has never been 
 attempted to be explained why the coarse and vulgar ap- 
 pellation of knave, was originally given to the card next in 
 degree to the queen. Perhaps the following demonstration 
 is the most plausible way in which it can be accounted for. 
 It was usual with kings in ancient times to choose some 
 ludicrous person, with whose ridiculous and comical tricks 
 they might be diverted in their hours of relaxation, from the 
 cares and formalities of royalty. This person was generally 
 chosen from among men of low condition, but not wholly 
 destitute of talent, particularly in that species of low cunning 
 and humour calculated to excite mirth and laughter, and the 
 tricks of knavery (in which he was allowed free indulgence 
 in the presence of the king), gave him the appellation of the 
 king's fool, or knave, 
 
 "Whether this explanation be really the origin from whence 
 the knave in the old cards is derived, may still remain un- 
 determined, but it appears to us the most rational way of 
 accounting for it. Nor is it indeed essential to our present 
 purpose ; the name of knave in our opinion is vulgar, un- 
 meaning, and inconsistent, and being moreover absolutely 
 incompatible with the dignity of our characters, and the 
 uniformity of our plan, we have entirely rejected it, and sub- 
 stituted a knight in its stead. This being a title of honour, 
 not only in immediate succession to that of king and queen. 
 
264 • PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 but is ever considered as an honorable appendage to royalty 
 itself/' 
 
 About 1819, a set of cleverly drawn satirical cards, with 
 the marks of the suits introduced in the same manner as 
 in Cotta's cards, appeared at Paris. Their satire is 
 directed against the political party then in the ascendant; 
 and in the Nine of Hearts, portraits of Chateaubriand and 
 other persons, both lay and clerical, are introduced as 
 advocates of the old order of things ; in the background 
 are the ruins of the Bastille, and at the foot is the in- 
 scription, " Les Immohiles** The coat cards of the suit of 
 Hearts consist of figures representing three popular 
 journals : King, " Constitutionnel," — a figure in Roman 
 costume, with sword and shield, defending a column in- 
 scribed : " Charte constitutionneh Libertc de la Presse, 
 Liberie Individuelle. Loi des Elections, Tolerance ^ Queen, 
 " MiNERVE," — Minerva putting to flight certain evil spirits 
 of the " Partie Prctre."~Knave, " Figaro,*'— the charac- 
 ter in proper costume. The coat cards of Spades are r 
 King, " Conservateur," — a Jesuit with a sword in one 
 hand, and a torch in the other. Queen, ** Quotidienne," 
 — an old woman holding in her left hand a book inscribed, 
 '^ Pensee Chretienne quotidienne "^ and in her right an 
 extinguisher, which she is about to clap upon a figure of 
 Truth seen emerging from a well Knave, ** Bazile," — 
 figure of Chateaubriand, in clerical costume, but conceaUng 
 a Jesuit's cap under his robe ; beside him is a braying ass, 
 on its knees. Clubs: King, " D£bats,"— the Editor 
 endeavouring to carry two large bags, the one inscribed, 
 " Debate** and the other " Empire ;*' in the distance, two 
 asses mutually caressing each other. Queen, " Gazette/' — 
 a hard-featured old lady, with a pen in her hand, at a writing 
 table : near to her a magpie in a cage. Knave, "Clopineaij," 
 — the figure of Talleyrand ; towards the top are the signs 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 265 
 
 of the political zodiac which he had already passed through. 
 In the only pack which I have had an opportunity of ex- 
 amining, the Queen of Diamonds is wanting. The repre- 
 sentative of the King is the " Moniteuk/* — a brazen head 
 on a kind of pedestal, round which are stuck flags of various 
 colours, indicative of the different parties whose cause the 
 paper had advocated. Knave, "Don Quichotte," — the 
 Don, with shield and lance, attacking a wnidmill : the person 
 intended by this figure I have not been able to discover.^ 
 
 With respect to the common names of the first three 
 numeral cards, — ^Ace, Deuce, and Tray, — it may be observed 
 that the term Ace or As is common in almost every country 
 in Eiu-ope as the designation of the One at cards -^ and that 
 the terms Deuce and Tray, signifying Two and Three, may 
 have been derived either from the Spanish Dos and Tree, 
 
 » Mons. Peignot, in his 'Analyse de Recherches sur les Cartes It Jouer/ 
 1826, after noticing Cottars cards, thus speaks of the satirical cards above de- 
 scribed : " C*est sans doute ce recuoil qm a dound lieu a un jcu dc cartes trb- 
 malin, public a Paris il y a sept a huit ans, sous le titre de Cartes a rire j ce 
 
 doit etre, autant que je puis me le rappcler, sous le ministere dc M. D. C 
 
 On attribuc ce jcu ii M. A C. A. D. C. D. D. 0. Toutcs Ics cartes, soit 
 
 h. pcrsonnages, soit numdriques, prdsentent des dessins charraans, dcs figures 
 ingenieusement groupies, des attitudes tres-plaisantes. Mais I'esprit satjrique 
 y est poussd a Texces j et ce n'est point avec de parcilles caricatures qu'on 
 parviendra h. rdtablir I'union parmi les Fraupais." p. 297. 
 
 ' According to Pere Daniel, the Ace or As is the Latin As, — a piece of 
 money, coin, riches j wliile Bullet derives it from the Celtic, and says that it 
 means origin, source, beginning, the first. A Prench writer of the sixteenth 
 century, supposed to be Charles Stephens, in a work entitled 'Paradoxes,* 
 printed at Paris in 1553, says that the Ace, or "Jz ought to be called Nara, a 
 word which, in German, signifies a fool." The German word which he alludes 
 to is Narr, which is just as likely to have been the origm of Deuce as of Ace. 
 It has also been supposed that the term Ace has been derived from the Greek 
 word ivoff, which, according to Julius Pollux, signified One in the Ionic dialect j 
 but as the word 6voq also signified an Ass, it has been conjectured that the Ace 
 of cards and dice was so called, not as a designation of unity, but as signifying 
 an Ass or a Pool. Those who entertained the latter opinion are said by Hyde 
 to be Asses themselves : " Qui unitatem asinum dicunt errant, et ipsi sunt 
 asmi," (JDeLudis Orient, lib. ii.)--Lebcr, Etudes Historiques, pp. 39, 86. 
 
266 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 or from the French Deux and Trots, The Deuce of cards, 
 it may be observed, has no connexion with the term Deuce 
 as used in the famiUar expression " to play the Deuce ;" in 
 which it is synonymous with the Devil, or an evil spirit, and 
 is of Northern origin. In some parts of the country, the 
 Deuce, though lower in value, is considered to be a more 
 fortunate card than the Tray; and "There*s luck in the 
 Deuce, but none in the Tray," is a frequent expression 
 amongst old card-players, who like to enliven the game 
 with an occasional remark as they lay down a card. In 
 Northumberland, the Four of Hearts at Whist is sometimes 
 called " Hob Colling wood,"* and is considered by old ladies 
 an unlucky card. As far as memory can trace, according 
 to Captain Chamier, in his novel entitled the * Aretlmsa,' 
 the Four of Clubs has been called by sailors the " deviFs 
 bedpost." In Northamptonshire, according to a writer in 
 the 'Gentleman's Magazine,' 1791 (p. ]4]), the Queen of 
 Cluba is called "Queen Bess," and the Four of Spades, 
 " Ned Stokes."^ 
 
 In various parts of Ireland, but more particularly in the 
 county of Kilkenny, the Six of Hearts is known by the 
 name of " Grace's card ;" and it is said to have acquired 
 that name from the following circumstance. A gentleman 
 of the name of Grace, being solicited, with promises of 
 royal favour, to espouse the cause of William III, gave the 
 following answer, written on the back of the Six of Hearts, 
 to an emissary of Marshal Schomberg's, who had been 
 commissioned to make the proposal to him : — " Tell your 
 master I despise his offer ; and that honour and conscience 
 are dearer to a gentleman than all the wealth and titles a 
 prince can bestow." 
 
 The Nine of Diamonds is frequently called the " Curse 
 
 > Brockett*s Glossary of North Country Words. 
 ' Singer's Rcsearclics, p. 271. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 267 
 
 of Scotland ;" and the common tradition is that it obtained 
 this name in consequence of the Duke of Cumberland 
 having written his sanguinary orders for military execution, 
 after the battle of Culloden, on the back of a Nine of 
 Diamonds. This card, however, appears to have been 
 known in the North as the *' Curse of Scotland" many 
 years before the battle of Culloden; for Dr. Houstoun, 
 speaking of the state of parties in Scotland shortly after 
 the rebelUon of 1715, says that the Lord Justice-Clerk 
 Ormistone, who had been very zealous in suppressing the 
 rebelhon, and oppressing the rebels, " became universally 
 hated in Scotland, where they called him the Curse of 
 Scotland ; and when the ladies were at cards playing the 
 Nine of Diamonds, (commonly called the Curse of Scotland) 
 they called it the Justice Clerk."^ 
 
 In the ' Gentleman's Magazine' for 1786, a correspondent 
 offers the following heraldic conjecture on the subject. 
 ** There is a common expression made use of at cards, which 
 I have never heard any explanation of. I mean the Nine 
 of Diamonds being called the Curse of Scotland. Looking 
 lately over a book of heraldry, I found nine diamonds, or 
 lozenges, conjoined, — or, in the heraldic langiiage. Gules, a 
 cross of lozenges, — to be the arms of Packer. Colonel 
 Packer appears to have been one of the persons who was 
 on the scaffold when Charles the First was beheaded, and 
 afterwards commanded in Scotland, and is recorded to have 
 acted in his command with considerable severity. It is 
 possible that his arms might, by a very easy metonymy, be 
 called the Curse of Scotland; and the Nine of Diamonds, at 
 cards, being very similar, in figure, to them, might have 
 ever since retained the appellation." Another correspondent 
 says that he has always understood that the application of 
 
 » Dr. Houstoun*s Memoirs of his own Lifetime, p. 92. Edit. 1747. 
 
268 PLAYING CARDS/ 
 
 the expression, "the Curse of Scotland," to the nine of 
 diamonds was not earlier than the year 1707 ; and that he 
 thinks it more probable that the nine lozenges in the arms 
 of the Earl of Stair, who made the Union, should have given 
 rise to the phrase, than the arms of Packer. In the same 
 Magazine, for 1738, we have " One more conjecture con- 
 cerning the Nine of Diamonds." It is syllogistic in form, 
 and appears to have been intended as a clinch to the 
 controversy.^ "The Curse of Scotland must be something 
 which that nation hate and detest ; but the Scots hold in 
 the utmost detestation the Pope ; at the game of Pope Joan, 
 the Nine of Diamonds is Pope; therefore the Nine of 
 Diamonds is the Curse of Scotland, q. e. d." 
 
 In the ' Oracle, or Resolver of Questions,' a duodecimo 
 volume, printed about 1770, the following solutionis given, 
 which is perhaps as near the truth as any of the preceding 
 conjectures. " Q. Pray why is the Nine of Diamonds called 
 the Curse of Scotland ? J, Because the crown of Scotland 
 had but nine diamonds in it, and they were never able to 
 get a tenth." 
 
 The word Trump, signifying a card of the suit which has 
 the superiority at certain games, such superiority being 
 determined by hazard, is derived either from the French 
 Trioniplie, or the Spanish Triunfo : at cards, these words 
 have precisely the same meaning as the English Trump.' 
 With the French, Triomphe is also the name of a game at 
 cards; and in England the old game of Ruff seems also to 
 
 > A writer of the age of Queen Elizabeth would appear to have foreseen the 
 great "Card Controversy," which within the last 150 years has occupied so 
 many "learned pens :" "It shall be lawful for coney-catchers to fall together by 
 the ears, about the four Knaves of Cards, which of them may claim superiority; 
 and whether false dice or true be of the most antiquity."— The Pennylcss Par- 
 liament of Tliread-bare Poets. 
 
 * The Prench also call the Trump Atour-'* Coupez : Cceur est Atou." Cut : 
 Hearts are Trumps. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 269 
 
 have been called Trump or Triumph.^ At Gleek, the Ace 
 was called Tib ; the Knave, Tom ; and the Four, Tlddy. 
 The Five and Six appear to have been respectively called 
 Towser and Tumbler, and to have counted double when 
 turned up. At All-Fours, the Enave appears in his proper 
 character of Jack, — a serving-man, not a cheat, or rogue. 
 
 At certain games the Knave of Clubs is called Pam. 
 A few years ago the name was applied to the celebrated 
 public character whom Byron is supposed to have desig- 
 nated as " a moral chimney-sweep,** in one of the cantos of 
 Don Juan.^ Most of the terms in the game of Ombre 
 are Spanish. 
 
 Formerly a pack of cards was usually called a " Pair of 
 cards ;" and it appears deserving of remark, that the Italians 
 use the word Pajo, which properly signifies a pair, in pre- 
 cisely the same sense when applied to a pack of cards, — 
 Pajo di carte. In the time of Queen Elizabeth a pack of 
 cards appears to have been sometimes called a bunch. In 
 the time of Charles II the term " Pair of Cards" fell into 
 disuse ; and perhaps one of the latest instances of its em- 
 ployment, is to be found inPoorRobin's Almanac for 1684, 
 under the month December, where the writer, in his intro- 
 ductory verses, laments the dechne of good housekeeping in 
 the houses of the rich : 
 
 "The kitchen that a-cold may be. 
 For little fire you in it may see. 
 Perhaps a pair of cards is going. 
 And that's the chiefest matter doing." 
 
 The French call a pack of cards " Tin Jeu de cartes,^* — a 
 
 » "Triomphe : the card-game called Ruff, or Trump ; also, the Ruff, or Trump 
 at it."— Cotgrave's French and English Dictionary. 
 
 » In 'The Toast,' a satirical poem written about 1730, by Dr. William King, 
 Principal of St. Mary's Hall, Oxford, Dr. Hort, Archbishop of Tuam, is called 
 Lord Pam. He is also called Pam by Swift. 
 
270 * PLAITING CARDS. 
 
 game, or play of cards ; and the Gennan name, *'Ein Spiel 
 Karteriy' has the same hteral meaning as the French. 
 
 As the object of this work is not to teach people how to 
 play at cards, those who wish for information, with respect 
 to the diiSerent games, are referred to Cotton's ' Complete 
 Gamester,' Seymour, Hoyle, and the Academic des Jeux,- — 
 taking with them this piece of advice : 
 
 "He who hopes at Cards to win, 
 Must never think that cheating's sin ; 
 To make a trick whene'er he can. 
 No matter how, should be his plan. 
 No case of conscience must he make, 
 Except how he may save his stake ; 
 The only object of his prayers, — 
 Not to be caught, and kicked down stairs.**' 
 
 With respect to the manufacture of cards, it would appear 
 to have been a regular business, both in Germany and Italy, 
 about 1420 ; but, though it has generally been asserted that 
 the earliest cards for common use were engraved on wood, 
 there is yet reason to believe that they were at first executed 
 by means of a stencil ; and that the method of engraving the 
 outlines on wood was of subsequent introduction. However 
 this may be, it is certain that the art of wood-engraving was 
 at an early period applied to the manufacture of cards, and 
 that in Germany, in the latter quarter of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, the term Briefdrucker, or Briefmaler, — card-printer, 
 or card-painter — ^was commonly used to signify a wood- 
 engraver. From the importation of playing cards into 
 England being prohibited by an act of parliament in 1463, 
 as injurious to the interests of native tradesmen and manu- 
 facturers, it might be concluded that at that time the 
 
 ' "Discineta tunica fugiendum est; . , ; 
 Ne nummi pereant. . . . . 
 
 Dcprcndi miserum est.** — Houat. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 271 
 
 manufacture of cards was established in this country. No 
 cards, however, of undoubted English manufacture of so early 
 a date have yet been discovered. In the sixteenth century, 
 there is reason to believe that most of the cards used in 
 England were imported either from France, or the Nether- 
 lands. In the reign of Elizabeth the importation of cards 
 . was a monopoly;^ but from the time of her successor James I, 
 it would appear that most of the cards used in this country 
 were of home manufacture. From the reign of Charles II 
 to the present time, cards have, either directly or indirectly, 
 been subject to a duty. 
 
 In France, by an ordonnance dated 21st February, 
 1581, a tax of ^^un ecu sou'^ was ordered to be paid 
 upon each bale of cards of two hundred pounds weight 
 intended for exportation; and, by an ordonnance of the 
 22d May, 1583, a tax of " un sou parisis^ was laid upon 
 each pack of cards intended for home use. By an ordon- 
 nance of the 14th January, 1G05, the exportation of cards 
 was prohibited; but, as a compensation to the manufac- 
 turers, the duty on cards for home consumption was reduced. 
 As the collection of the duties was rendered difficult in con- 
 sequence of the manufacturers residing in so many different 
 places, it was, at the same time, determined that the only 
 places where the manufacture of cards might be carried on, 
 should be Paris, Rouen, Lyons, Toulouse, Troyes, Limoges, 
 and Thiers in Auvergiie. Shortly afterwards, the same 
 privilege was accorded to Orleans, Angers, Romans, and 
 Marseilles ; and, by way of recompense to other places, it 
 was determined that the tax should be expended in the 
 encouragement of manufactures. Louis XV, haAing esta- 
 
 » Pascasius Justus mentions in liis Alea, first published in 1560, that a certain 
 merchant, having obtained from Charles V a monopoly for ten years of the sale 
 of cards in Spain, became extremely rich in consequence of the great demand 
 for them. 
 
272 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 Wished the Ecole Militaire, in 1751, ordered that the money 
 raised by the tax on cards, should be applied to its support. 
 The company, or guild, of card-makers of Paris was sup- 
 pressed in 1776, but re-established a few months after- 
 wards. The period of their first establishment appears to 
 be unknown. In their statutes of the year 1594, they call 
 themselves Tarotiers? In Russia, at the present day, the 
 manufacture of cards is a royal monopoly. A few months 
 ago a paragraph appeared in the Literary Gazette, stating 
 that though 14,400 packs were manufactured daily, yet the 
 supply was unequal to the demand, and that a petition had 
 been presented to the emperor praying for a more liberal 
 issue. In Mexico a considerable revenue was derived from 
 a tax on cards ; and it would appear to be still productive, 
 notwithstanding the unsettled state of the country, as it is 
 one of those which have been appropriated, ad interim, by 
 the American commander-in-chief. 
 
 Most of the cards engraved on copper are merely " cartes 
 de fantaisie,*' designed rather for the entertainment of the 
 more wealthy classes, than for the ordinary purposes of play. 
 Until a comparatively recent period the coat cards, after 
 having been printed in outline from wood blocks, were 
 coloured by means of stencils; but at present, in this 
 country, the colours are all applied by means of the press. 
 The following account of the manner of making cards at the 
 manufactory of Messrs. De La Rue and Company, of 
 London, is extracted from Bradshaw's Journal, No. 24, 
 ICth April, 1842. 
 
 " The first object that engages our attention, is the pre- 
 paration of the paper intended to be formed into cards. 
 It is found that ordinary paper, when submitted to pressure, 
 
 » Encyclop6die Mdthodique, mot, Cartier. An account of the subsdquent 
 legislation in Prance, with respect to cards, is to be found in the ' Manuel du 
 Cartonnier, et du Fabricant de Cartonnages,* pp. 224-37. Paris, 1830. 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS. 273 
 
 acquires a certain degree of polish, but not sufficient for 
 playing-cards of the finest quality. In order therefore that 
 it may admit of the high finish which is afterwards imparted, 
 the paper is prepared by a white enamel colom*, consisting 
 of animal size and other compounds. This substance, which 
 renders the paper impermeable to the atmosphere, is laid on by 
 a large brush, and left to dry by exposure to the atmosphere. 
 
 " The paper being ready for use, we proceed to explain 
 the printing of the fronts of the cards, which are technically 
 distinguished as pips and tefes. 
 
 " To commence with the simpler, the pips (i. e. the hearts, 
 diamonds, spades, and clubs :) — sets of blocks are produced, 
 each containing forty engravings of one card ; and as the 
 ordinary method of letterpress printing is employed, forty 
 impressions of one card are obtained at the same moment. 
 As the pips bear but one colour, black or red, they are 
 worked together at the hand-press, or at one of Cowper's 
 steam printing machines. 
 
 "For the tetes, however (i. e. the court cards), which, with 
 the outline, contain five colours — dark blue, light blue, 
 black, red, and yellow, — a somewhat diflerent contrivance 
 is employed. The colours are printed separately, and are 
 made to fit into each other with great nicety, in the same 
 manner as in printing silks or paper-hangings. For this 
 purpose a series of blocks are provided, which, if united, 
 would form the figure intended to be produced. By printing 
 successively from these blocks, the different colours fall into 
 their proper places, until the whole process is completed. 
 Great care is of course necessary in causing each coloured 
 impression to fit in its proper place, so that it may neither 
 overlap another, nor leave any part unprinted upon ; but as 
 the hand-press is employed, the workman is enabled to keep 
 each colour in register by means of points in the tympan of 
 the press or on the engraving. 
 
 18 
 
274 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 " The whole operation of printing at the press being com- 
 pleted, the sheets are next carried to drying-rooms, heated 
 to about 80° Fahrenheit, and are allowed to remain there 
 three or four days, in order to fix the colours. 
 
 "The successful printing of playing-cards greatly depends 
 upon the quality of the inks which are employed. Tlio 
 common printing ink, even after the lapse of years, is liable 
 to slur or smutch. In the manufacture of playing-cards, 
 such inks only must be used as will bear the friction to 
 which the cards arc subjected in the process of polishing, as 
 well as in passing between the fingers of the players. The 
 colours employed by the Messrs. De La Rue are prepared 
 from the best French lamp-blacky or Chinese vermilion, 
 ground in oil ; — this is effected by a machine, consisting of 
 cylinders revolving at regulated speeds, by which any defects 
 from the inattention of the workman, in grinding by hand, 
 arc avoided. These colours arc now brought to such per- 
 fection, that the card itself is not more durable than tlic 
 impression on its surface. 
 
 "The paper intended for the hach8\ being previously pre- 
 pared with the coloiu* desired, in the same manner as the 
 fronts, is printed in various devices at the hand-press or 
 steam-machine. The plaid or tartan backs are produced 
 from a block engraved with straight lines, and printed in 
 one colour, which is afterwards crossed with the same or 
 any other colour, by again laying the sheet on the block, so 
 that the first Hues cross the second printing at any required 
 angle. A variety of other devices are obtained from 
 appropriate blocks ; and some, like the court cards, and by 
 the same process, are printed in a number of colours. 
 
 "In printing yo/t/ i«c>?:*, size is substituted for ink; the 
 face of the card is then powdered over with bronze dust, 
 and rubbed over with a soft cotton or woollen dabber, by 
 which the bronze is made to adhere to those parts only 
 
DIPPERENT KINDS. 275 
 
 which have received the size. The printing of gold backs 
 is usually executed after the card is pasted, but we have 
 jjescribed the process here for the sake of convenience. 
 
 "As connected with the printing of backs, we may mention 
 that the Messrs. De La Rue have lately taken out a patent 
 for printing from woven wire, from which some highly 
 beautiful patterns are obtained, bearing, of course, a perfect 
 resemblance to the woven fabric. The wire when prepared 
 for printing, is merely fastened at the ends by two pieces of 
 wood, and stretched over a cast-iron block, on which it is 
 fixed by means of screws passing through the wood into the 
 iron. The variety of these patterns is very great; the 
 printing is effected in the ordinary manner. 
 
 " Hitherto we have been referring to printed sheets of 
 paper, vfhicYi are either the size of double or single foolscap; 
 the next object, therefore, is the conversion of these sheets 
 into card-boards of the usual thickness. In France the card 
 generally consists of two sheets of paper j but in England a 
 more substantial article is demanded ; it is generally four 
 sheets thick, that is, the foreside and the back, and two 
 inside leaves of an inferior description, 
 
 " In order to make a firm and smooth card, it is first 
 necessary to obtain a paste of an equable well-mixed sub- 
 stance. A paste of this quality is produced from flour and 
 water, mixed together, and heated to the boiling point, in 
 a forty-gallon copper, by steam ; which is made to pass into 
 the interstices between the copper and an external casing 
 of cast-iron, of the same shape as the boiler. By employing 
 steam, instead of fire, the paste is not liable to burn, or 
 adhere to the sides of the copper, and thus become dete- 
 riorated in its colour and quality. 
 
 "Previous to the commencement of pasting, it is neces- 
 sary that the sheets be arranged in the order in which they 
 are to be pasted. This operation is termed mingling. The 
 
276 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 insides, which are merely two sheets of paper pasted to- 
 gether, are placed between the foresides and backs, so that 
 the paste may take them up without the possibility of error, 
 A heap of paper so pasted will therefore uniformly consist 
 of the foreside and back, between which, the inside, pasted 
 on each side, is placed. 
 
 " The paste is laid on by means of a large brush, resem- 
 bling the head of a hair-broom, with which the workman, 
 by a series of systematic circular movements, distributes a 
 thin coat. And by way of illustration of the long practice 
 and manual dexterity which are necessary for perfection in 
 even the simplest departments of art or labom*, it may be 
 worthy of notice that card-pasting is in itself a branch of 
 labour, and that three or four years' practice is necessary to 
 render the operator complete master of his business. 
 
 "These newly-pasted cards are then, in quantities of 
 four or five reams at a time, subjected to the gradual but 
 powerful pressure of a hydraulic press of one hundi'cd tons, 
 worked by a steam-engine. By this means the water in 
 the paste exudes, and the air between the leaves is expelled, 
 which would otherwise remain, and give the card a blistered 
 appearance. 
 
 "After remaining a short time in the press, they are 
 hung up on lines to dry; and to prevent, as much as 
 possible, their warping while in this limpid state, small 
 pins or wires are passed through the corners, and are then 
 dexterously bent over the lines in the drying-room. 
 
 "The card-boards, after thus drying, are subjected to 
 the pressure and friction of a brush-cylinder, — the face of 
 which is covered with short thick-set bristles, which not 
 merely polish the surface, but even penetrate into the inter- 
 stices. At this stage of the manufacture, cards of a superior 
 description are waterproofed on the back with a varnish 
 prepared for the purpose, so that they may not be marked 
 
DIFFERENT KINDS^ 277 
 
 by the fingers in dealing. When so prepared, they will 
 keep perfectly clean, and may even be washed, without 
 injuring the impression or softening the card. 
 
 " In continuation of the process of polishing, the card- 
 boards are passed between revolving rollers of moderate 
 warmth, one being of iron, the other of paper cut edge- 
 ways ; they are next subjected to two bright iron-faced 
 rollers; and finally, to the number of ten or fifteen at a 
 time, they are interleaved with thin sheets of copper, and 
 efiectually milled by being passed about a dozen times 
 between two large and powerful cylinders. After being 
 thus thoroughly polished, for the purpose of being flattened 
 they are subjected to the pressure of a hydrostatic press of 
 eight hundred tons, worked by steam. 
 
 "It may appear surprising that so much labour and 
 machinery, and such circuitous means — requiring the ope- 
 ration of four distinct cylindrical machines, as well as a 
 hydraulic press, all worked by steam, — should be required 
 for effecting an object apparently so simple as that of 
 polishing and flattening a card-board. It is, however, 
 found that this end cannot be attained in a more expeditious 
 manner, but that the means adopted must be gradual, 
 though increasingly powerful in their difierent stages. 
 
 "The boards being printed and pasted, polished and 
 flattened, are next cut up into single cards. The apparatus 
 by which this is effected, and by which perfect exactness 
 in the size of the cards is preserved, may be briefly described 
 as a pair of scissors from two to three feet long, one blade 
 of which is permanently fixed on the table. The card- 
 board, being placed upon the bench, is slipped between the 
 blades of the scissors, and pushed up to a screw-gauge 
 adjusted to the requisite width ; the moveable blade, by 
 being then closed, cuts the card-board into eight narrow 
 slips, called traverses, each containing five cards. These 
 
278 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 traverses then undergo a similar operation at a smaller pair 
 of gauge-scissors, where they are cut up into single cards, 
 to the amount of thirty thousand daily. 
 
 "All that now remains is the making-up into packs. 
 After assorting the cards, the workman begins by laying 
 out on a long table a given number (say two hundred) at 
 one time; he then covers these with another suit, and so on 
 consecutively until he has laid out all the cards that consti- 
 tute a pack ; so that by this operation two hundred packs 
 are completed almost simultaneously. The best cards are 
 called Moguls, the others Harrys, and Highlanders, — the 
 inferior cards consist of those which have any imperfection 
 in the impression, or any marks or specks on the surface. 
 
 " It may be necessary to remark that the Aces of Spades 
 are printed at the Stamp Office, whether the cards be for 
 exportation or for the home market, — ^the paper for printing 
 being sent to the Stamp Office by the maker; and an 
 account of the number of aces fmrnished by the Stamp 
 Office is kept by the authorities. Before cards are dehvered 
 by the manufacturer an officer is sent to seal them, and a 
 duty of a shiUing per pack is paid monthly for those that 
 are sold for home consumption. But as they are not Uable 
 to duty when intended for exportation, the card-maker 
 enters into a bond that they shall be duly shipped, and an 
 officer is sent to see them put into the case, and to seal 
 it up." 
 
279 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE MORALITY OF CARD-PLAYING. 
 
 All writers who have investigated the principles of 
 morality agree in the condemnation of Gaming, — ^that is, 
 playing at any game of hazard for the sake of gain. With 
 respect to the lawfulness, however, of playing at such 
 games at leisure hours, for the sake of recreation, and with- 
 out any sordid desire of gain, there is, amongst such 
 authorities, a difference of opinion : some holding that, in 
 the moral "' .<;, such games are, at all times, and under all 
 circumstances, unlawful; while others affirm that, under 
 the conditions mentioned, they are innocent. The former 
 opinion has been espoused by many theologians, who, not 
 content with condemning games of hazard as immoral, have 
 also, with more zeal than knowledge, denounced them as 
 sinful, and forbidden by the word of God. The argiunents, 
 however, of such teachers have been ably refuted by the 
 learned Thomas Gataker, in his work 'On the Nature and 
 Use of Lots,' the first edition of which appeared in 1619. 
 He has clearly shown that the texts alleged by the opposite 
 party do not bear the construction which had been put upon 
 them ; and that, consequently, the so-called word of God 
 was nothing more than the dogma of fallible men. 
 
 The controversy respecting the sinfulness of games of 
 hazard, on scriptural grounds, seems'to have commenced in 
 England about the latter end of the sixteenth century, with 
 a small tract written by a Puritanical clergyman of the 
 name of Balmford, who appears, at the time of its first 
 publication, to have exercised his ministerial functions at 
 
280 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 Newcastle-on-Tyne.' The title of Balmford's tract is 'A 
 Short and Plain Dialogue concerning the Unlawfulness of 
 playing at Cards or Tables, or any other Game consisting 
 in chance/ The only copy that I have seen occurs in a 
 collection of tracts by the same author, with the general 
 title, ' Carpenters Chippes : or Simple Tokens of unfeined 
 good will, to the Christian friends of James Balmford, the 
 unworthy Servant of Jesus Christ, a poor Carpenters sonne/ 
 16mo. Printed at London, for Richard Boyle, 1607. The 
 following dedication of the tract on gaming is dated 1st of 
 January, 1593 : "To the right worshipfull Master Lionel 
 Maddison, ]\Iaior, the Aldermen his brethem, and the godly 
 Burgesses of Newcastle-upon-Tine, James Balmford wisheth 
 the kingdom of God and his righteousnesse, that other 
 things may be ministered unto them. — That which hereto- 
 fore I have propounded to you (right worshipfull and 
 beloved) in teaching, I doe now publish to all men by 
 printing, to wit mine opinion of the unlawfulness of games 
 consisting in chance." 
 
 Balmford's tract is a very short one, consisting of only 
 eight leaves, inclusive of the dedication and title. The 
 speakers in the dialogue are Professor and Preacher. The 
 Professor had read, in the Common-places of Peter Martyr, 
 the declaration that dice-play is unlawful, because depending 
 on chance ; but not being satisfied with what is there said 
 about table-playing, he craves the Preacher's opinion con* 
 
 ' Tlie author docs not seem to have been successful in his ministry at New- 
 castle. Colonel Fenwick says that the town was famous for mocking and mis- 
 using Christ's ministers ; and tifter naming Knox and Udal, he thus reproaches 
 the town for its treatment of Balmford : " Witness reverend Balmford, whom 
 in a like manner thou expulsed; though thou couldst not touch his life, thou 
 pricked his sides (as well as Christ's) in his hearers, with the reproach of 
 Bahnfordian faction and schism."— Christ in the midst of his Enemies, by 
 Licut.-Col. John Fenwick, 1G13. Ileprinted by M. A. Richardson, Newcastle, 
 181G. . 
 
. MORALITY. 281 
 
 cerning plajdng at tables and cards. The Preacher, after 
 propounding several objections to the games on moral 
 grounds, thus syllogistically determines that games of chance 
 are unlawful : " Lots are not to be used in sport ; but 
 games consisting in chance, as Dice, Cards, Tables, are 
 Lots : therefore not to be used in sport." In support of 
 this conclusion, he refers to Joshua, xviii, 10 ; L Samuel, 
 xiv, 41; Jonah, i, 7; Malachi, i, 6-7; and Hebrews, 
 vi, 16. Lots, he says, were sanctified to a peculiar use, 
 namely, to end controversies. On those grounds he abso- 
 lutely condemns all games depending on chance. The plea 
 in favour of play merely for amusement he rejects ; being- 
 of opinion that, if such games were even lawful, the desire 
 of gain would soon creep in ; for, according to the common 
 saying, *' Sine lucro friget Indus, — No gaining, cold 
 gaming." .. 
 
 Several continental divines, of the reformed party, had 
 previously expressed similar opinions,^ but without exciting 
 much remark; and the question seems to have been 
 regarded as one of mere scholastic theology, until the 
 diflferences between the Puritans and the High-church party, 
 in the reign of James I, caused it to be treated as a question 
 of practical religion. The question appears to have oc- 
 casioned great heats in the University of Cambridge ; for 
 Mr. William Ames, being then Fellow of Christ's College, 
 having preached at St. Mary's, in 1610, against playing at 
 cards and dice, as being forbidden by Scripture, his dis- 
 course gave so much offence to persons in authority that he 
 withdrew from the University in order. to avoid expulsion. 
 Ames subsequently was appointed Professor of Theology at 
 
 ' The opinions of Luther, Calvin, Peter Martyr, Lambert Danean, and others 
 upon this question are to be found in the 'Collectanea variorum authorum de 
 Sorlibns et Ludo Alese,* appended to the Alea of Pascasius Justus, by Joannes 
 a Munstcr, Ito, 1617. 
 
282 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 the University of Franeker, in Friesland ; and was one of 
 the principal opponents of Gataker in the controversy on 
 Lots. 
 
 The question respecting the lawfulness of games of chance 
 has been thoroughly investigated, both morally and theo- 
 logically, by Barbcyrac, in his ' Traite du Jeu /^ and his 
 determination is, that such games are not in themselves 
 immoral, whether the stakes be small or great ; and that 
 they are not forbidden, cither directly or indirectly, by the 
 Scriptures. In the Preface he thus speaks of the probable 
 effect of the absolute condemnation of all games of hazard, 
 on the assumed ground of their being both immoral in 
 themselves, and forbidden by the Scriptures. 
 
 " I am not surprised that Gataker should have found so 
 much opposition on the points which he maintained, con- 
 sidering the times in which he wrote. It, however, appears 
 strange to me that, in an age when so many prejudices, 
 both philosophical and theological, have been shook off, 
 there should still be found people, who, looking only at the 
 abuses which may arise in the use of things indifferent in 
 themselves, condemn such things as absolutely evil, on 
 grounds either frivolous or extremely doubtful. Such con- 
 demnation, so far from correcting those who are addicted 
 to such abuses, is more likely to confirm them in their 
 
 * " Traitd du jeu, ou Ton examine les principales Questions de Droit naturel 
 et de morale qui ont du rapport h cette Matiere. Par Jean Barbeyrac, Profes- 
 scurcn Droit k Groninguc. Secondc Edition, revue et augment<$c. A laquclle 
 on a joint un Discours sur la nature du Sort, et quclques autrcs Ecrits dc I'Autcur 
 qui scrvent principalement a defendre ce qu'il avoit dit de Tinnocence du jeu 
 consider^ en lui-meme."— This Edition, in three volumes, ICmo, was published 
 at Amsterdam, 1738, and is dedicated to Anne, Princess of Orange, eldest 
 daughter of George II. The first edition appeared in 1710. It is said that tho 
 idea of writmg such a book was first suggested to Barbcyrac in consequence of 
 bis being so frequently appealed to on questions relating to the game of cards by 
 ladies who came to play with his mother-in-law, with whom he resided, and in 
 whose apartment he used frequently to sit. 
 
MORALITY. 283 
 
 course. Nothing but the evidence of truth ctm enlighten 
 the mind, and thus make an impression on the heart. 
 False lights and subtleties, however specious, will never 
 dissipate the illusions produced by favorite passions. Such 
 passions, indeed, acquire new force as soon as a plausible 
 pretext for their indulgence is discovered in the weakness 
 of the arguments with which they are assailed ; while, by 
 attacking them in a proper manner, he who has been deluded 
 by them may be induced to open his eyes to the truth, and 
 to perceive his errors. If, by such means, a reformation is 
 not effected, it is in consequence of the same obstacles 
 which render unavailing whatever may be alleged against 
 things which are, from their very nature, unquestionably 
 evil. I doubt much if a gamester were ever deterred from 
 play by the reasons brought forward to persuade him that 
 the practice was a profanation of Divine Providence. If 
 the sermons and writings asserting such principles have pro- 
 duced any good effect, it is in consequence of their containing 
 also solid reasons derived from the abuse of the thing 
 confounded with its mere usage. The former have produced 
 Httle or no impression ; audit is to the latter alone that the 
 victory is to be ascribed." 
 
 As Barbeyrac's work is not common, and has never 
 been translated into English, it is presumed that the 
 following extracts from it will not be uninteresting to the 
 reader. "It is certain that Man was not sent into the 
 world to pass his time in eating, drinkmg, and merry- 
 making. On the contrary, everything shows that he is 
 destined by his Creator to be employed in matters of utihty 
 and serious consideration. The natural use of all our 
 faculties has this manifest tendency. We have Mind only 
 that we may think : we have Hands and Feet only that we 
 may move and act. Who could suppose that this industry, 
 this address, this penetration,— all these wonderful talents. 
 
284 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 capable of producing the Sciences and Arts, — were given 
 to us only to be concealed, or to be shamefully wasted, 
 either in sluggish idleness, or in a perpetual round of dissi- 
 pation and amusement ? The necessity of providing for 
 our wants, — an obligation common to all in a state of 
 nature, — requires that most men should apply themselves 
 to work of some kind or other ; and even those who have 
 the means of living without labour are yet not exempt from 
 the duty of applying themselves to some creditable employ- 
 ment, which may not only secure them against the tempta- 
 tions of idleness, but may also render them useful members 
 of society. 
 
 "But though the All- wise Creator has made Man for 
 labour, he has not made him for incessant labour, without 
 relaxation. The same constitution of our nature which 
 displays the necessity of action, also shows that we ought 
 occasionally to rest. Our bodies are not of iron, nor our 
 spirits of unwearied activity ; and the human machine soon 
 
 gets out of order when unremittingly worked We 
 
 arc not long in perceiving that too intent an application to 
 any work weakens the strength of the body, and lessens 
 the activity of the mind. The way to become disgusted 
 with anything, is to be unremittingly employed about it. 
 Thus, the very obligation to work requires that our labour 
 should be sometimes intermitted, in order that we may not 
 sink under it, but be enabled to resume it with vigour. 
 ' To take recreation, in order to make progress with our 
 work,' was the judicious maxim of an ancient sage.* Rest 
 is the seasoning of labour -^ and we ought to combine them 
 so that a just medium may be preserved. Consult nature, 
 and she will tell you that she has made the day" and the 
 
 ' " Anacharsis, apud Aristot. WaiUw^ i'dirug oirnSa^y, Kar 'kvaxapaivt 
 SpOuic ix^iv ^oKit.— Etliic. Nicom. lib. x, cap. C." 
 *'*'II avairavijic, ru>v novutp aprvnaiiTTi. — Plutarcli. de Pucrorum institut." 
 
MORALITY. 286 
 
 night to mark the hours of labour and of repose,^ and to 
 teach us that each is equally indispensable to life. A life 
 undiversified with a festival is like a long journey without 
 an inn.2 Such is the language of pagan philosophers, and 
 such are the ideas which pure reason suggests. 
 
 " Revelation teaches us the same. The Night was made 
 for the repose of all living things ; and the Sabbath was 
 partly instituted for the recreation of slaves and servants, 
 who otherwise might have had masters so harsh as to pay 
 no regard to the weakness of human nature. This festival 
 [Fete], as well as all the others appointed by the law, 
 were times both of rest and enjoyment for the whole of the 
 people of God. Thus, so far from morality or religion 
 forbidding every kind of recreation, it may be asserted that 
 they require us to take such as may be becoming and con- 
 venient, whenever it may be requisite to thus re-invigorate 
 our powers when exhausted by labour. It would at least 
 be ungrateful to haughtily reject the innocent pleasures 
 which the kindness of the Deity allows to man; and it 
 would be unjust to arbitrarily condemn those who discreetly 
 avail themselves of such enjoyments. 
 
 " There are, however, people who unreasonably suppose 
 that abuse and use cannot be separated, and who, forming 
 to themselves I know not what mystical notions of virtue 
 and piety, would persuade us that every kind of diversion is 
 unworthy of a reasonable being, — * a low amusement,' ' a 
 deceitful pleasure,' 'a consequence of man's fallen nature.' 
 Such persons may be allowed to aspire to a state of perfec- 
 tion which perhaps may be beyond the reach of human 
 nature, and which is certainly unattainable by the great 
 
 * " Inter se ista miscenda sunt : et quiescenti agendum, et agenti quiescendum 
 est. Cumrerum natura delibera : illadicet tibi, se et Diem fecisse et Noctem. — 
 Seneca, Epist. iii." 
 
 ' '* Btof iLvtopraaroQ, fiaxpri Woe AiravdoKivroc^^'DcmQCnt apud Stobaium." 
 
286 PLAYING CAKDS. 
 
 mass of mankind ; they ought, however, to allow those who 
 
 are doubtful of their own powers of arriving at such perfec- 
 
 tion, to humbly follow the path which Nature and Providence 
 
 have pointed out, and to possess their souls in peace, and 
 
 their conscience without scruple. ■ 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 "We maintain, then, as an irrefragable principle, that, 
 for the sake of relaxation, we may indulge in such amuse- 
 ments as are in themselves free from vice. This being 
 admitted, if a person finds pleasure in playing at Billiards, 
 at Tennis, at Chess, at Cards, at Backgammon, and even 
 at Dice, why may he not amuse himself with them, as well 
 as in Promenading, with Music, in the Chase, in Fishing, 
 in Drawing, and in a thousand other things of a similar 
 kind? The question then is, whether the game be for I 
 nothing or for a stake of some value. In the first case, it is 
 a mere recreation, and bears not the slightest semblance of 
 criminaUty; and with regard to the second, I do not see 
 why there should, be any evil in it, looking at the matter 
 simply, without regard to circumstances. 
 
 " For if I am at liberty to promise and give my property, 
 absolutely and imconditionally, to whomever I please, why | 
 may I not promise and give a certain sum, in the event of 
 a person proving more fortunate, or more skillful than I 
 with respect to the result of certain movements and combi- 
 nations, upon which we had previously agreed ? And why 
 may not this person fairly avail himself of the result either 
 of his skill or of a favorable concurrence of fortuitous cir- 
 cumstances, on the issue of which I had voluntarily con- 
 tracted an obhgation ? Even though but one of the parties 
 obtains an advantage, yet there would be nothing contrary 
 to equity in the transaction, providing that the terms had 
 been previously agreed on by both. Every person is at 
 liberty to determine the conditions on which he will cede 
 
MORALITY. 287 
 
 a right to another, and may even make it dependent on the 
 most fortuitous circumstances. A fortiori, a person may 
 fairly avail himself of his winning, when he has risked 
 on the event as much as he was Ukely to gain. In fact, 
 play pe jeu] is a kind of contract ; and in every contract 
 the mutual consent of the pai-ties is the supreme law : this 
 is an incontestable maxim of natural equity.^ 
 
 "In the Scriptures we do- not find games of hazard 
 forbid. The ancient Jews appear to have been entirely 
 ignorant of this kind of recreation, and even the name for 
 it is not to be found in the Old Testament. On the dis- 
 persion of the Jews, however, after the Babylonian captivity, 
 they learnt to play from the Greeks and Romans, as may 
 be inferred from the cases of conscience on this subject 
 discussed by the Rabbis. Notwithstanding this, games of 
 hazard are nowhere forbidden in the New Testament, 
 though no tolerance is there shown to any kind of vice. 
 There is, indeed, only one passage that contains the least 
 allusion to play; and even in this, the term — ^which is 
 metaphorically derived from a game of hazard, — when taken 
 
 > It may be observed, that such cases of " Natural Equity," as are here 
 hypothetically put by Barbeyrac, do not properly admit of a third party as a judge, 
 in the event of a dispute. Parties entering into such contracts, irrespective of 
 the usages of society, or the positive laws of the country where they reside, ought 
 to be left to enforce their natural equity by natural means. One wealthy fool loses 
 to another tiie whole of his property, the contract between them being, that 
 he was to be the winner who should draw the longest straw out of a stack. 
 In natural equity, between the two parties, the loser is obliged to pay ; but, 
 should he recover his senses, he will refuse, and leave the winner to his remedy ; 
 for the circumstance of his risking so much in the first instance, was a greater 
 offence against society than his subsequent refusal to pay. What one gambler 
 may lose to another is of small moment to society, compared with the primary 
 evil through which such persons are enabled to play deeply with the fruits of 
 others* labours. Luther, speaking of the kwfulness of retaining money won by 
 gammg, concludes that it might be lawfully retained; but adds, that he could 
 wish both parties to lose, if it were possible. The impossibility has been 
 removed siiice regular gaming houses and gaming banks were established. 
 
288 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 in the worst sense, would only amount to a condemnation 
 of the abuse of play.^ If in some versions a word, — 
 ^aiUiv — used by St. Paul, in his First Epistle to the Corin- 
 thians, chap. X, V. 7, has been translated 'Jouer,' it is 
 merely in consequence of the equivocal signification of this 
 word, or perhaps from the original term not being fully 
 understood, which in this place signifies ' to dance,' as is 
 apparent from the passage in the Old Testament to which it 
 alludes, Ba^odus yXxsii, 6. From the profound silence of the 
 sacred writers, and form other reasons already advanced, it 
 may, in my judgment, be safely concluded that play con- 
 sidered in itself, and apart from its abuse, is a matter of 
 perfect indificrence.^ 
 
 "Few persons are so rigid as to condemn absolutely 
 games of every kind ; an exception being usually made in 
 favour of those which are determined by skill alone. Most 
 theologians and casuists, however, have pronounced strongly 
 against all games into which hazard enters, as if such were 
 at all times unlawful. The Rabbis, who are of the same 
 opinion, and who even consider them as means of fraud 
 between Jew and Jew, assert that 'a man, during the whole 
 course of his life, should do nothing but devote himself to 
 the study of the law and of wisdom, to the practice of 
 charity, or to some employment or business which may be 
 serviceable to the community.'^ If this decision be taken 
 literally, it is manifestly absurd, and requires no further 
 notice. Even in putting a reasonable interpretation upon 
 
 * Tlie following is the passage referred to : irepi^epoixtvoi, navn &viii<^ Tr\Q 
 MaoKoKiaQ Iv ry KYBEIA rwv av9pu)Tr<av. — "Carried about with every wind 
 of doctrine by the sleight of men." — ^Ephesians, iv, 14. — Dr. Rennell, quoting 
 the passage in the notes to his sermon against Gaming, observes, that " The con- 
 nexion between the artifices of gamesters, and the shifting depravity of heretical 
 subterfuge, is strongly marked by the Apostle." 
 
 * Barbeyrac, Traite du Jen, liv. i, chap. 1. " Que le Jeu en lui-meme, et 
 Tabus mis a part, est une chose tout-a-fait indifferente." 
 
 » " Selden, de Jure Naturae et Gentium, lib. iv, cap. v." 
 
MORALITY. 289 
 
 these words, and considering them as condemnatory of such 
 persons as employ themselves in play alone, they still do not 
 apply to play, considered in itself, but merely restrain it to 
 its legitimate use. The Jewish doctors themselves acknow- 
 ledge that the prohibitions of play in force amongst them, 
 are founded on the regulations of their ancestors ; that is, 
 that they are not derived either from the law of Nature, or 
 the positive ordinances of God; but that they depend 
 entirely on the civil law established by those who had the 
 power of making new regulations whenever such might 
 appear to be necessary for the welfare of the state. This 
 is so true, that they in a manner permitted Jews to play at 
 games of hazard with Gentiles: at any rate, their prohibition 
 was extremely feeble, since they declared that, in such a 
 case, a Jew was only culpable of having spent his time about 
 a frivolous thing. 
 
 " Among the works of St; Cyprian we find a treatise, or 
 kind of homily, on gaming,— De Aleatoribus, — which though 
 of high antiquity, and evidently written by a Bishop, is 
 probably not the composition of the saint to whom it has 
 usually been ascribed. The author, whoever he may have 
 been, calls games of hazard the nets of the devil ; and 
 affirms that they were invented by a certain learned man 
 at the prompting of the evil spirit, and that he placed his 
 portrait and name on the instruments of the game in order 
 that he might be worshipped by those who used them.^ He, 
 consequently, maintains that whoever plays at such games 
 ofiers sacrifice to their author, and thus commits an act of 
 
 • From this account of instruments of play containing pictures and devises, 
 it has been conjectured that cards were then known, and that the game was 
 included in the general term " Alea." On this point, Barbeyrac observes, 
 in a note : "All this pleasant conceit [about pictures and idolatry] is founded 
 on two tilings : first that the board on which they played at Trictrac and Dice, 
 was adorned with paintings; and second, that the invention of those games was 
 attributed to Theut, or Thout, the Egyptian Mercury, who, after his death, was 
 numbered amongst the gods." 
 
290 PLAYING CARDS. \ 
 
 idolatry. Such chimerical arguments, when divested of all i 
 figure, only show that games of hazard are frequently the 
 cause of disorder. A Flemish clergyman, in a historical 
 treatise on this subject, published about the middle of the 
 seventeenth century, gravely maintains that all games of 
 hazard are contrary to every one of the ten command- 
 ments.^ It may be easily imagined that he is obliged' 
 to employ many devices in order to give a colour of plausi- 
 bility to this paradox ; and that whenever he advances 
 anything really pertinent, it applies only to the abuses, 
 which, more or less, may insinuate .themselves into every 
 kind of game. A prelate of distinguished merit, Sidonius 
 ApoUinaris, Bishop of Clermont, in Auvergne, who flourished 
 in the fifth century, was of a different way of thinking ; 
 for he was accustomed to amuse liimseK at Trictrac, as he 
 relates in his letters without testifying any compunction, 
 and without even saying that he had abandoned the 
 amusement on his being advanced to the office of Bishop, 
 though he mentions that he had then given up poetry. 
 
 " Others have imagined that they have discovered in the 
 very nature of games of hazard something which renders 
 them essentially sinful ; supporting their views by an ar- 
 gument which, though extremely specious, is yet easily 
 refuted. For instance, they say that God presides over j 
 what we call chance, and directs it in a special manner ; 
 and that, as chance enters into all games of hazard, such , 
 games are manifestly sinful as requiring the intervention of 
 Divine Providence in affairs which are not only trivial, but 
 also subject to many incommodities. 
 
 " This conclusion would be demonstrative if the principle 
 from which it is drawn were true; but how is it known 
 that the results of chance are always determined by the 
 special will of the Deity? Is his intervention directly 
 
 ' " Daniel Soutcr, Pabmcd. lib. ii, c. C." 
 
MORALITY. 291 
 
 perceptible, or can it be known by any apparent indication ? 
 From the knowledge that we have of his goodness and 
 wisdom, can it reasonably be supposed that he does so 
 intervene ? On the contrary, is it not derogatory to the 
 Supreme Being to suppose that he should immediately 
 interfere in affairs of such small consequence as most of 
 those are which are determined amongst men by means of 
 lots or chance? The very supposition contains within 
 itself the best reasons for concluding it to be imtenable. 
 
 "If the Deity indeed were to act by a special will in all 
 matters which are determined by lot or chance, and more 
 especially in games of hazard, it would hence follow : 
 
 1. That men have the power to compel, and in a manner, 
 force the Deity to exercise an especial Providence when- 
 ever they may think good ; for it is certain that they can 
 determine some matters by lot whenever they please. 
 
 2. It will also follow that the Deity 'performs miracles 
 every day in favour of persons who are most assuredly un- 
 deserving of them, and in places where no one could sus- 
 pect that his presence would be displayed in a manner so 
 extraordinary/^ Besides, what likelihood is there that, when 
 a couple of lacqueys or porters sit down to play at dice or 
 lansquenet, Providence should more especially interfere in 
 their game than in events which affect the destiny of 
 nations, such as battles, revolutions, and other important 
 actions of a similar kind ? There is even something ridicu- 
 lous in supposing that when two men are playing at draughts, 
 or billiards, their game is only the object of common and 
 ordinary Providence, but that when they sit down to play 
 at dice or cards, a special Providence then intervenes, and 
 determines the chances of the game.^ .... 
 
 ' Reflexions sur ce que Ton appcUe Bonheiir et Malheur en mati^re de Lote- 
 ries, par M. le Clerc, oh. viii, p. 97. 
 ' La Placette, Des Jeux de Hasard, eh. ii, p. 202. 
 
292 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 ^' I am, however, willing to allow that even at play there 
 may sometimes be an extraordinary manifestation of Provi- 
 dence, either directly, or by means of some invisible intelli- 
 gence determining the lot or chance. I can conceive that 
 the Deity should dispose of events in such a manner that a 
 worthy man, for instance, who might be in danger of giving 
 himself entirely up to play, should be cured of his passion 
 by a great and sudden loss. But, even admitting this, 
 there is no reason to conclude that the Deity interferes on 
 all occasions, and in favour of all sorts of people ; and, after 
 all, without a direct revelation, it never can be positively 
 known that he really does interfere in such matters. T 
 could just as readily believe what the eloquent Jesuit Maffei 
 relates of Ignatius Loyola, in his life of that saint; namely, 
 that, playing one day at billiards with a gentleman, who 
 had urged him to try the game, he, by a miracle, proved the 
 winner, as he was utterly unacquainted with the game."^ 
 
 In concluding the first book, Barbeyrac observes : " To 
 refute in detail all the objections of rigid moralists would 
 require an entire volume. What I have already said, how- 
 ever, appears to me suificient to remove any vain scruples 
 which may have been excited on the subject. I am, 
 indeed, rather apprehensive that those who are too fond 
 of play will think that I might have spared myself the 
 trouble of proving that which they had no doubts about ; 
 and that it was quite unnecessary to explain to them at so 
 great length that play, considered in itself, contains nothing 
 contrary to the law of Nature or the precepts of the Gospel. 
 The plan of the work, however, required that I should 
 
 » J. B. Thiers, in Lis Traits des Jcux ct dcs Divertisscmcns, p. 6, thus refers 
 to the same ancedote : " Saint Ignacc de Loiola joiia un jour au billard avec un 
 gentil-hommc qui Tavoit invito d'y joucr, ct 8*il en faut croirc Tijloquent J6smio 
 Maph(jO, il lo gagna iniraculcuHoniont, quoiqu'ii no spftt pas lo jcu. Cum nihil 
 mnna callcrcl If/natius, dioinilusfacttm cat ut in mgulos omnino (rajcdua victor 
 evaderet.** 
 
MORALITY. 293 
 
 commence with this; and the opportunity being thus 
 aiSbrded of showing the fallacy of the austere portrait which 
 some writers have drawn of Christian morahty, I have 
 availed myself of it. On this subject I also feel myself 
 justified in referring to the schools of Pagan philosophy, 
 where we are taught that ' we should do nothing without 
 being able to give a reason for it ; in small matters as well 
 as in great.'^ Now, assuming that out of a hundred per- 
 sons who are accustomed to play daily, there is scarcely one 
 who has ever asked himself how, or in what manner, it may 
 be lawful, it is not surprising that so many people should 
 convert a thing in itself perfectly harmless into a subject of 
 disorder, employing it as a means of gratifying their inordi- 
 nate love of pleasure, their idleness, or their avarice." 
 
 In the second book, wherein he discusses the essentials 
 of play — ^le Jeu — he distinguishes tlu-ee kinds of games : 
 1, Games of pure skill ; 2, Games of pure chance ; and, 3, 
 Games which depend partly on skill and partly on chance. 
 Games of skill are those which depend on manual dex- 
 terity, bodily agility, or mental acuteness : BiUiards, Racket,. 
 Quoits, Cricket, Draughts, and Chess are of this kind. 
 Games of pure chance are those in which the event, though 
 brought about by the instrumentality of the players, is yet 
 absolutely beyond their du*ection or control : of this kind 
 are Dice, and certain games at cards, such as Basset, Brelan, 
 Lansquenet, Rouge-et-N6ir, and Faro. In the third kind, 
 such as Backgammon and most of the usual games at cards,* 
 
 > "Omnis autem Actio vacare debet temeritate et negligeutia: nee vero agere 
 quidquam, cujus uon possit causam probabilem reddere." — Cicero de Offic. lib i. 
 Sec also Marc. Antonin. lib. viii, cap. 2, and lib. x, cap. 37, together with 
 Gataker*s observations. — On this point the remark of Seneca deserves quotation : 
 " Ilac [Ratione] ducc, per totam vitam eundum est. ^Minima Maximaque ex 
 Iiujus consilio gercnda sunt." — De Benefic. lib. ii, cap. 18. 
 
 ' Thiers, in his Traitd dca Jcux ot dcs Divcrtisscnicns, distinguishes games 
 in the same manner; but Barbcyrac observes that ho is wrong in classing all 
 games of cards with games of pure chance. 
 
294 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 the effects of chance may in some degree be counteracted 
 by a skilful apphcation of principles derived jfrom a know- 
 ledge of the various combinations which result from the 
 conventional rules of the game. In all games for any 
 considerable stake, that is, with regard to the means of the 
 parties, it is necessary that the players should be as nearly 
 as possible equal in point of" skill; for, in this case, the 
 game becomes a kind of traffic, and is subject to all the 
 conditions of an equitable contract. 
 
 Most persons who play for high stakes, either at games of 
 pure chance or of chance and skill combined, make more or 
 less a traffic of their amusement; and risk their own money 
 from a desire of winning that of another. In all such 
 cases, gaming is a positive evil to society, and is utterly inex- 
 cusable, much less justifiable, on any grounds whatever; and 
 all who thus venture large sums may be justly required to 
 show by what right they possess them. When a fool or a 
 knave is thus stripped of a large property, his loss is a 
 matter of small import to society; the true evil is, that so 
 large a portion of national wealth, created by the industry 
 of others, should be at the disposal of such a character, and 
 should be allowed to pass, on such a contract, to another 
 even more worthless than himself. This objection has not 
 been urged in any of the numerous sermons and essays that 
 have been published against gaming ; the authors of which, 
 generally, instead of showing that society has both the 
 power and the right to correct such abuses by depriving 
 the offending parties of the means of continuing them, 
 have contented themselves with declamations on the 
 wickedness of the pursuit, and. with vain appeals to the 
 conscience of inveterate gamesters : while they whistle 
 to the deaf adder, they never seem to suspect that it 
 may be easily dispatched with a stick. — But such abuses 
 in society are never remedied till the HEiiACLiDiE acquire 
 
MORALITY. 295 
 
 a knowledge of their rights, as well as a consciousness of 
 their power. 
 
 The appeal to the vanity of men of " rank and education"^ 
 in order to shame them out of their love of play is as futile 
 in its effects as it is wrong in principle ; for it tends only 
 to nourish in them feelings of self-conceit, and to induce 
 them to think rather of the deficiencies of the low-born men, 
 whose money they are eager to win, than to consider their own 
 dereliction of duty, in playing for large sums, with any one. 
 At the gaming-table, a community of feeUng levels all the 
 artificial distinctions of rank ; and the rude plebeian w^ho 
 covers the high-bom noble's stake is just as g09d, for all 
 intents and purposes of play, as that noble himself. The 
 condescension of the noble to play with a costermonger for 
 the sake of winning his money, is fully compensated by the 
 other's willingness to afford him a chance. The annals of 
 gaming sufficiently show that rank is no guarantee of a 
 gamester's honesty ; and in the case of Lord De Ros versus 
 Gumming, tried before Lord Denman, 10th of Februaiy, 
 1837, it would appear that the rank of the fraudulent 
 gamester screened him for several years, with one party at 
 least, from being denounced. Sir William Ingilby, in his 
 examination, stated that he had seen Lord De Ros perform 
 the trick of reversing the cut, and thus secure himself an 
 ace or a king for the tuni-up card, at least fifty times ; and 
 that he first observed his lordship do it " about four, five, 
 or six years ago." When asked why he did not denounce 
 Lord De Ros after he had become aware ot his fraudulent 
 
 ' " The low and profligate company which a gentleman of rank and education 
 will frequently submit to keep, rather than lose his beloved Hazard, b such that, 
 if he had been required to admit them simply on the ground of companions, he 
 would certainly have looked upon it as an insufferable degradation."— A Disser- 
 tation on the peniicious effects of Gaming, published, by appointment, as having 
 gained a Prize (June 1783) in the University of Cambridge. By Richard Hey, 
 LL.D., Cambridge, 1784, p. 31. • 
 
296 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 tricks, he gives the following answer : " I did not mention 
 the matter publicly for this reason : — I considered that if 
 an obscure and humble individual like myself, not possessed 
 of his rank, were to attempt to go up to a peer of the realm, 
 who held a high station in society, and who at the same 
 time was regarded by all his associates, and by the world 
 in general, as a man of unimpeachable character, and say, 
 *My lord, you are cheating;' if, I say, I, that humble 
 individual, had addressed Lord De Ros in these terms, — if 
 I had denounced a peer of the realm, and a man of such 
 general popularity, I should instantly have gathered around 
 mc a host of persons ; and I take it, as a matter of comse, I 
 should have had no choice between the door and the window." 
 Notwithstanding that the honorable baronet was aware of 
 the fraudulent practice of the right honorable peer, it seems 
 that he still continued to play with him ; but it does not 
 appear that he was particularly attentive to his lordship's 
 trick of reversing the cut, — sauter la coupe, — when he had 
 him for a partner.^ If Sir William Ingilby's fears were 
 well founded, it seems reasonable to conclude that those who 
 would have "pitched him out of the window," for exposing 
 the fraudulent tricks of a peer, must have been persons of 
 similar character to the party denounced ; and that their 
 conduct in such a case would not have been influenced by 
 a regard for the honour of a peer of the realm, but would 
 rather have been the result of the vexation which they felt 
 at the public exposure of one of theu* own stamp. On this 
 trial, one of the witnesses admitted that he had won £35,000 
 at cards in the course of fifteen years. This is certainly a 
 large sum, but nothing to be compared to the winnings of 
 some men by their gambling in railway shares within the 
 last ten years. Lord De Ros failed in his action ; the fact 
 
 • " I know a man who cheats/* said a young gentleman to Sheridan; "I do 
 not like to expose him; what shall I doP" ■ "Back him,*" was the reply. 
 
MORALITY. 297 
 
 of cheating which had been alleged against him having 
 been clearly proved. He did not long survive the disgrace- 
 ful exposure; and Theodore Hook is said to have em- 
 bahned his memory in the following epitaph : " Here lies 
 England's Premier Baron patiently awaiting the 
 LAST TRUMP r^ 
 
 On the question of the lawfulness of playing at cards for 
 the sake of amusement, and not from the mere desire of 
 gain, many persons of eminent piety have held the affirma- 
 tive in their writings ; and a far greater number of the 
 same class have testified, by their practice, their concurrence 
 in the same opinion. '* Many fierce declamations," says 
 Jeremy Taylor, " from ancient sanctity have been uttered 
 against cards and dice, by reason of the craft used in the 
 game, and the consequent evils, as -invented by the Devil. 
 And, indeed, this is almost the whole state of the question ; 
 for there are so many evils in the use of these sports, they 
 are made trades of fraud and livelihood, they are accom- 
 panied so with drinking and swearing, they are so scandalous 
 by blasphemies and quarrels, so infamous by misspending 
 precious time, and the ruin of many families, they so often 
 make wise men fools and slaves of passion, that we may say 
 of those who use them inordinately, they are in an ocean of 
 mischief, and can hardly swim to shore without perishing. 
 ..... He can never be suspected in any criminal sense 
 to tempt the Divine Providence, who by contingent things 
 recreates his labour, and having acquired his refreshment 
 hath no other end to serve, and no desires to engage the 
 
 Divine Providence to any other purpose A man 
 
 may innocently, and to good purposes go to a tavern, but 
 they who frequent them have no excuse, unless their 
 innocent business does frequently engage, and their severe 
 
 • " Hook's clever epitaph on a fashionable gambler then recently deceased."— 
 The Dowagers; or, the New School for Scandal, by Mrs. Gore. 1813. 
 
298 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 religion bring them off safely. And so it is in these sports ; 
 there is only one cause of using them, and that comes but 
 seldom, the refreshment, I mean, of myself or my friend, to 
 which I minister in justice or in charity j but when our 
 sports come to that excess, that we long and seek for 
 opportunities; when we tempt others, are weary of our 
 business, and not weary of our game ; when we sit up till 
 midnight, and spend half days, and that often too ; then 
 we have spoiled the sport, — it is not a recreation, but a sin. 
 .... He that means to make his games lawful, must not 
 play for money, but for refreshment. This, though few 
 may believe, yet is the most considerable thing to be 
 amended in the games of civil and sober persons. For the 
 gaining of money can have no influence in the game to 
 make it the more recreative, unless covetousness holds the 
 
 box But when money is at stake, either the sum 
 
 is trifling, or it is considerable. If trifling, it can be of no 
 purpose unless to serve the ends of some little hospitable 
 entertainment or love-feast, and then there is nothing amiss; 
 but if considerable, a wide door is opened to temptation, 
 and a man cannot be indifferent to win or lose a great sum 
 of money, though he can easily pretend it. If a man be 
 willing or indifferent to lose his own money, and not at all 
 desirous to get another's, to what purpose is it that he plays 
 for it ? If he be not indifferent, then he is covetous or he 
 is a fool : he covets what is not his own, or unreasonably 
 ventures that which is. If without the money, he cannot 
 mind his game, then the game is no divertisement, no 
 recreation, but the money is all the sport, and therefore 
 covetousness is all the design ; but if he can be recreated 
 by the game alone, the money does but change it from 
 lawful to unlawful, and the man from being weary to 
 become covetous ; and from the trouble of labour or study, 
 remove him to the worse trouble of fear, or anger, or 
 
MORALITY. 299 
 
 impatient desires. Here begins the mischief, here men 
 begin for the money to use vile arts ; here cards and dice 
 begin to be diabolical, when players are witty to defraud and 
 undo one another ; when estates are ventured, and famihes 
 are made sad and poor by a luckless chance. And what 
 sport is it to me to lose my money, if it be at all valuable? 
 and if it be not, what is it to my game? But sure the 
 pleasure is in winning the money; that certainly is it. But 
 they who make pastime of a neighbour's ruin, are. the worst 
 of men, said the comedy. But concerning the loss of our 
 money, let a man pretend what he will, that he plays for 
 no more than he is willing to lose, it is certain that we 
 ought not to believe him ; for if that sum is so indifferent 
 to him, why is not he easy to be tempted to give such a 
 sum to the poor ? ^Vhenever this is the case, he sins, that 
 games for money beyond an inconsiderable sum. Let the 
 stake be nothing, or almost nothing, and the cards or dice 
 
 are innocent, and the game as innocent as push-pin 
 
 In plays and games, as in other entertainments, we must 
 neither do evil, nor seem to do evil ; we must not converse 
 with evil persons, nor use our Uberty to a brother's preju- 
 dice or grief. We must not do anything, which he, \^ith 
 probability, or with innocent weakness, thinks to be amiss, 
 until he be rightly instructed ; but where nothing of these 
 things intervene, and nothing of the former evils is appen- 
 dant, we may use our liberty with reason and sobriety : and 
 then, if this liberty can be so used, and such recreations can 
 be innocent, as they assuredly may, there is no further 
 question, but those trades, which minister to these diver- 
 tisements, are innocent and lawful."^. 
 
 ' "Question on Gaming, Whether or no the making and providing such in- 
 struments, which usually minister to it, is by interpretation such an aid to the 
 sin, as to involve us in the guilt P" This treatise is printed in a small work 
 entitled 'The Life of Bishop Taylor, and the Purest Spirit of his Writings ex- 
 tracted and exhibited by John Whealdon, A.M.' 8vo, 1789. 
 
300 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 Nelson, the pious author of the ' Fasts and Festivals of the 
 Church of England/ and of the ' Practice of True Devotion/ 
 had no objection to cards. " Sober persons/' says he, in 
 the last-mentioned work, " do not make a business of what 
 they should only use as a diversion." The Rev. Augustus 
 Toplady, so well known for his high Calvinistic principles, 
 used to occasionally amuse himself with a game at cards ; 
 and in a letter dated " Broad Hembury, Nov. 19th, 1773," 
 he thus expresses himself on the subject of recreations in 
 which clergymen may innocently indulge.^ 
 
 " I do not think that honest Martin Luther committed 
 sin by playing at Backgammon for an hour or two after 
 dinner in order, by unbending his mind, to promote 
 digestion. 
 
 "I cannot blame the holy martyr Bishop Ridley for 
 frequently playing at Tennis before he became a prelate, 
 nor for playing at the more serious game of Chess twice a 
 day after he was made a bishop. 
 
 "As little do I find fault with another of our most ex- 
 emplary martyrs, the leanied and devout Mr. Archdeacon 
 Philpot ; who has left it on record as a brand on Pelagians 
 of that age, that ' they looked on honeste pastyme ias a 
 sinne / and had the impudence to call him an Antinomian 
 and a loose morahst, because he now and then relaxed 
 his bow with 'huntinge, shootynge, bowlynge, and such 
 like.' 
 
 "Nor can I set doAvn pious Bishop Latimer for such an 
 enemy to holiness of life on account of his saying that 
 hunting is a good exercise for men of rank, and that 
 shooting is as lawful an amusement for persons of inferior 
 class. 
 
 '* I have not a whit the worse opinion of the eminent and 
 
 • This letter ia given in the Rev. 11. Polwhcle'a Ileminisecnees, vol. ii, p. 42. 
 Edit. 1836. 
 
MORALITY/ 301 
 
 profound Mr. Thomas Gataker for the treatise which he 
 
 professedly wrote to prove^ the lawfulness of card-playing, 
 
 under due restrictions and limitations. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " I cannot condemn the Vicar of Broad Hembury [Mr. 
 Toplady himself] for relaxing himself now and then among 
 a few select friends with a rubber of sixpenny Whist, a pool 
 of penny Quadrille, or a few rounds of twopenny Pope Joan. 
 To my certain knowledge, the said vicar has been cured of 
 headache by one or other of those games, after spending 
 eight, ten, or twelve, and sometimes sixteen hours in his 
 study. Nor will he ask any man's leave for so unbending 
 himself — because another person's conscience is no rule to 
 his, any more than another person's stature or complexion." 
 
 John Wesley, when a young man at college, and before his 
 thorough conversion, appears to have been fond of a game at 
 cards. Tate Wilkinson, writing in 1 790, says : *' Mr. Wesley, 
 about four years ago, in the fields at Leeds, for want of 
 room for his congregation in his tabernacle, gave an account 
 of himself, by informing us, that when he was at college, 
 he was particularly fond of the devil's pops (or cards) ; and 
 said, that every Saturday he was one of a constant party at 
 Whist, not only for the afternoon, but also for the evening; 
 he then mentioned the names of several respectable gentle- 
 men who were with him at college.—' But,' continued he, 
 'the latter part of my time there I became acquainted with 
 the Lord ; I used to hold communication with him. On 
 my first acquaintance, ' I used to talk with the Lord once a 
 week, then every day, from that to twice a day, till at last 
 the intimacy so increased, that He appointed a meeting 
 
 once in every four hours He recollected, he said, 
 
 the last Saturday he ever played at cards, that the rubber 
 at Whist was longer, than he expected; and on observing 
 the tediousness of the game, he pulled out his watch, when. 
 
302 PLAYING CARDS 
 
 to his shame, he found it was some minutes past eight, 
 which wag beyond the time he had appointed to meet the 
 Lord. — He thought the devil had certainly tempted him 
 to stay beyond his hour; he therefore suddenly gave 
 his cards to a gentleman near him to finish the game, and 
 went to the place appointed, beseeching forgiveness for his 
 crime, and resolved never to play with the devil's pops 
 again. That resolution he had never broken; and what 
 was more extraordinary, that his brother and sister, though 
 distant from Cambridge, experienced signs of grace on that 
 same day, on that same hour, in the month of October."^ 
 
 On the subject of card-playing, even for the sake of 
 amusement, two distinguished laymen, John Locke and Dr. 
 Johnson, appear to have entertained different opinions. The 
 former, in his Treatise on Education, says, "As to cards 
 and dice, I think the safest and best way is never to learn 
 any play upon them, and so to be incapacitated for those 
 dangerous temptations and incroaching wasters of useful 
 time." Dr. Johnson, on the contrary, regretted that he had 
 not learnt to play at cards, giving, at the same time, as his 
 reason : " It is very useful in life ; it generates kindness, 
 and consolidates society.* -^ The opinion of a living 
 
 » Memoirs of Tato Wilkinson, vol. iii, p. 9-11. York, 1790. 
 
 •Boswcll's Journal of a Tour to tie Hebrides. The following anecdote 
 respecting Locke is related by Le Clerc. Three or four men of rank met him 
 by appomtment at the house of Lord Ashley, afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury, 
 rather for the sake of mutual entertainment than for business. After mutual 
 compliments had passed, and before there had been any time for conversation, 
 cards were introduced, and the visitors sat down to play. Mr. Locke, after 
 looking on a while, drew out his tablets and sat down to write. One of the 
 company at length observing how he was employed, asked him what he was 
 writing. "My lord," replied he, "I am endeavouring to profit as much as I 
 can from your company; for havinpf impatiently longed to be present at a 
 meeting of the most sensible and most witty men of the day, and having at 
 last that good fortune, I thought that I could not do better than write down 
 your conversation ; I have indeed here put down the substance of what has 
 been said for the last hour or two." The satire was immediately felt ; the 
 
MORALITY. 303 
 
 Professor of Moral PhUosophy, on the subject of card- 
 playing, may be gathered from the following dialogue 
 between Christopher North and the Ettrick Shepherd.^ 
 
 *' NORTH. 
 
 Gaming is not a vice, then, in the country, James ? 
 
 SHEPHERD. 
 
 There's little or nae sic thing as gamblin' in the kintra, 
 sir. You'll fin' a pack o' cairds in mony o' the houses — 
 but no in them a'— for some gude fathers o' families thmk 
 them the deevil's bulks, and sure aneuch when ower muckle 
 read they begin to smell o' sulphur and Satan. 
 
 NORTH. 
 
 Why, James, how can old people, a little dim-eyed or so, 
 while an occasional evening away better than at an innocent 
 and cheerful game at cards ? 
 
 SHEPHERD. 
 
 Hand your haun* a wee, Mr. North. I'm no saying 
 onything to the reverse. But I was sayin' that there are 
 heads o' families that abhor cairds, and would half-kill their 
 sons and daughters were they to bring a pack into the 
 house. Neither you nor me wull blame them for sic savin* 
 prejudice. The austere Calvinistic spirit canna thole to 
 think that the knave o' spades should be lying within twa 
 three inches o' the Bible. The auld stern man wud as soon 
 forgie the introduction into the house o' base ballads o' 
 sinfu' love — and wishes that the precincts be pure o' his 
 ain fire-side. Though I take a ggem o^ whust now and* 
 then mysel, yet I boo to the principle, and I venerate the 
 adherence till't in the high-souled patriarchs of the 
 Covenant. 
 
 players quitted the game, and after amusing themselves for a while in 
 retouching and enlarging what Mr. Locke had set down, spent the remainder of 
 the day in more worthy conversation. — ^Eloge de Mr. Locke dans la Bibliotheque 
 Choisie, torn, vi, p. 357. 
 ' Noctes Ambrosianae, No. 25, in Blackwood's Magazine for April, 1826. 
 
304 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 NORTH. 
 
 Perhaps such strict morality is scarcely practicable in our 
 present condition. 
 
 SHEPHERD. 
 
 What, do you mainteen that cairds are absolutely neces- 
 sary in a puir man's house ? Tuts ! As for auld dim-eyed 
 people, few o' them, except they be blin' a'thegither, that 
 canna read big prent wi' powerfu' specs, and they can aye 
 get, at the warst, some bit wee idle Oe 'to read out aloud 
 to its grannies, without expense o' oil or cawnel, by the 
 heartsome ingle-light. You'll generally fin' that auld folk 
 that plays cairds, have been raithcr frcevolous, and no 
 mucklc addicked to thocht — unless they're greedy, and play 
 for the pool, which is fearsome in auld age ; for what need 
 they care for twa three brass penny-pieces, for ony ither 
 purpose than to buy nails for their coffin ? 
 
 NORTH. 
 
 You push the argument rather far, James. 
 
 SHEPHERD. 
 
 Na, sir. Avarice is a failing o' auld age sure aneuch — 
 and shouldna be fed by the Lang Ten. I'm aye somewhat 
 sad when I see folk o' eighty haudin' up the trumps to their 
 rheumy een, and shaking their heads, whether they mill or 
 no, ower a gude and a bad haun alike. Then, safe on us ! 
 only think o' them cheatin' — revokin' — and marking mair 
 than they ought wi the counters ! 
 
 NORTH. 
 
 The pictm*e is strongly coloured ; but could you not 
 paint another less revolting, nay, absolutely pleasant, nor 
 violate the truth of nature ? 
 
 SHEPHERD. 
 
 I'm no quite sure. Perhaps I micht. In anither con- 
 dition o' life — in towns, and among folk o' a higher rank, 
 I dinna deny that I hae seen auld leddies playing cards very 
 
MORALITY. 305 
 
 composedly, and without appearin* to be doin* onything 
 that's wrang. Before you judge richtly o' ony ae thing in 
 domestic life, you maun understan' the hail constitution o' 
 the economy. Noo, auld leddies in towns dress somewhat 
 richly and superbly, wi' ribbons, and laces, and jewels even, 
 and caps munted wi^ iSowers and feathers; and Pm no 
 blamin' them — and then they dine out, and gang to routes, 
 and gie dinners and routes in return, back to hunders o' 
 their friends and acquaintance, Noo, wi' sic a style and 
 fashion o' life as that, caird-playing seems to be somewhat 
 accordant, if taken in moderation, and as a quiet pastime, 
 and no made a trade o', or profession, for sake o* filthy 
 lucre. I grant it harmless ; and gin it maks the auld 
 leddies happy, what richt hae I to mint ony objections? 
 God bless them, man ; far be it frae me to curtail the 
 resources o' auld age. Let them play on, and all I wish is, 
 they may never lose either their temper, their money, nor 
 their natural rest. 
 
 NORTH. 
 
 And I say God bless you, James, for your sentiments do 
 honour to humanity. 
 
 SHEPHERD. 
 
 As for young folks — ^lads and lasses, like — when the 
 gudeman and his wife are gaen to bed, what's the harm in 
 a ggem at cairds? It's a chearfu', noisy, sicht o' comfort 
 and confusion. Sic luckin' into ane anither's haun's ! Sic 
 fause shufflin'l Sic unfair dealin'I Sic winkin' to tell your 
 pairtner that ye hae the king or the ace ! And when that 
 wunna do, sic kickin' o' shins and treadin' on taes aneath 
 the table— aften the wrang anes ! Then down wi' your 
 haun' o' cairds in a clash on the board, because you've ane 
 ower few, and the coof maun lose his deal ! Then what 
 gigglin' amang the lasses ! What amicable, nay, love- 
 quarrels, between pairtners ! Jokin', and jeestin' and 
 
 20 
 
306 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 tauntin', and toozKn' — the cawnel blawn out, and the soun 
 o' a thousan' kisses! That's caird-playing in the kintra, 
 Mr. North ; and where's the man amang ye that wull daur 
 to say that its no a pleasant pastime o' a winter's nicht, 
 when the snaw is cumin' doon the lum, or the speat's roarin 
 amang the mirk mountains ? 
 
 NORTH. 
 
 Wilkie himself, James, is no more than your equal. 
 
 SHEPHERD. 
 
 man, Mr. North, sh*, my heart is wae — my soul's sick 
 — and my spirit's wrathfu' to think o' thae places in great 
 cities which they ca' — Hells ! 
 
 NORTH. 
 
 Thank Heaven, my dear James, that I never was a 
 gambler — ^nor, except once> to see the thing, ever in a Hell. 
 But it was a stupid and passionless night — a place of mean 
 misery — altogether unworthy of its name. 
 
 SHEPHERD. 
 
 I'm glad you never went back, and that the deevil was 
 in the dumps ; for they say that some nichts in thae Hells, 
 when Satan and Sin sit thegither on ae chair, he wi' his 
 arm roun' the neck o' that Destruction his Daughter, a 
 horrible temptation invades men's hearts and souls, drivin' 
 and draggin' them on to the doom o' everlasting death. 
 
 NORTH. 
 
 Strong language, James — ^many good and great men have 
 shook the elbow. 
 
 SHEPHERD. 
 
 Come, come now, Mr. North, and dinna allow paradox 
 to darken or obscure the bright licht o' your great natural 
 and acquired understandin'. ' Good and great' are lofty 
 epithets to bestow on ony man that is bom o' a woman— 
 and if ony such there have been who delivered themselves 
 up to sin, and shame, and sorrow, at the ggeming-table ; 
 
MORALITY. 307 
 
 let their biographers justify them — ^it will gie me pleasure 
 to see them do't — ^but such examples shall never confound 
 my judgment o' right or wrang. 'Shake the elbow 
 indeed T What mair does a parricide do but ' shake his 
 elbow/ when he cuts his father's throat ? The gamester 
 shakes his elbow, and down go the glorious oak trees planted 
 two hundred years ago, by some ancestor who loved the 
 fresh smell o' the woods — away go — if entail does no forbid 
 — thousands o' bonny braid acres, ance a' ae princely estate, 
 but now shivered down into beggarly parshels, while the 
 Auld House seems broken-hearted, and hangs down its head, 
 when the infatuated laird dies or shoots himself. Oh, man! 
 is nae it a sad thocht to think that my leddy, aye sae 
 gracious to the puir, should hae to lay down her carriage in 
 her auld age, and disappear frae the Ha' into some far-aflf 
 town or village, perhaps no in Scotland ava'j while he, that 
 should hae been the heir, is apprenticed to a writer to the 
 signet, and becomes a money-scrivener i' his soul, and 
 aibHns a Whig routin' at a public meetin' about Queens, 
 and Slavery, and Borough Reform, and Cautholic Emanci- 
 pation." 
 
 St. Francis Xavier, though disapproving of all games of 
 chance, yet did not absolutely condemn them as forbidden 
 by the word of God ; but endeavoured to reclaim, by gentle 
 means, those who were addicted to play. "That he might 
 banish Games of Chance," says his biographer, " which 
 almost always occasion quarrels and swearing, he proposed 
 some little innocent diversions, capable of entertaining the 
 mind, vrithout stirring up the passions. But seeing that in 
 spight of his endeavours they were bent on Cards and Dice, 
 he thought it not convenient to absent himself, but became 
 a looker-on, that he might somewhat awe them by his pre- 
 sence ; and when they were breaking out into any extra- 
 vagance, he reclaimed them by gentle and soft reproofs. 
 
303 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 He showed concernment in their gains, or in their losses, 
 and offered sometimes to hold their cards. 
 
 "While the ship that carried Xavier was crossing the 
 Gulph of Ceylon, [in 1545] an occasion of charity was 
 offered to the Saint, which he would not suffer to escape. 
 The mariners and souldiers pass'd their time, according to 
 their custome, in playing at cards. Two souldiers set 
 themselves to it more out of avarice than pleasure, and 
 one of them plaid with such ill fortune, that he lost not 
 only all his own money, but the stock which others had put 
 into his hands to trafBck for them. Having nothing more 
 to lose, he withdrew, cursing his luck, and blaspheming 
 God. His despair prevailed so far over him, that he had 
 thrown himself into the Sea, or run upon the point of his 
 sword, if he had not been prevented. Xavier had notice 
 of these his mad intentions, and execrable behaviour, and 
 immediately came to his relief. He embrac'd him tenderly, 
 and said all he cou'd to comfort him : But the souldier in 
 the transports of his fury, thrust him away, and forbore not 
 even ill language to him. Xavier stood recollected for 
 some time, imploring God's assistance and counsel; then 
 went and borrowed fifty Royals of a passenger, brought 
 them to the souldier, and advis'd him once more to try his 
 fortune. At this the souldier took heart, and play'd so 
 luckily, that he recovered all his losses with great advantage. 
 The Saint, who look'd on, took out of the overplus of the 
 winnings, what he had borrowed for him ; and seeing the 
 gamester, now retum'd to a calm temper, he who before 
 refus'd to hear him, was now overpowered by his discom'se, 
 never after handled cards, and became exemplary in his 
 life. 
 
 " He was particularly free in his converse with souldiers 
 who are greater libertines, and more debauch'd in the 
 Indies, than elsewhere. For, that they might the less 
 
MORALITY. 809 
 
 suspect him, he kept them company ; and because some- 
 times when they saw him coming, they had hid their cards 
 and dice, he told them. They were not of the clergy, 
 neither cou'd they continue praying all the day; that 
 cheating, quarrelling and swearing, were forbid to game- 
 sters, but that play was not forbid to a souldier. Some- 
 times he play'd at chess himself out of complyance, when 
 they whom he study'd to withdraw from vice, were lovers 
 of that game : And a Portuguese gentleman, whose name 
 was Don Diego Norogna, had once a very ill opinion of 
 him for it. This cavalier, who had heard a report of 
 Xavier, that he was a saint-like man, and desir'd much 
 to have a sight of him, happened to be aboard of the same 
 galley. Not knowing his person, he enquired which was 
 he; but was much surprised to find him playing at chess 
 with a private souldier. For he had form'd in his imagi- 
 nation, the idea of one who was recollected and austere, and 
 who never appeared in publick but to discom-se of eternity, 
 or to work miracles."^ 
 
 St. Francis de Sales was, in his younger days, a card- 
 player, though subsequently he condemned all games at cards 
 as being in themselves unlawful.^ According to the Duchess 
 of Orleans, the old Marshal Villeroi, who had known him in 
 his youth, could never bring himself to call him Saint. As 
 often as the name of St. Francis de Sales was mentioned in 
 his presence, he would observe, " I was deHghted to learn 
 that Mons. de Sales was a Saint. He was fond of saying 
 smutty things, and used to cheat at cards ; in other respects 
 
 ' The Life of St, Francis Xavier, by Father Bouhours. Translated into English 
 by John Dryden, pp. 71, 203, 697. 
 
 « "Les jeux des dez, des cartes, et semblables, esquels le gain depend prin- 
 cipalement du hasard, ne sont pas seulement des recreations dangereuses, 
 comme les danses, mais elles sont simplement et naturellement mauvaises et 
 blamables."— St. Franpois de Sales, Litrod. a la Vie devote, quoted by Thiers 
 in his Traits des Jeux, p. 168. 
 
310 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 he was a perfect gentleman, though a ninny." ^ The excuse 
 that he made for his cheating was, thai whatever he won 
 was for the poor. Cardinal Mazarine, another dignitary of 
 the church of Rome, was much given to cheating at play as 
 well as in politics ; and it is related by an eye-witness, that 
 when he was on his death-bed, he still continued to play 
 at cards, one of the company holding his ** hand ;" and 
 that he was thus employed when he received the Pope's 
 plenary indulgence, together with the viaticum, as a prince 
 of the church, from the Papal nuncio.^ 
 
 In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many of the 
 clergy of all degrees in France, Spain, and Italy appear to 
 have been much addicted not only to card-playing but to 
 gaming in general, notwithstanding the determinations of 
 casuists and the prohibitions of councils. Masses and 
 prayers were sometimes staked by the priest against tlie 
 hard money of the layman; and even devout people, 
 following the example set them by their pastors, used to 
 play with each other for Aves and Pater-hosters. On the 
 subject of the clergy staking masses at play, Barbeyrac, a 
 Protestant, observes, " These are in tmth frivolous matters, 
 and of no effect, to say no worse ; nevertheless, as those 
 wlio traffic in them believe, or, at least, pretend to believe 
 
 * M^moires sur la Cour de Louis XTV et de la R^gence. Extraits dc la 
 Corrcspondance Allcmandc de Madame Elisabeth-Charlotte, Duchesse d'Orl^ans, 
 mere du ll^-gcnt, p. 339. 8vo, Paris, 1823. In corroboration of the anecdote 
 related by the Duchess, the Editor gives the following from the * Loisirs d'un 
 Homme d'Etat/ and the * Dictionnairc Historiquc :* "M. de Cosnac, archevcque 
 d'Aix, ^tait tres vieux, quand 11 apprit que Tonvient de canoniser Saint Franpois 
 de Sales. *Quoi!' s'dcria-t-il, *M. de Geneve, mon aucien ami? Je suis 
 charme de la fortune qu'il vient de faire : e'etait un galant homme, un aimable 
 homme, ct mcme unhonnete homme, quoiqu'il trichat au piquet, ou nous avons 
 souvent jou^ ensemble.' * Mais, moriscigncur,* lui dit-on, * est-il possible qu'un 
 saint friponne au jcu ?' * Ho !' repliqua I'archeveque, * il disait, pour ses raisons, 
 que ee qu'il gagnait utait pour Ics pauvres.* " 
 
 * Mcmoircs incdits de Louis Henri de Lomenie, Comte dc Bricnnc. 
 
MORALITY. 311 
 
 that a kind of sanctity and supernatural virtue are attached 
 to their use, all play for such stakes is unlawful ; and he 
 who thus profanely ventures them is evidently guilty both 
 of sacrilege and simony." With respect to playing for 
 prayers, Thiers says that the practice is not condemned by 
 Dr. Navarre, and that Pere Raynaud bears witness of its 
 being admitted among the devout ; for his own part, how- 
 ever, he disapproves of it as " a heteroclite refinement of 
 devotion ;" and is of opinion that there is some degree of 
 irreverence in playing for Psalms, Patcr-nosters, and Aves.^ 
 The Spanish phrase, " Jugar los Kiries^' shows that such a 
 practice was not unusual among the clergy of that country : 
 though the explanation of the phrase in some dictionaries 
 is, that it relates to a clergyman who plays away the alms 
 that are given him for praying, it yet properly relates to a 
 clergyman who plays away prayers, — not the money given 
 for them. 
 
 Among the vices generated by gaming, that of swearing 
 is especially noted by most authors who have written on the 
 subject.^ The French appear to have minced and frittered 
 their oaths, swearing "like a comfit-maker's wife;" the 
 English and Germans to have sworn grossly; and the 
 Spaniards and Italians to have blasphemed in a spirit of 
 refined impiety. Pascasius Justus, in this respect, calls 
 
 » "Une treizi^me circonstance, qui, limon sens, est capable de gaterle jeu, 
 c'cst quand on joiie des prieres, je veux dire quand on joiie k condition que 
 cclui qui perdra fera certaines prieres ou pour les fidMes trepass^s, ou pour 
 cclui qui aura gagnd, ou pour quelqu*autre qui lui fera indiqu6. Le Docteur 
 Navarre ne condamne pas cet pratique. Lc P. Tbdopliile Raynaud tdmoigne 
 qu'elle est repue parmi les devots. Mais pour moi, je la regarde comme un 
 raffiuement de devotion heteroclite ou irreguliere, et j'estime qu'il y a de Tirr^- 
 vcrence a joiier, par exemple, des Pseaumes a reciter, ou des Fater naster, ou 
 des Ave Maria h. dire." — Thiers, Traitd des Jeux, p. 425. 
 
 ' On this point the reader is more particularly referred to Thiers, Traits des 
 Jeux et des Divertissemens, p. 422 ; and to Barbeyrac, Traitd du Jeu, torn, ii, 
 p. 356, second edit. 1737. 
 
812 Pl.AYINO CARDS. 
 
 the gaming-table the devil's farm, and says that it always 
 yields him a most abundant crop. Iii his time, gamesters 
 do not appear to have merely sworn from vexation, but 
 even to have delighted in pouring forth a volley of oaths. 
 He relates that, when he once told a gambler that he him- 
 self could never utter an oath, the other replied, " Then 
 you arc ignorant of a great pleasure." A French writer, 
 speaking of the oaths of the Spaniards, gives the following 
 anecdote, as an instance of their impiety. On one occasion, 
 when an order had been issued to the Spanish army against 
 swearing, a soldier having lost all his money at cards, 
 and not daring to violate the letter of the order, gave vent 
 to his feelings by exclaiming, "Beso las manos, Senor 
 Pilato," " I thank you, Mr. Pontius Pilate.''—" II devoit 
 etre brule," is the judgment of the relater. A similar in- 
 stance of blasphemy, on the part of an Itialian who had lost 
 his money at cards, is recorded by Henry Stephens, in the 
 introduction to his ' Traite de la Conformite des Merveilles 
 anciennes avec les modcrnes.'^ 
 
 With respect to the passions excited by gaming, the 
 learned and pious Jeremy Collier expresses his opinion 
 in the following manner, in his 'Essay on Gaming,' in a 
 Dialogue : " I can't help observing that playing deep sets 
 the spmts on float, strikes the nodnd strongly into the 
 
 • "Toutcfois Bans vciiir h tcllca sortcs do blasplit'mcs, uous en trouvons de 
 forts sauvagcs au langagc Ilalicn : dont aucuus scrablcnt plutost soriir dc la 
 bouclie dc diables que d'horamcs. Du nombre desquels est un que j'ouy 
 proferer a Rome par un prestre, Icquel sera recitd en son lieji. Mais on luy peut 
 bien donner pour compagnon un qui fut profer6 a Venise par un Italien, non 
 prestre, mais suculier, en jouant aux eartes en la maison d'un ambassadeur du 
 Roy. Ce blaspheme est tel : * Venga '1 cancaro ad lupo/ Quel si grand mal 
 y-a-t-il ici P dira quelqu'un. Lc grand mal est en cc que ceci se disoit par une 
 figure, qui s'ai)pclle aposiopese ou retinenea, en lieu de (comme depuis on 
 cogneut) * Venga '1 eancaro, ad lupo clie non manjib christo quando era 
 agucllo.* Or raj)pclloit il agnello, ayaut esgard ft cc qui est diet en S. Jean, 
 * Ecce agnus Dei qui tollit peecata mundi.* " 
 
MORALITY. 313 
 
 face, and discovers a man's weakness very remarkably. 
 Cards and dice, &c. command the humour no less than 
 the moon does the tide ; you may see the passions come 
 up with the dice, and ebb and flow with the fortune of the 
 game ; what alternate returns of hope and fear, of pleasuie 
 and regret, are frequently visible upon such occasions? 
 
 *Ep9a S* dfi* 6in<ayti re xai lix^^^ irtKiv dvSpuVf 
 *0\\vvTCJV Ti, Kai dWyfievuv. 
 
 "As you say gaming is an image of war, the sudden 
 turns of success are easily discernible; the advances of 
 victory or ill luck, make a strange revolution in the blood. 
 The countenance takes its tincture from the chance, and 
 appears in the colours of the prospect. With what anxious- 
 ness is the issue expected. You would think a jury of life 
 and death was gone out upon them. The sentence for 
 execution is not received with more concern, than the 
 unlucky appearance of a cast or a card. Thus some people 
 are miserably ruffled, and thrown off the hinges ; they seem 
 distressed to an agony ; you'd pity them for the meanness 
 of their behaviour ; others are no less foolishly pleas'd ; 
 break out with childish satisfaction, and bring the cove- 
 tousness of their humour too much into view. 
 
 "Now since play is thus arbitrary over the passions, 
 who would resign the repose of his mind, and the credit of 
 his temper, to the mercy of chance ? Who would stake his 
 discretion upon such unnecessary hazards ? And throw the 
 dice, whether he should be in his wits or not?" 
 
 On DoLOMEDES, the other speaker in the dialogue, ob- 
 serving, that this does not always follow ; that some people 
 play without the least offensiveness or ruffle, and lose great 
 sums with all the decency and indifference imaginable, the 
 author, in the character of Callimachus, thus proceeds : 
 
 " Alas ! this is often but 'a copy of the countenance : 
 
314 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 things are not so smooth within, as they seem without. 
 Some people when they bleed inwardly have the art to 
 conceal the anguish; and this is generally the most of the 
 matter ; but if they are really imconcem'd ; if so heavy a 
 blow brings no smart along with it, the case is still worse : 
 these men have no sense of the value of money, they won't 
 do the least penance for their folly, they have not so much 
 as the guard of a remorse. This stoicism is the speediest 
 dispatch to beggary ; nothing can be more dangerous than 
 such a stupid tranquillity. To be thus becalm'd presages 
 Short allowance. This sedateness makes the man fool- 
 hardy, renew the combat, and venture a brush for the 
 remainder ; for he that can be beaten at his ease, and feels 
 no pain upon a wound, will fight, most likely, as long as 
 his legs will bear him. 
 
 "But this insensibleness is rarely met with: very few 
 are proof against a shrewd chance to this degree. When 
 misfortune strikes home, 'tis seldom decently received; 
 their temper goes off with their money. For, according to 
 the proverb. Qui per d le sien, perd le sens. And here one 
 loss usually makes people desperate, and leads to another : 
 and now the gentlemen of your function are extremely 
 vigilant to improve the opportunity, and observe the current 
 of the passions. You know very well when a man's head 
 grows misty with ill luck, when the spleen comes over his 
 understanding, and he has fretted himself ofi" his guard, he 
 is much the easier conquest : thus, when your bubbles are 
 going down the hill, you manage accordingly, lend them a 
 push, tho' their bones are broken at the bottom. But I 
 forget myself; there's neither mercy nor justice in some 
 people's business. 
 
 " To return : you know I may take it for granted, that 
 yom* gaming sparks are horribly ruffled when things with a 
 promising face sicken, and sink on the sudden, when they 
 
MORALITY. 316 
 
 are surprizingly crossbitten, and success is snatcH'd from 
 their grasp ; when this happens, which is not unfrequent, 
 the spirits are up immediately, and they are a storm at the 
 first blast : the train takes fire, and they kindle and flash 
 at the touch like gunpowder. And when the passions are 
 thus rampant, nothing is more common than oaths, and 
 execrable language : when instead of blaming their own 
 rashness, and disciplining their folly, they are cursing their 
 stars, and raging against their fate.* 
 
 " These paroxysms of madness run sometimes so high, 
 that you would think the Devil had seiz'd the organs of 
 speech, and that they were possess'd in every syllable : and 
 to finish farther, these hideous sallies are sometimes carry'd 
 on to quarrelling and murther. The dice, it may be, are 
 snatch'd too quick, the cast is disputed, the loading and 
 legerdemaui is discovered. 
 
 "jamque faces etsaxa volant: — 
 
 Upon this, they run to arms, and after some artillery dis- 
 charg'd in swearing, come to a close encounter. And thus 
 one of them is run through the lungs, and left agonizing 
 upon the place : or, as it happened not long since, the 
 gamester is knocked down with a pint-pot, and his skull 
 broken : he is forced to be trepan'd, and then relapsing 
 into play and drinking, dies of a frenzy. 
 
 > The author of 'A Short Essay on the FoUy of Gaming/ reprinted from 
 thcDubHn InteUigencer, in 1734, speaking of the loss of temper at cards and 
 dice, says : " If any one doubts the truth of tliis position, I refer him to the 
 Groom-Porter's, and other public tables, where the virtuosos of the gaming 
 science are daily and nightly to be seen. If blasphemy, cursing, swearing, duelling, 
 running of heads against the wall, thro^ving hats and wigs m the fire, distortions 
 of the countenance, biting of nails, burning of cards, breaking of dice-boxes, 
 can be caUed a loss of temper, they are to be found there in the highest degree." 
 —He concludes his essay with the following warning: "IshaU close these 
 cursory reflections with a useful remark of Plato's, viz. that the Daemon Theuth 
 was the inventor of Dice ; and the vulgar have it by tradition that cards are the 
 Devil's books; therefore I cannot but say that after tliis information given, 
 if gamesters will not desist, they are undoubtedly at the Devil's devotion." 
 
316 TLAYINO CAKD8. 
 
 " As to the hazards, they are frightful, and sufficient to 
 overset the temper of better principled people than game- 
 sters commonly are. Have we not heard of ladies losing 
 hundreds of guineas at a sitting ? And others more slenderly 
 stocked, disfurnish their husbands' studies, and play off the 
 • books which, it may be, help'd to feed them. And when 
 the women are thus courageous, the men conclude their 
 own sex calls for a bolder liberty : that they ought to go 
 farther in danger, and appear more brave in the methods of 
 ruin : thus a manor has been lost in an afternoon ; the suit 
 and service follow the cast, aud the right is transfer'd 
 sooner than the lawyer can draw the conveyance. A box 
 and dice are terrible artillery, a battery of cannon scarcely 
 plays with more execution. They make a breach in a 
 castle, and command a surrender in a little time."* 
 
 A curious Rabbinical tract on the subject of Gaming, 
 entitled, JHD IID, — Sur Mera,— that is, "Depart from 
 Evil,"^ seems to require some notice here. It was first 
 printed at Venice, about 1615; was reprinted at Leyden 
 about 1660; and a third edition, accompanied with a 
 German translation, was published at Leipsic in 1683, 
 None of the editors mention either the name of the author, 
 or the time when he lived. The work is in the form of a 
 dialogue between two young Jews, one of whom, named 
 Medad, maintains the lawfulness of Gaming, and is opposed 
 by the other, named Eldad. The work is divided into six 
 chapters. The first is merely introductory, giving a brief 
 account of the speakers in the dialogue; — Medad, a 
 merchant's son, addicted to play ; and Eldad, his friend, 
 who endeavours to reclaim him. The second chapter 
 
 • An Essay upon Gaming, in a Dialogue between Callimachus and Dolomedes. 
 By Jeremy Collier, M.A. 1713. 
 
 'This title is taken from the 14tli verse of the xxxivth Psalm: "Depart 
 from evil, and do good." The names of the speakers, Eldad and Medad, are 
 from Numbers, xi, 26. 
 
MORALITY. 317 
 
 contains the argument which they had on the subject of 
 gaming and commerce ; Medad endeavouring to show that 
 play is commendable and similar to commerce; while 
 Eldad maintains the contrary. In the third chapter, 
 Eldad undertakes to prove from the Scriptures that a 
 gamester breaks all the Ten Commandments, and Mcdad 
 ingeniously answers him. In the foiu1;h chapter, Eldad, 
 on the authority of the Talmud and other Rabbinical 
 works, maintains that a gamester can neither be a judge 
 nor a witness; and Medad answers him, citing opposite 
 passages from the same authorities. In the fifth chapter, 
 Eldad recites a piece of poetry descriptive of the miserable 
 state of a gamester ; and Medad, in return, recites another, 
 wherein the pleasures of a gamester's life are highly extolled. 
 In the sixth and last chapter, Eldad seriously exhorts his 
 friend to assent to truth ; Medad yields, and acknowledges 
 that the cause which he had maintained was bad. 
 
 The following are a few of the more remarkable passages 
 in the argument of Medad, the advocate of gaming: 
 " Play is commendable, the same as all othpr human inven- 
 tions. It is like a bright min*or in which many excellent 
 things are to be discovered, exciting to a sluggish man, and 
 causing him to forget the cares incident to daily life. 
 Though it be undeniable that he whose whole pleasure 
 consists in keeping the commands of the Lord, and 
 who is neither vain nor ambitious, is a better man 
 than he who plays; yet of the various pursuits in 
 which men engage in order to obtain wealth or power, Play 
 is one which may be allowed to those who, without pre- 
 tending to be absolutely righteous, yet endeavour to be as 
 righteous as they can. Through much trafficking man 
 becomes knowing ; and wares are in Hebrew called mirrD 
 — Sechorah — a word which means ' circulation,', or 'that 
 which circulates,' on account of their passing from one 
 
318 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 person to another by way of barter or sale. Why should 
 Play not be estimated the same as any other business, at 
 which money is sometimes lost and sometimes gained?^ 
 The determining of matters by lot or chance is even of 
 Divine institution : the high priest's sin-oflPering was to be 
 determined by lot ; the land was to be divided amongst 
 the Twelve Tribes by lot ; David, in the sixteenth Psalm, 
 says that the Lord maintains his lot ; and in Proverbs, 
 chap, xviii, we are told that ' the lot causeth contentions 
 to cease, and parteth between the mighty.' — It is answered, 
 that traffic or commerce is productive of mutual benefit. 
 But hearken: in anticipation of a dearth you purchase a 
 hundred quarters of corn of your neighbour, and lock it up 
 in your granaries, in the hope of gaining double. You 
 raise your face to Heaven, but it is to loolc out for the signs 
 of bad weather ; and you are content that there should be 
 a famine in the land, provided that you tlirive by it. When 
 your wine-vats are full to overflowing, you enjoy the storm 
 of thunder and hail that destroys the vintage of the year; 
 for you wiU thus be enriched. But is this just? is there 
 any mutual benefit in this ? Can you make your profit 
 without the rest of the world being injured ? And yet you 
 arc held to be an honourable fair-dealing man.^ — In the 
 third chapter of the tract Sanhedrin, gamesters and usurers 
 are indeed classed together ; but it is known that in the 
 Scriptures usury is strongly condemned, while play is not 
 
 ' Eldad, in replying to this portion of Mcdad*s argument, observes that Play 
 is not to be compared with commerce or trade, which supplies men with things 
 necessary or useful, and that in fair trade both the buyer and the seller arc 
 benefited. 
 
 * Eldad, in answer to this tirade, observes that no blessing can attend the 
 gains of such an unfeeling character, and that his money will go as it has come, 
 put of a thousand, he says, there is not one who succeeds in such speculations, 
 and that we daily see many reduced to poverty by them. Trade and commerce 
 supplying us with useful articles are to be distinguished from speculations which 
 partake of the nature of gaming. 
 
MORALITY. 819 
 
 even forbidden. But now, those who live by usury are 
 honoured ; and so far from being deprived of the right of 
 acting as judges or of giving testimony as witnesses, they 
 are magistrates and rulers : a word of theirs is worth a 
 hundred witnesses. Gamesters, on the contrary, are un- 
 justly vilified ; and he who does not speak evil of play runs 
 the risk of being excommunicated. — ^Even the losing 
 gamester may derive great advantage from his play : he 
 is thus taught to bear losses with patience; and when 
 in other matters he has been unlucky and has lost much 
 money, he consoles himself with the thought that it is only 
 what has often happened to him at play. He perceives 
 that nothing is stable or perpetual in human affairs, and 
 takes the good and the bad with even temper. From his 
 games he also acquires the elements of science ; he learns 
 arithmetic without a master ; and also becomes a proficient 
 in logic and rhetoric, from his exercise of those arts on his 
 opponents. From the cards he may acquire a knowledge 
 of painting, and from the dice, which are exactly squared, 
 he may learn mathematics. In short, he who plays at cards 
 and dice, has a hand in all arts. The Hebrew word bD2 — 
 BeM — which signifies ' in all,' is, in its numerical value, 
 equal to 52 : that is, n = 2 ; 3 = 20 ; and V= 30 : in all 
 52, — the number of cards in a French pack. The Hebrew 
 word T1 — Fa-t/od— which signifies *a Hand,' is, in the same 
 manner, reckoning the word itself as 1, equal to 21 : that 
 is, 1 = 6; ^=10; "7=4; the word itself = l: in all 
 21, —the number of the spots on a die. Thus, from his play, 
 may a man learn righteousness, and how to conduct himself 
 with moderation." 
 
 Though the game of cards has not been so elaborately 
 moraUsed as the game of Chess, yet the Pack has not 
 wanted spiritual expounders, who have ingeniously shown 
 that it might serve, not only as a perpetual almanack, but 
 
320 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 but also as a moral monitor, and a help to devotion. The 
 most popular and best known of such expositions, or rather 
 applications, is that entitled ' The Perpetual Almanack, 
 or Gentleman-Soldier's Prayer Book;' which has been 
 long cu*culated in this country as a penny chap-book. 
 Mons. Leber says that it is an imitation of a French tract 
 on the same subject, entitled 'Explication morale du 
 Jeu de Cartes, anecdote curieuse et interessante, sous le 
 nom de Louis Bras-de-fer, engage au ser\ice du roi,' 
 which seems to have been first published at Brussels, in 
 1778. The history of Bras-de-fer is referred to by Breitkopf; 
 and Mons. Rcnouard, speaking of Singer's ' Researches into 
 the History of Playing Cards,' in the Catalogue of his 
 Library, observes, " Cet auteur, qui a tout recherche, n'a 
 probablement pas tout rencontre, car s'il I'eut seulement 
 entrevue, auroit-il laisse echapper I'explication morale du 
 jeu de cartes par le soldat Bras-de-fer, I'une des pieces le 
 plus notables de la bibliothcque a deux sols ?" In order 
 that a similar objection may not be brought against the 
 writer of this work, the whole of the Perpetual Almanack 
 is here given, verbatim, from a broadside, "printed by 
 J. Catnach, 2, Monmouth Court, Seven Dials." 
 
 "The Perpetual Almanack; or Gentleman-soldier's 
 Prayer Book: shewing how one Richard Middleton was 
 taken before the Mayor of the city he was in for using 
 cards in church during Divine Service : being a droll, merry, 
 and humorous account of an odd afiair that happened to a 
 private soldier in the 60th Regiment of Foot. 
 
 " The Serjeant commanded his party to the church, and 
 when the parson had ended his prayer, he took his text, 
 and all of them that had a Bible, pulled it out to find the 
 text; but this soldier had neither Bible, Almanack, nor 
 Common-Prayer Book, but he put his hand in his pocket 
 and pulled out a pack of cards, and spread them before him 
 
MORALITY. 321 
 
 as he sat ; and while the parson was preaching, he first kept 
 looking at one card and then at another.* The serjeant of 
 the company saw him, and said, 'Richard, put up your cards, 
 for this is no place for them.' — ' Never mind that,' said the 
 soldier, ' you have no business with me here.' 
 
 " Now the parson had ended his sermon, and all was 
 over : the soldiers repaired to the churchyard and the com- 
 manding officer gave the word of command to fall in, which 
 they did. The serjeant of the city came, and took the man 
 prisoner. — * Man, you are my prisoner,' said he. — ' Sir,' 
 said the soldier, * what have I done that I am your prisoner?' 
 — * You have played a game at cards in the church.' — ' No,* 
 said the soldier, 'I have not play'd a game, for I only 
 looked at apack.' — 'No matter for that, you are my prisoner.* 
 — ' "VVTiere must we go ?' said the soldier. — * You must go 
 before the Mayor,' said the serjeant. So he took him before 
 the Mayor ; and when they came to the Mayor's house, he 
 was at dinner. When he had dined he came down to them, 
 and said, ' Well, serjeant, what do you want with me ?' — 'I 
 have brought a soldier before you for playing at cards in the 
 
 * The following anecdote of a card-playing parson who inopportunely let 
 some cards drop from his sleeve when in church, occurs in 'The Women's Advo- 
 cate, or the "Fifteen real Comforts of Matrimony.* — 2d edit. 1683. 
 
 " The Parson that loved gaming better than his eyes, made a good use of it 
 when ho put up his cards in his gown-sleeve in haste, when the clerk came and 
 told him the last stave was a-singirig. *Tis true, that in the height of his 
 reproving the Parish for their neglect of holy duties, upon the throwing out of 
 his zealous arm, the cards dropt out of his sleeve, and flew about the church. 
 What thenP He bid one boy take up a card and asked him what it was,— the 
 boy answers the King of Clubs. Then he bid another boy take up another card. 
 * What was that ?* * The Knave of Spades.' * Well/ quo' he, 'now tell me, 
 who made ye ?' The boy could not well teU, Quo' he to the next, 'Who redeemed 
 ye?'— that was a harder'question. 'Look ye,' quoth the Parson, 'you think 
 this was an accident, and laugh at it ; but I did it on purpose to shew you that 
 had you taught your children their catechism, as well as to know their cards,, 
 they would have been better provided to answer material questions when they 
 come to church,' '* 
 
 21 
 
322 PLAriNG CARDS. 
 
 church/—' What ! that soldier ?'— * Yes/—' Well, soldier, 
 what have you to say for yourself?' — ' Much, sir, I hope/ — 
 * Well and good ; but if you have not, you shall be punished 
 the worst that ever man was/ — ' Sir/ said the soldier, ' I 
 have been five weeks upon the march, and have but little 
 to subsist on ; and am without either Bible, Almanack, or 
 Common-Prayer Book, or anything but a pack of cards : 
 I hope to satisfy your honour of the purity of my intentions/ 
 " Then the soldier pulled out of his pocket the pack of 
 cards, which he spread before the Mayor ; he then began 
 with the Ace. * When I see the Ace,' said he, ' it puts me 
 in mind that there is one God only ; when I see the Deuce, 
 it puts me in mind of the Father and the Son ; when I see 
 the Tray, it puts me in mind of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost ; when I see the Four, it puts me in mind of the four 
 EvangeUsts, that penned the Gospel, viz. Matthew, Mark, 
 Luke, and John ; when I see the Five, it puts me in mind 
 of the five wise virgins who trimmed their lamps ; there were 
 ten, but five were foolish, who were shut out. When I see 
 the Six, it puts me in mind that in six days the Lord made 
 Eeaven and Earth ; when I see the Seven, it puts me in 
 mind that on the seventh day God rested from all the works 
 which he had created and made, wherefore the Lord blessed 
 the seventh day, and hallowed it. When I see the Eight, 
 it puts me in mind of the eight righteous persons that were 
 saved when God drowned the world, viz. Noah, his wife, 
 three sons, and their wives ; when I see the Nine, it puts 
 me in mind of nine lepers that were cleansed by our Saviour ; 
 there were ten, but nine never returned God thanks ; when 
 I see the Ten, it puts me in mind of the Ten Command- 
 ments that God gave Moses on Mount Sinai on the two tables 
 of stone.' He took the Knave, and laid it aside.^ — ' When I 
 see the Queen, it puts me in mind of the Queen of Sheba, 
 who came from the furthermost parts of the world to hear 
 
MORALITY. 328 
 
 the wisdom of King Solomon, for she was as wise a woman 
 as he was a man ; for she brought fifty boys and fifty girls, 
 all clothed in boy's apparel, to show before King Solomon, 
 for him to tell which were boys, and which were girls ; but 
 he could not, until he called for water for them to wash 
 themselves ; the girls washed up to their elbows, and the 
 boys only up to their wrists ; so King Solomon told by that. 
 And when I see the King, it puts me in mind of the great 
 King of Heaven and Earth, which is God Almighty, and 
 likewise his Majesty King George, to pray for him.' 
 
 " ' Well,' said the Mayor, *you have a very good descrip- 
 tion of all the cards, except one, which is lacking.' — ' Which 
 is that ?' said the soldier.' — ' The Knave,' said the Mayor. — 
 ' Oh, I can give your honour a very good description of that, 
 if your honour won't be angry.' — 'No, I will not,' said the 
 Mayor, ' if you will not term me to be the Knave.' — 'Well,' 
 said the soldier, ' the greatest that I know is the serjeant 
 of the city, that brought me here.' — * I don't know,' said 
 the Mayor, ' that he is the greatest knave, but I am sure 
 that he is the greatest fool.' — 'When I count how many 
 spots there are in a pack of cards, I find there are three 
 hundred and sixty-five ; there are so many days in a year. 
 When I count how many cards there are in a pack, I find 
 there are fifty-two; there are so many weeks in a year. 
 When I count how many tricks in a pack, I find there are 
 thirteen ; there are so many months in a year. You see, 
 sir, that this pack of cards is a Bible, Almanack, Common- 
 Prayer Book, and pack of cards to me.' 
 
 " Then the Mayor called for a loaf of bread, a piece of 
 good cheese, and a pot of good beer, and gave the soldier a 
 piece of money, bidding him to go about his business, 
 saying he was the cleverest man he had ever seen." 
 
 Another chap-book, entitled 'A New Game at Cards, 
 between a Nobleman in London and one of his Servants,* 
 is merely a variation of the 'Perpetual Almanack :' a servant 
 
824 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 being denounced to his master as a gambler, denies the 
 fact ; and on a pack of cards being found in his pocket, he 
 asserts that he is unacquainted with their use as mere cards, 
 and that he uses them as an almanack, and sometimes con- 
 verts them into a prayer-book. The four suits answer to 
 the four quarters of the jear; there are thirteen cards in 
 each suit, and thirteen weeks in each quarter ; the twelve 
 coat cards correspond with the twelve months in a year ; 
 and there are just as many weeks in the year as cards in a 
 pack. The King and Queen remind him of his allegiance ; 
 the Ten reminds him of the Ten Commandments ; the 
 Nine, of the nine Muses ; the Eight, of the eight altitudes, 
 and the eight persons who were saved in the ark; the 
 Seven, of the seven wonders of the world, and the seven 
 planets that rule the days of the week ; the Six, of the six 
 petitions contained in the Lord's Prayer, and of the six 
 working days in a week; the Five, of the five senses; the Four, 
 of the four seasons ; the Three, of the three Graces, and 
 of the three days and nights that Jonah was in the whale's 
 belly ; the Two, of the two Testaments, Old and New, and 
 of the two contrary principles. Virtue and Vice ; and the 
 Ace, of the worship of one God. With respect to the 
 Knave, which, hke the soldier, he had laid aside, and had 
 omitted to notice in its proper place, he says, on being 
 asked its meaning by his master, that it will always remind 
 hun of the person who informed against him. 
 
 A variation of the history of Bras-de-fer was published at 
 Paris in 1809, with notes by a Mons. Hadin, under the 
 following title : ' Histoire du Jeu de Cartes du Grenadier 
 Richard, ou Explication du Jeu de cinquante-deux cartes 
 en forme de Livres de Priere.'^ Mons. G. Brunet, in his 
 
 » Mons. Peignot says that Mile. Le Normand, the celebrated fortune-teller, 
 published in her 'Souvenirs Proph^tiqucs/ Paris, 1814, the same history, but 
 with the name of the hero changed to Eiehard Middleton. Mile. Le Normand 
 died at Paris in 1843, aged 72, leaving a fortune, it is said, of 500,000 francs. 
 She had followed the trade of fortune-telling for upwards of forty years; and 
 
MORALITY. 825 
 
 'Notice Bibliographique sur les Cartes a jouer/ says that 
 this Kvret is not devoid of originality, and that it is not 
 easily met with. From the passages which he quotes, it 
 would appear that the " Grenadier Richard" was equally 
 well read in sacred and profane history, and that he had 
 thumbed both his Concordance and his Classical Dic- 
 tionary to some purpose. The Ace reminds him, amongst 
 various other things, of the unity of the Deity ; that Noah 
 left the ark one year after the deluge ; and that there is 
 only one Catholic Church. When he sees the Nine, he 
 thinks of the nine orders of angels ; and is reminded that 
 Christ died at the ninth hour of the day. A Queen reminds 
 him of Eve, Judith, Dalilah, the Queen of Sheba, and the 
 Virgin Mary ; a Knave, of the centurion in the Gospel ; 
 and a King, of Adam, Solomon, or any king mentioned in 
 Holy Writ. The twelve coat cards remind him of the twelve 
 fountains of Elim, the twelve precious stones in the breast- 
 plate of the high priest, the twelve loaves of shew-bread, 
 the twelve stones with which Eli built an altar, the twelve 
 patriarchs, the twelve oxen that sustained the brazen sea in 
 Solomon's temple, the twelve apostles, the twelve articles of 
 the creed, and the twelve feasts which are more particularly 
 celebrated by the Church of Rome in honour of Christ. 
 Diamonds — le Carreau, — make him think of the place 
 where the cross was fixed; Spades — le Pique, — of the 
 lance which pierced the side of Christ ; and Clubs, — le 
 Trefle,— with their triple leaves, of the love of the three 
 women who went early in the morning with perfumes to 
 the holy sepulchre. 
 
 On subjects of heathen mythology, cards are equally 
 suggestive to his well-stored memory. The Three reminds 
 
 is said to have been frequently consulted by the Empress Josephine, who was 
 extremely superstitious. A great number of her customers were gamblers, of 
 both sexes. Siie is said to have been visited both by Napoleon, and by 
 Alexander, Emperor of Russia. 
 
326 PLATING CARDS. 
 
 him of the three sons of Saturn, — Jupiter, Neptune, and 
 Pluto; of the three Furies, the three Graces, the three 
 Hesperides, the three daughters of Mineus, and the three 
 horses of the chariot of Pluto. The Four reminds him of 
 the four ages, the four horses of the chariot of the sun, and 
 the four labyrinths, namely, of Egypt, Crete, Italy, and 
 Lemnos ; and whenever he sees the Nine, he is vividly re- 
 minded of the nine Muses, and the nine acres of land 
 covered by the body of the giant Tithius. The twelve coat 
 cards are suggestive of the twelve gods and goddesses, the 
 twelve labours of Hercules, and sundry other twelves 
 besides.^ 
 
 The following historical anecdote, aprqpoSy of a pack of 
 cards, is extracted from a little book in duodecimo, en- 
 titled * The Social and Instructive Companion,* printed for 
 T. Field in Paternoster Row, 1765. The same story is also 
 inserted in the 'Whitehall Evening Post,' of the 27th 
 September, 1767; and the editor says that it is related 
 in the manuscript memoirs of Richard, Earl of Cork, 
 and of Henry Usher, primate of Armagh. He fiui:her 
 adds that its truth was ascertained by James Usher, Arch- 
 bishop of Armagh, nephew of the aforesaid Henry. Whether 
 true or false, a gi^eat many more improbable things have 
 passed current as authentic history upon no better evidence. 
 
 "Queen Mary having dealt severely with the Protestants 
 in England, signed a commission about the latter end of 
 her reign, for taking the same course with them in Ireland; 
 and to execute the same with greater force, she nominated 
 Ur. Cole, who had recommended himself by wholesome 
 severities in England, to be one of the commissioners, 
 sending the commission by the doctor himself. 
 
 " In the way. Dr. Cole lodged one night at Chester, 
 where, being visited as the queen's messenger, and a 
 churchman of distinction by the mayor of that city, he in- 
 
 * Notice Bibliograpliiquc sur les Cartes a joiier, p. 9. Paris, 1842. 
 
MORALITT. 327 
 
 formed this magistrate of the contents of his message; and 
 taking a box out of his cloak-bag, said, ' Here is a com- 
 mission that shall lash the heretics' (meaning the Pro- 
 testants of Ireland). 
 
 " The good woman of the house being well affected to 
 the Protestant religion, and having also a brother named 
 John Edmonds, then a citizen in Dubhn, and a Protestant, 
 was greatly disturbed at the doctor's words ; but waiting a 
 convenient time whilst the mayor took his leave, and the 
 doctor complimented him down stairs, she ventured to open 
 the box, and taking the commission out, she in its place 
 put a sheet of paper, and a pack of cards, with the Knave 
 of Clubs faced uppermost, wrapped up. The doctor, at his 
 return to his chamber, suspecting nothmgof what had been 
 done, put up the box again into his cloak-bag ; and next 
 day the wind setting fair, he sailed for Ireland, and landed 
 at Dublin, the 7th of October, 1558. 
 
 " The doctor having notified his arrival at the Castle, the 
 lord deputy Fitz-Walters sent for him to come before his 
 excellency and the privy council ; to whom the doctor made 
 a long speech relating to the subject of his commission, and 
 then presented the leather box with its contents to the 
 lord deputy. But when the deputy opened it for the secre- 
 tary to read the commission, ]o ! to the great surprise of all 
 present, and the doctor's confusion, there was nothing found 
 but a pack of cards with the Knave of Clubs faced upper- 
 most. The doctor assured the deputy and council that he 
 had a commission, but knew not how it was gone, 'Then/ 
 said the lord deputy, ' let us have another commission, and 
 we will shuffle the cards in the meanwhile.' 
 
 "The doctor withdrew in great trouble of mind; and 
 hasting back to England, obtained a fresh commission : but 
 being detained some time at the water side for a fair wind, 
 he was prevented from putting it into execution by the 
 news of the queen's death. 
 
328 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 "This account of the providential deliverance of the 
 Protestants in Ireland from the Marian persecution is 
 attested in the memorials of Richard, Earl of Cork, by the 
 Lord Primate Usher ; and in Sir James Ware's MSS. ; who 
 also writes that Queen Elizabeth, being informed of the 
 truth thereof by the lord deputy Fitz-Walters, her Majesty 
 was so delighted, that she sent for the good woman, named . 
 Ehzabcth Edmonds, but by her husband (whom she after- 
 wards married) named Mathershead, and gave her a 
 pension of forty pounds during life, for having saved her 
 Protestant subjects of Ireland." 
 
 Having now laid before the reader a store of facts and 
 speculations on the origin and history of cards, a sketch of 
 the progress of card-playing in different countries in Europe, 
 and a collection of the opinions of several eminent men on 
 the lawfulness of the game theologically and morally con- 
 sidered, together with sundry other matters either naturally, 
 or artificially, associated with cards, — I shall conclude the 
 work by a brief recapitulation of a few of the leading facts 
 and circumstances relating to the origin of cards and the 
 time of their first introduction into Europe. 
 
 In Hindostan, the tradition is, that cards were known in 
 that country at a remote period, — upwards of a thousand 
 years ago ; but I have not been able to learn that they 
 are mentioned in any Hindostanee work of an early . 
 date, and I am informed, on the authority of the San- 
 scrit professor at Oxford, that there is no Sanscrit word 
 for playing cards. This last fact is, however, of but little 
 weight as negative evidence of cards being unknown in 
 Hindostan a thousand years ago ; for long before that time 
 Sanscrit had become obsolete as a vernacular language. 
 In China, if any credit can be attached to the two dictionaries, 
 or rather cyclopaedias, of the greatest authority in that 
 country, " Dotted Cards" were invented in 1120, in the 
 
MORALITY. 820 
 
 reign of Seun-ho, and began to be common in the reign of 
 
 Kaou-tsung, who ascended the throne in 1131. Cards 
 
 Carte — ^are mentioned in an Italian work, said to have been 
 composed by Sandro di Pipozzo in 1299 ; but as the MS. 
 is not of an earlier date than 1400, there is good reason for 
 concluding the word to be an interpolation, seeing that in 
 several works of the earlier part of the fourteenth century, 
 which had been cited to prove that cards were then known 
 in Europe, it has been discovered that the term cards was 
 an interpolation introduced at a later period by a transcriber. 
 The author of the ' Giildin Spil,' a work written about the 
 middle of the fifteenth century, and printed at Augsburg, in 
 1472, says that he had read that the game of cards was 
 first brought into Germany in 1300. No fact, however, 
 confirmatory of the correctness of this account has been 
 discovered; and the omission of all notice of cards by 
 European authors of the earlier half of the fourteenth century, 
 even when expressly treating of the games in vogue at the 
 period, may be received as good negative evidence of their 
 not being then known as a popular game in Europe : ^^ Be 
 non apparentihus et non existentibus eadem est ratio*' Ad- 
 mitting cards to be of Eastern invention— a fact which appears 
 to be sufficiently established by the evidence adduced in the 
 first chapter, — it would seem that they first became known 
 in Europe as a popular game between 1360 and 1390. 
 Covelluzzo, an Italian chronicler of the fifteenth century, 
 says, that the game' was first brought into Viterbo in 1379 ; 
 in 1393, three packs of cards were painted by Jacquemin 
 Gringonneur for the amusement of Charles VI of France ;* 
 
 » Since this sheet was in type I have learned that cards are- mentioned in a 
 work entitled * Le Menagier de Paris/ written about 1393, by "nn bourgeois 
 Parisien," and recently published by the Society of Bibliophiles Franjais. la 
 the notice of it in the 'Journal des Savants* for February last, it said: "On y 
 rencontre des indications historiques que nul autre ouvrage ne nous foumit; 
 tel est, par example, la mention des Cartes a jouer." 
 
33a 
 
 PLAYING CARDS. 
 
 in 1397, tHe working people of Paris were forbid to play 
 at cards on working days ; and in the same year card- 
 playing was prohibited by the magistrates of Ulm. Such 
 are the principal facts relative to the introduction of cards 
 into Europe. The game appears to have rapidly spread 
 amongst all classes of people. The manufacture of cards 
 was a regular business in Germany and Italy prior to 1425 ; 
 the importation of foreign cards into England was prohibited 
 by act of parliament in 1463; and about 1484, cards, as 
 at present, was a common Christmas game. It is un- 
 necessary to recapitulate the more prominent incidents which 
 mark the progress of card-playing ; it may be sufficient to 
 observe, that no other game was ever so generally played, 
 with people of both sexes, — ^young and old, rich and poor. 
 Even the "red man" of America, the ^* Stoic of the Woods," 
 has acquired a knowledge of cards, from his neighbours of 
 European descent, and ceases to be apathetic when engaged 
 in the game. It is, perhaps, as extensively difiused as the 
 use of tobacco ; and is certainly indulged in by a greater 
 variety of persons. 
 
 iji^':' :;3^^^^ 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I 
 
 Ustof the ^cimetu of Cards given in the 'Jeux de Carta Taroti et de Cartet 
 NumSralei, du Qmtorzime au Dix-huiiime Steele:* published hy the 
 Society of Bibliophiles Frangais, Paris, 1844. 
 
 . 1. Seventeen cards, ascribed to Grmgonnenr, from the originals in the 
 BibKoth^que du Roi. 
 
 2. Ten cards, from the originals engraved on wood and coloured, in the 
 Biblioth^que du Roi. Supposed date, 1425. ^ 
 
 3. Cards, from the originals engraved on wood, in the possession of Mons. 
 H6muville. Supposed date, 1440. 
 
 4. Copies of the set of ififty old Italian engravings, usually called TarocchL 
 Supposed date, 1470. 
 
 6. Ten plates, containing a set of fifty-two circular cards, with the mark 
 T. W., and having Hares, Parroquets, Pinks, and Columbines as the marks of 
 the suits. Supposed date, 1477. 
 
 6. Four cards of a pack engraved on copper at Venice in 1491. 
 
 7. Ten plates, containing forty cards, with Human Figures, Bears and 
 Lions, Deer, and Birds as the marks of the suits. From the originals, 
 ascribed to the "Master of 1466," formerly in the possession of Mr. T. Wilson, 
 but now in the Bibliotheque du Roi. 
 
 8. Four plates, containing thirty-six cards of a Grerman pack of fifty-two, 
 engraved on wood, of the date 1511. 
 
 9. A plate, containing sixteen Portuguese cards, of the date 1693. 
 
 10. A plate, containing twelve French cards, engraved by Vincent Goyraud, 
 of the time of Henry IV. 
 
 11. A plate, containing sixteen French cards, of the time of Louis XTTT. 
 
 12. A plate, containing twelve caries of a Republican pack, engraved in 
 France about 1793. 
 
 13. A plate, containing twelve cards of another Republican pack, engraved 
 in France about the same period as the preceding. 
 
 The originals of all the specimens, with the exception of those mentioned 
 under No. 3, arc preserved in the Biblioth^ue du Roi. 
 
332 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 A List of the principal Works either directly relating to Cards, or incidentally 
 treating of the Game. From the *Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes 
 Numerates,* icith many additions, 
 
 Le M^nagicr de Paris : traitd de morale et d*^conomie domestique, composd, 
 vers 1393, par un Bourgeois Parisien. Public pour la premiere fois par la 
 Soci^td des Bibliophiles Frangais. 8vo, Paris, 184-8. 
 
 Ingold, Das Giildin Spil. Folio, Augsburg, 1472. 
 
 Baptista Platina, de Honesta Voluptate. 4to, Venice, 1475. 
 
 Galcottus Martius, de Doctrina promiscua. About 1490. 
 
 R. Maphei Volaterrani Commentaria Urbana. 1506. 
 
 Logica Memorativa: Chartiludium logice> auctore Thoma Mumer. 4to, 
 Cracovia;, 1507. Strasburg, 1509. Reprinted at Paris. 8vo, 1629. 
 
 Pliilcsii Vosgcsigenoe Grammatica figurata. 4to, 1509. 
 
 Speculum Fatuorum, auctore Joanne Geiler de Kiesersberg, coneionatoro 
 Argentorense. Sect. Ixxvii, Lusorum turba. 4to, Strasburg, 1511. 
 
 Chartiludium institute summarie, vel institutiones Justiniani ; doctore ^ 
 Thoma Mumer, mcmorante et ludente. 4to, Argentinae, 1518. 
 
 Dialogi omnes Hadriani Barlandi. 8vo, Paris, 1542. 
 
 Ludus Charlarum, Dialogus, auctore Ludovieo Vives. 1545. 
 
 Raggionamcnto del divino Pietro Aretino, nel quale si parla del giuoeo, con 
 morality piacevole. 8vo, about 1545. Reprinted in 1589 and 1651. 
 
 Lc Mepris et le Contemnement de tons les Jeux de Sort, par 01. Gouyn. 
 8vo, Paris, 1550. 
 
 Cento Giuochi liberal! e d'ingegno, da Innocentio Ringhieri ritrovati. 4to, 
 Bologna, 1551. 
 
 Satyra invectiva contra los Tahures: en que se declaran los danos que al 
 cuerpo, y al alma, y lahazienda se siguen del juego de los naypes. (Por Diego 
 del Castillo.) 12mo, Sevilla, 1557. 
 
 Pascasius Justus, de Alea. About 1560. Reprinted in 4to, with a large 
 Appendix on the subject of gaming, selected from various authors, by Joannes 
 a Munster, at Neustadt, in the diocese of Spires, 1617. 
 
 Hierouymi Cardani Lib. de ludo Ale«. About 1560. 
 
 John Northbrooke*s Treatise against Dicing, Dancing, Plays, and other Idle 
 Pastimes, 1577. Reprinted by the Shakspeare Society, 1843. 
 
 Liber de Alea, ou breve Remontrance sur les Jeux de Cartes et de Des, par 
 Lambert Daneau. Small 8vo, Paris, 1579. 
 
 Philip Stubbes's Anatomy of Abuses. 12mo, 1583. 
 
 Reginald Scott's Discovery of Witchcraft. 4to, 1584. 
 
 Le Triomphe du Bcrlan, par J. Perrache. 8vo, Paris, 1585. 
 
 Del Giuoeo; Discorso del R. Padre M. Tommaso BuoninsegnL 4to, Florence, 
 1585. 
 
 A Short and Pkin Dialogue concerning the Unlawfulness of Playing at 
 Cards or Tables. By James Balmford. First edition, 1593. Reprinted in 1607, 
 
APPENDIX. 833 
 
 Les Tromperies et Piperies du Jen, ou laMort aiix Pipeurs, 12mo, Paris. 
 1608. 
 
 The Four Knaves, a series of Satirical Tracts. By Samuel Rowlands, 1611-13. 
 Reprinted by the Percy Society, 1843. 
 
 Commentarius contra Ludura Alearum, Chartamm scilicet acTaxillomm; 
 a Fratre Angelo Roccha, episcopo Tagastensi. 4to, Rome, 1616. 
 
 On the Nature and Use of Lots. By Thomas Gataker, B.D. 4to, London, 
 1619. Second edition, 1627. 
 
 Acaddmie des Jeux. 12mo, Paris, 1659. Numerous enlarged editions of 
 this work have been published. 
 ^/ And. Senftlebius, de Alea veterum, p. 137-8. 8vo, Leipsic, 1667. 
 
 The Compleat Gamester. By Charles Cotton. 12mo, London, 1674. 
 
 Der Gelehrte und Bekehrte Spieler : das ist ein anuehmliches Tractatlein, 
 darinnen zwey Jiidische Studenten scharffsinnig disputiren, Was vom Spiel 
 zu halten sey ? Ins Deutsche libersetzet von P. A. Christian. 12mo, Leipzig, 
 1683. The first edition of the original Hebrew appears to have been printed at 
 Venice about 1615. A second edition was printed at Leyden about 1660. 
 
 Traits des Jeux et des Divertissemens, par M. Jean Baptiste Thiers, Docteur 
 en Theologie. 12mo, Paris, 1686. 
 
 Parallele entre la Jurisprudence espagnole et celle de France, relativement 
 aux Jeux de Cartes, par Lucio Marinero Siculo, 1686. 
 
 Elenchus quorumdam eorum qui de ludis scripserunt, et *de ludis orientali- 
 bus ; auctore Thoma Hyde. 12mo, Oxford, 1694. 
 
 Reflexions sur ce que Ton appelle Bonhcur et Malheur en mati^re de Loteries 
 (Par J. Le Clerc.) 12mo, Amsterdam, 1696. 
 
 Biblioth^que instructive et curieuse, par le P^re Menestrier. 12mo, Trevoux, 
 1704. 
 
 Essai d' Analyse sur les Jeux de Hasard (cartes, d^s, trictrac). Fig. de Seb. 
 Leclerc. 4to, Paris, 1708, 
 
 Traits du Jeu, ou Ton examine les principales Questions de Droit naturel et 
 de Morale qui ont rapport a cette matiere, par Jean Barbeyrac. 16mo, 
 Amsterdam, 1710. Seconde edition, revue et augment^e, 1738. 
 
 An Essay upon Gaming, in a Dialogue between Callimachus and Dolomedes. 
 By Jeremy Collier. A.M. 8vo, London, 1713. 
 
 Memoirs of the Lives, Intrigues, and Comical Adventures of the most Famous 
 Gamestei-s and Celebrated Sharpers in the reigns of Charies 11, James U, 
 William HI, and Queen Anne. By Theophilus Lucas, Esq. 1 2mo, 1714. 
 
 The Court Gamester : or fall and easy instructions for playing the Games now 
 in vogue. By Richard Seymour, Esq. 12mo, second edition, London, 1720. 
 
 Dissertation sur TOrigine du Jeu de Piquet, par le Pere Daniel, extraite du 
 Journal do Trevoux, Mai, 1720. 
 
 A View of the Antique Laws against Immorality and Profancness. By the 
 Rev. John Disney, A.M. FoHo, London, 1729. 
 A Shori; Treatise on the Game of Whist. By Edmond Hoyle, Gent 12mo, 
 
 first published about 1737. 
 IstoriadellaCittadiViterbo,daFelicianoBussi. FoUo, Rome, 1740. This 
 
334 APPENDIX. 
 
 work contains the extract from Covelluzzo, relating to the introduction of cards 
 into Vitcrbo, in 1379, first pointed out by M. C. Leber. 
 
 The Humours of Whist ; a Dramatic Satire : as acted every day at White's, 
 and other Coffee-houses and Assemblies. 8vo, London, 1743. 
 
 A Letter to a Lady on Card-playing on the Lord's Day. 8vo, London, 1748. 
 
 Longuerana. Tom. i, p. 408. 12mo, Berlin, 1754. ' 
 
 Rccherchcs sur les Cartes h, jouer, par Bullet. 12mo, Lyon, 1757. 
 * H. J. Clodii Bibliothcca Lusoria, sive Notitia Scriptorum de Ludis. 8vo, 1761. 
 
 Mcerman, Origincs Typographicaj. Vol. I. 4to, 1765. 
 
 Traitd historique ct pratique de la Gravure en Bois, par J. M. Papillon. 
 Tom. i, p. 80. 8vo, Paris, 1766. 
 
 Burgh on the Dignity of Human Nature. Vol. IT, p. 164-6. 8vo, 1767. 
 
 Coutumcs d'ltalic, par Barctti. Vol. II. London, 1768. 
 
 Encyclopedic dcs Arts et Metiers (Art du Cartier), par Duhamel du Monceau. 
 4to, 1771-76. 
 
 Id6e g^n^rale d'une Collection d'Estampes, par le Baron de Heineken. 8vo, 
 Leipsic, 1771. 
 
 Recueil des Actes sur la R^gie du Droit des Cartes. 4to, Paris, 1771*. 
 
 H Giuoco del Carte, da Saverio Bettinelli. 8vo, Cremona, 1775. 
 
 C. G. Von Murr, Journal zur Kunstgeschichte, 2ter Theil, s. 89-92 ; 98 ; 200. 
 12mo, Nuremberg, 1776. 
 
 Explication du Jeu des Cartes, anecdote curieuse sous le nom de Louis Bras- 
 de-fer. 12mo, 1778. The original of the story of the soldier who used a pack 
 of cards for his prayer-book. 
 
 Sur la Passion du Jeu, par Dusauk. 8vo, Paris, 1779. Mons. Peignot 
 says that this work seems to have produced but little effect ; for in the follow- 
 ing year a counsellor of parliament, M. Bergeret de Frouville, lost at one sittmg 
 27,000 louis. 
 
 Eclaircisscments sur Tlnvention des Cartes a jouer, par TAbb^ Rive, 12mo, 
 Paris, 1780. 
 
 Le Monde primitif, par Court de Gebclin, tom. viii, pp. 365-418. 4to. Paris, 
 1781. 
 
 Versuch den Ursprung der Spiclkartcn zu erforschen. Von J. G. I. 
 Breitkopf. 4to, Leipsic, 1784. 
 
 A Dissertation on the pernicious effects of Gaming. By Richard Hey, LL.D. 
 Svo, Cambridge, 1784. 
 
 Archojologia, vol. viii. Dissertations on the History of Playing Cards, by 
 Barrington, Bowie, and Gough. 4to, London, 1787. In Vol. XV of the same 
 work there is an Account of the Italian game of Minchiate. 
 
 Whist : a Poem, in twelve cantos. By Alex. Thomson, Esq. 12mo, second 
 edition, London, 1792. 
 
 Lcpons sur THistoire universelle, depuis le commencement du XVI* Siecle 
 par M. Pant, Professeur k TUniversit^ d'Upsal, 1780-93. In this work 
 the author speaks of the engraving of cards as having led to the invention of 
 printing. 
 
 Decret de la Convention, dite Nationale de France, du 22 Octobre, 1793, qui 
 
APPENDIX, 335 
 
 enjoini ftnz municipalit^s Franpaises de purger les cartes k joner de tons les 
 embl^mes de la royaat^ et de la f^odalit^. 
 
 Material! per servire all' Stone dell* Origine e de* Progress! dell* Incislone in 
 
 Rame e inLegno, col. da Pibtro Zani, pp. 78-81, et 149-93. 8vo, Parma, 1802, 
 
 The Monthly Repository of Theology and General Literature. Vol. I, pp. 534, 
 
 644-50. On the Propriety of Dissenting Ministers playing at Cards. 8vo, 1806. 
 
 Essai sur POrigine de la Gravure en Bois et en Taille-douce, par Henri 
 
 Jansen. 8vo, Paris, 1808. 
 
 Le Peintre-Graveur, par Adam Bartsch, torn, x, pp. 70-120, et torn, xiii, 
 
 pp. 120-38. 8vo, Vienna, 1812. 
 
 Aperpu du Jeu des Tarots, ou Jeu de laVie, &c., parDurand. 12mo, Metz, 1813. 
 
 Hindostanee Cards. In the Calcutta Magazine, vol. ii. 8?o, Calcutta, 1815. 
 
 Rcscarclics into the History of Playing Cards; with Illustrations of the 
 
 Origin of Printing and Engraving on Wood. By Samuel Weller Singer. 4to, 
 
 London, 1816. 
 
 Melanges d'Origines ^tymologiques et de Questions grammaticales, par Eloi 
 Johanneau. P. 35, Sur I'Origine ^tymologique du Nom Espagnol et Italien 
 des Cartes a jouer. 8vo, Paris, 1818. 
 
 The Gaming Calendar, to which are added the Annals of Graming. By 
 Seymour Harcourt, Esq. 12mo, third edition, London, 1820. 
 
 Geschichte der Holzschneidekunst ; nebst zwei Beilagen enthaltend den Ur- 
 sprung der Spielkarten und ein Verzeichness der samt xylographischen Werke, 
 von Joseph Heller. 8vo, Bamberg, 1823. 
 
 Analyse critique et raisonn^e de toutes les "Recherches publi^es jusqu'a ce 
 jour sur rOrigine des Cartes a jouer, par G. Peignot (a la suite de ses Recherches 
 sur les Danses de Moft.) 8vo, Dijon, 1826. 
 
 Catalogue raisonn^ of the select collection of engravings of an Amateur, 
 (Mr. T. Wilson) pp. 87-91. 4to, London, 1828. 
 
 Manuel du Cartonnier, du Carticr, et du Eabricant de Cartonnages. Par 
 M. Lebrun, pp. 189-237. 16mo, Paris, 1830. 
 
 Memoric spettanti alia storia della Calcografia, dal conte Leopold Cicognara. 
 8vo, Prata, 1831. 
 Origine Franpaise de la Boussole et des Cartesa jouer, par Rey. 8vo, Paris,1836. 
 Observations sur les Cartes h jouer, par M. Duchesne ain6, extraites de 
 PAnnuaire Historique pour 1837. 12mo, Paris, 1836. 
 
 Gaming, and the Gaming Houses of London and Paris, or Les Maisons des 
 Jeux d6voil6es. By Scrutator. 8vo, London, 1836. 
 
 A Treatise on Wood Engraving. (By Wm. A. Chatto.) P. 62-9. Royal 8vo. 
 Published by Charles Knight and Co., London, 1839.— Copies of this work 
 without the T/drd Preface are incomplete. 
 
 Catalogue des livres, dessins, cartes, etc, de M. C. Leber. 8vo, Pms, 1839. 
 The list of works on cards, . and of old cards collected by Mens. Leber, is in 
 tom. i, p. 240 et seq. 
 
 Etudes historiques sur les Cartes a jouer, principalement sur les Cartes 
 Franyaises. Par M. C. Leber. Extraitdu tome xvi des M^moires de la Soci6t6 
 Royale des Antiquaires de Prance. 8vo, Paris, 1842» 
 
336 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 liotice Bibliographiqne but les Cartes i jouer. 8to, Paris, 1842.— A Trahs* 
 lation from the 'Lehrbuch einer Literargeschichte der beruhmtesten Volker 
 des Mittelalters.* Von J. G. T. Grasse, Dresden, 1842, with additions, by 
 Brunet, the younger. 
 
 Dictionnaire historique des Mceurs des Franpais, par La Chesnaye des Bois. 
 Tom. i, p. 374. 
 
 Whist. By B. E. Pote. In the Foreign Quarterly Review, No. 48. 
 
 On the Costume of Coat Cards. By John Adey Repton. In the * Gentleman's 
 Magazine' for November, 1843. 
 
 Sur d'anciennes Cartes a jouer, par M. le Baron de Reiffenberg. Dans le 
 Bulletin de TAcad^mie Royale des Sciences et des Beaux-arts de Bruxelles. 
 No. 10, 1847. 
 
 Bibliotheca Antiquaria Fabricii. 
 
 Vindiciaj typographicae, auctore Schoepflin. 
 
 Dissertation sur TOrigine et le Progres de la Gravure en Bois, par Foumier. 
 
 Memoire sur I'Origine de I'Imprimerie, par De Vigny. 
 
 Essaia sur Paris, par Saint-Foix. 
 
 Trait6 de la Police, par Do la Marre. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Act of Parliament, of 1463, proliibiting 
 the importation of cards, 96. — ^Acts 
 to protect gamesters who plaj on 
 credit, 147 ; the reason of their par- 
 tial repeal, 148. 
 
 Advice to professional card-players, 270. 
 
 Alea, a general term for play ; supposed 
 to include cards, 61. 
 
 Almanac, Cotta's card, 259; the Perpe- 
 tual, or Gentleman-Soldier's Prayer 
 Book, 321. 
 
 Amadous VIII, Duke of Savoy, forbids 
 gamin/^ in 1430, 80. 
 
 Ames, William, 129 ; preaches against 
 cards and dice at Cambridge in 
 1610, 281. 
 
 Amman, Jost, his designs in a book of 
 trades, 84 ; cards of his designing, 
 238. 
 
 Anderson's History of Commerce, 96. 
 
 f Christopher, Annals of the 
 
 English Bible, 109,112. 
 
 11., Ballads in the Cumber- 
 
 land dialect, 185. 
 
 Anson, Lord, the circumnavigator, cari- 
 catured as a gamestcjr, 181. 
 
 Anstis's History of the Garter, 18. 
 
 Arabian "Nights, cards not mentioned 
 in, 46. 
 
 Aretine, Pietro, his Carte Parlanti, 194, 
 207. 
 
 Asscmblv-rooms devoted to dancing and 
 caras, 185. 
 
 Astragali, 11. 
 
 Avatars of Vichnou, 38. 
 
 Bacon, Lord, his inquisitive spirit excited 
 
 when a boy by a juggling trick with 
 
 cards, 118. 
 Baker's chronicle, 108. 
 Baker and Co.'s eclectic cards, 261. 
 Bale, John, uses the word Jack-a-Napes, 
 
 233. 
 Balmford's, James,, tract concerning the 
 
 unlawfulness of games of hazard, 
 
 129, 279. 
 
 Barbeyrac's Traits du Jen, extracts from, 
 
 282-94, 310. 
 Barrington's, the Hon. B., Observations 
 on the Antiquity of Card-playing in 
 England, 18, 46, 65, 107, 132, 145, 
 160. 
 Barrois, J., on the proper meaning of 
 the name Gringonneur, 70. ; 
 
 Bartsch's Peintrc-Graveur, 200, 223. 
 Basset, prohibited by Louis XIV, 147. 
 Battle of the Reed Swire, 113. 
 Bells, an ornament of dress, 240. — ' 
 Leber's researches on the subject, 
 240-5. 
 Bemardin, St., his address to the citizens 
 
 of Bologna, 90. 
 Bibliophiles Franpais, specimens of >, 
 cards published by, 190, 201, 236, 
 250-3. 
 Blacksmith's coat of arms, 6. 
 Bonds, voluntary, to abstain from gaming, 
 
 79. ^ 
 
 Bras-de-fer, his moral exposition of a 
 
 pack of cards, 320, 324. ; 
 
 Brietkopf's Inquiry into the Ongin of 
 Playing Cards, 7, 26, 225, 227, 
 239. 
 Briefe, the German name for cards, 26. 
 Briefmaler, 84. 
 
 Brunct, the younger, his note prefixed 
 to a 'IsTotice Bibliographique sur 
 les Cartes ajouer,' 100, 326. 
 Bullet's Eecherches Historiques sur les 
 
 Cartes a jouer, 27-8. 
 Buoninse^ui's, Pathcr Thomas, Discorso 
 
 del Giuoco, 90. 
 Bussi's History of Viterbo, 23, 73. 
 
 Cabinet du Roi de France, cited. 111. 
 Capability of cards as a subject of dis* 
 
 quisition, 2. 
 Capistrari, John, his discourse against 
 
 gaming at Nuremberg in 1452, 91. 
 Card-playing at Bologna in 1423, 90. 
 
 in Germany in the fifteenth 
 
 century, 92. 
 
 22 
 
 i 
 
338 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Card-playing common in England as a 
 uliristmas game about 14:84, 97. 
 
 in Scotland, 98, 110, 113. 
 
 at Rliodcs in 1498, 99-100. 
 
 m ia Ireland and Spain, about 
 
 1590, 114-15. 
 
 in the rei^ of James 1, 125. 
 
 in the reign of Charles U, 
 
 146-9. 
 
 105. 
 
 80. 
 
 in the reign of Queen Anne, 
 
 in the reign of George II, 170- 
 
 in the reign of George 111,180. 
 Cards.— Hindostanee, 32-50. 
 
 Chinese, 55-9. 
 
 . old stencilled, in the British 
 
 Museum, 88. 
 Heraldic, 150. Historical, 
 
 153. Mathematical, 155. For 
 
 carving, 150. Satirical, 157-9. 
 . — old pahitcd, ascribed to 
 
 Gringonncur, 195-8. 
 
 Dr. Stukclcy's, 205. 
 
 old Prench, 211, 214. 
 
 old German, engraved on cop- 
 
 per, 220-0. 
 
 engraved on copper, ascribed 
 
 to Israel van Mccken, 220. 
 German, engraved on wood, 
 
 1511, 230. 
 Trench, of the time of Henry 
 
 IV, 250. 
 
 Portuguese, of the date 1093, 
 
 251. 
 
 French Republican, 253-6. 
 American, 250. 
 
 Caricatures in the reign of George 11, 
 
 181. 
 Cartas (Epistobe) from Carthage, 20. 
 Cartes, chartce, cards, probable etymo- 
 logy of, 20, 22. 
 Carving, cards teaching the art, 156. 
 Castillo's, Diego del, Satyra contra los 
 
 Tahures, 115. 
 Catliarine of Arragon, wife of Henry 
 
 VIII, a card-player, 107. 
 Cervantes' Comical History of Rinco- 
 
 ncte and Cortadillo, 115. 
 Charta, paper, probable etymology of, 24. 
 Chatur-anga, tne Hindostanee name for 
 
 chess, 10. 
 Cheating at cards, trial on the subject. 
 
 290. •' 
 
 Chess, said to have been invented by an 
 
 Indian, 13. 
 
 Chesterfield, the Earl of, a card-plaver. 
 173. ^ ' 
 
 Chinese cards, 55-9. 
 
 Christie, James, his inquiry into an an- 
 cient Greek game, 13. 
 
 Clubs for gaming, 170. 
 
 Cole's, Dr. loss of his commission, 
 327. 
 
 Collier, Jeremy, on gaming, 312. 
 
 Colours of the ground ot the Hindos- 
 tanee cards, 17, 35, 30, 37. 
 
 Comedy devised on the game of cards, 
 122. 
 
 Controversy on the lawfulness of playing 
 at cards and other games of chance, 
 128, 279. 
 
 Cook's, Aurelian, Titus Britannicus, 145. 
 
 Cotta's Card Almanacs, 259. 
 
 Cotton's Complete Gamester, 159. 
 
 Counting and guessing, 11. 
 
 Covelluzzo's account of the introduction 
 of cards into Vitcrbo, 23, 73. 
 
 CuiTe, secretary to the Earl of Essex, 
 his fortunes told by cards, 119. 
 
 Curse of Scotland, 200-8. 
 
 Cyprian, St., his treatise, do Alcatoribus, 
 61,290. . 
 
 Daniel's, Pke, Origine du Jeu de Piquet, 
 4, 209, 205. 
 
 Dictionary of the Spanish Academy ; its 
 sanction of a conundrum as an ety- 
 mology of Naipes, 23. 
 
 Dominotiers, an old name for engravers 
 and colourers of woodcuts, 87. 
 
 Ducange's glossaries, 03, 99. 
 
 Duchesne's, Observations sur les 
 Cartes a joucr, and Precis Histo- 
 rique, 05, 99, 189, 204, 200, 210, 
 225. 
 
 Dunbar's, Wm., poems, 110; Valet of 
 cards, 234. 
 
 Dutch names of the suits of cards, 
 230. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, a card-player, 120. 
 Engravings, a series of, improperly called 
 
 Tarocchi cards, 199-204. 
 Epitaph on Beau Nash, 173 -, on a noble 
 
 gambler, 297. . 
 
 Equity, natural, how to be enforced in 
 
 games of hazard, 287. 
 Evelyn's Memoirs, 146. 
 Exchequer, derivation of the word, 16, 21. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 339 
 
 Fante, the Italian name for the Knave 
 of cards, 229. 
 
 Pierge, the Pherz of Persian chess, 14. 
 
 Pleur-de-lis, on coat cards, and in the 
 compass, 7. 
 
 Foreign (Quarterly Keview, article on 
 Whist, 36. 
 
 Formsclmeider, a wood-engraver, as dis- 
 tinguished from a card-paiuter, 83. 
 
 Forret, Thomas, his objections to the 
 manner in wliich many of the Scot- 
 tish clergy, about 1539, spent their 
 tithes, 111-12. 
 
 Fortune, the gambler's goddess, 11. 
 
 Fortune-telling by cards, 116-19. 
 
 Four Kin^, a name given to cards, 19. 
 
 Franklin, Dr., his definition of man, 1. 
 
 Freret on the orig:in of chess, 14. 
 
 Fumy card, explained, 109. 
 
 Game, the first played at, 9. 
 
 Games at cards in 1709, 159. Btfore 
 the time of Charles II, 160. 
 
 Games, various, enumerated by Taylor, 
 the water-poet, 163. 
 
 Games, three different species of, 294. 
 
 Gaming, excessive, of the French clergy, 
 about 1580, HI. 
 
 Gammer Gurton*s Needle, cards men- 
 tioned in, 109; 
 
 Gataker, Thos. B. D., on Lots, 129, 279. 
 
 Gebelin, Court de, finds in cards an 
 abstract of Egyptian learning, 5 ; his 
 explanation of the word Tarocchi, 
 189. 
 
 Geiler, John, his remarks on card-playing 
 about 1508, 100. 
 
 Geographical cards, 150. 
 
 German cards, names of the suits, 228. 
 
 Gittem,guitar, derivation of the word,25. 
 
 Goethe's Gotz von Berlichingen, 61. 
 
 Gough's Observations on the Invention 
 of Cards, 22. 
 
 Goyraud, Vincent, a French card-manu- 
 facturer, of the time of Henry IV, 
 249. 
 
 Grace's card, 266. 
 
 Gregory, Dr., reply of, respecting cards, 
 
 Gringouneur, Jac, paints cards in 1393, 
 
 76. 
 Guevara's epistles translated into French 
 
 by Gutery^ 66. 
 GuiUcvillc's, William de, Pclerinaige de 
 
 I'Hommc, 69. 
 
 Giildin Spil, 74. 
 
 Gungefu, the name for cards among the 
 Moslems, in Hmdostan, 41. 
 
 Heineken's Id^e g^n^rale d'une Collec- i 
 tion d'Estampes, 15, 27, 82, 228. ' 
 
 Helgen, a name given to woodcuts in 
 Suabia, 87. •' 
 
 Heller's History of Wood-engraving ] 
 cited- 91, 93. ; 
 
 Henry VII, a card-player, 98. ! 
 
 Henry VIII, Act of Parliament against i 
 card-playing, 108. 
 
 Henry, Prmce of Wales, son of James I, 
 a card-player, 125. * 
 
 Heraldic cards, 150-2. 
 
 Herrera relates that Montezuma took 
 pleasure in seeing the Spanish so:- i 
 dicrs play at cards, 106. 
 
 Hieroglyphics, 6. ; 
 
 Hindostanee cards, 33-52. \ 
 
 Historical cards, relating to the Popish 
 plot, and tlie death of Sir E. i 
 Godfrey, 153-5. ^ 
 
 Homer, his notice of the games of ] 
 Pctteia and Astragali, 12. ; 
 
 Houbigant's Cartes Royales, 257. ^ ? 
 
 Hoyle, Edmond, liis treatise on Whist, 
 162, 170. 
 
 Hume, David, apostrophised as a whist- 
 player, 160. i 
 
 Hycke-Scomer, cards mentioned in, 108. 
 
 Hyde, Dr. T., De ludis orientalibus, 
 16, 265. 
 
 Ingilby, Sir Wm., his examination on 
 
 the trial, Lord De Ros versus I 
 
 Gumming, 295. 
 
 Ingold, a Dominican friar, author of the ; 
 
 Giildin Spil, 74. 
 
 Injunctions to the clergy, 1559, against j 
 
 card-playing, 121. ^ ! 
 
 Interpolations of the word Cartes, in i 
 
 old MSS., 67-71. 
 
 Isis, the homed, the original of the j 
 
 Virgin with the crescent on her ; 
 
 head, 5. i 
 
 Italian names of the suits of French i 
 
 cards, 207. j 
 
 Jackanapes, the probable etymology of 
 the word, 231-5. 
 
340 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Jack nt Warts — Jack o'Hearts, 235. 
 James IV of Scotland a card-player, 
 
 98. 
 James I of England a card-plaver, 126. 
 Jausen's Essai sur rOriginc dc la Gra- 
 
 vurc, 07. 
 Jcux dc Cartes, Barrington's opinion of 
 
 the signification of the term, 78. 
 Johannc.'iu, Eloi, on the etymology of 
 
 Nal[)cs, and the invention of cards, 
 
 27-30. 
 Johnson, Dr. Samuel, his opinion of 
 
 card-playing, 302. 
 Jones, Sir Wm., on Chess, 15-17. 
 Jonson, Ben, his device for Abel 
 
 i) rugger's si^n, G. 
 Jugj[,'lijjg tricks with cards, 118. 
 Junius, F., his explanation of the 
 
 word Qiiartes, 22. 
 Justus, PiLscasius, his work on gaming, 
 
 115, 174, 271. 
 
 Kartenmaehcr at Augsburg in 141 8, 81 ; 
 
 at Ulm, 82. 
 Knave, the original meaning of the 
 
 word, 231. 
 
 Lassale, Antoine dc, author of the 
 Chronicle of Jchan de Saintr^ 
 08. 
 Latnmculi, 12. 
 
 Leber's, M. C, Etudes Historiques sur 
 Jos Cartes a Jouer, 8, 23, 73, 85, 
 103, 132, 155, 211-13, 217, 220, 
 210-9. 
 
 Lc Normand, Mile., the Parisian fortune- 
 teller, 324. 
 
 Leo X, a trick of his at cards, 174. 
 
 List of specimens of cards published by 
 the Society of Biblioj)hiles Eranpais, 
 Aj^)pcnclL\, No. 1, 333. 
 
 List ot works relating to cards. Ap- 
 pendix, No. 2, 334. 
 
 Locke, John, his opinion of card-play- 
 ing, 302. 
 
 Lookuj), the gamester, 173-0. 
 
 Loyola, St, Ignatius, wins, miraculously, 
 at billiards, 292. 
 
 Lusty Juvcntus, cards mentioned in, 108. 
 
 I^yiy» John, represents Cupid and 
 Camj)aspc ph'i>'ing at cards, 123. 
 
 Lyndsay, Sir iJavid, satirises the card- 
 l)laying of the clergy in Scotland, j 
 about 1535, 110. | 
 
 Macbiavclli on Fortune, 10. 
 Madden's, Sir E., Privr-purse Expenses 
 
 of the Princess Mary, daughter of 
 
 Henry VUI, 109. 
 Magasin rittorcsque, article on cards 
 
 in, 71. 
 Manners in the time of Charles II, 143; 
 
 George II, 176. 
 Manufacture of cards, extensive in 
 
 Germany about 1450, 82; at 
 
 Venice, 1441 ; in England, 131, 
 
 100, 272. 
 Mappa, its ancient meaning, 29. 
 Margaret, daughter of Henry VII, found 
 
 playing at cards by her aliianced 
 
 Iiusbaud, James IV of Scotland, 
 
 98. 
 Marks of the suits of cards, 200. 
 Martius, Galcottus, speculates on the- 
 
 meaning of the marks of the suits, 
 
 93. 
 Mary, the Princess, daughter of Henrv 
 
 VIII, afterwards queen, a cara- 
 
 player, 109. 
 Mary, daughter of James II, afterwards 
 
 queen, a card-player, 140. 
 Mazarine, Cardinal, played at cards when 
 
 dying, 310. 
 Meckcn, Israel van, cards supposed to 
 
 be engraved by, 226. 
 Mecrman's reference to the chronicle 
 
 of Petit-Jehan de Saintrd, 68. 
 Menestrier's, Pcre, Bibliothcque cu- 
 
 rieusc et instructive, 3, 70, 80, 151, 
 
 191. 
 Mer6, the Chevalier de, submits certain 
 
 qiicstions to Pascal respecting 
 
 chances at play, 157. [See the 
 
 treatise on Probability, by Lubbock 
 and Drinkwater, published bv the 
 
 Society for the Dill'usion of Useful 
 
 Knowledge, p. 12; 41-50.] 
 Merrels, the game of, 13. 
 Meursius, de Ludis Graicorum, 5. 
 Millin's description of the Marquis 
 
 Girolamo's cards, 229. 
 Morelli's chronicle, 73. 
 Moxon's cards for caiTing, 150; astro- 
 nomical cards, 157. 
 Murner's Chartiludium, or logical card- 
 play, 101-5. 
 Mun-'s, C. G. von. Journal, 75, 81, 85, 
 
 133, 220. 
 "Murry ncct," in Cumberland, 186. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 341 
 
 Nabob, the meaning of the word, 22. 
 
 Naibi, and Naipes, speculations on the 
 name as applied to cards, 22-9. 
 
 Names of the suits of Hmdostanee 
 cards, 41-2 ; of German, Spanish, 
 Italian, and French cards, 228. 
 given to coat cards, 208, 211, 
 
 215. 
 
 of particular cards, 265-9. 
 
 Nash, Beau, his reign at Baih, 171. 
 
 Nine of Diamonds, — the Curse of Scot- 
 laud, 2C6-8. 
 
 Noctes Ambrosianse, extract from, rela- 
 tive to card-playing, 303. 
 
 Ombre, Barrington's conjecture as to 
 
 the time of its introduction into 
 
 Euffland, 145. ^ 
 Pope's description of, frequently 
 
 praised, 167. 
 One-aud-thirty, a popular game at cards 
 
 in Ireland and Spain, 115. 
 
 Pair of Cards, the old name for a 
 
 pack, 269. 
 Pam, the Knave of Clubs, 269. 
 Pamphlets with titles borrowed from the 
 
 game of cards, 138. 
 Paris, Mons. Paulin, his collation of 
 MSS. of Wm. de Guilleville's 
 poem of the Pilgrimage of Man, 
 70 ; his conjectures respecting the 
 name Valery on a Knave of cards, 
 218. 
 Parson, the, that loved gaming better 
 
 than liis eyes, 321. 
 Paston, Margery, mentions cards as a 
 
 Christmas game, about 1484, 97. 
 Peignot's Analyse de llecherches sur 
 les Cartes a joucr, 20, 69, 81, 253-6, 
 259, 265. 
 Pepin, Nicolas, said to be the inventor 
 
 of cards, 23. 
 Pepys*s Diary, 146. 
 Perlimpimpim, the by-name of an Italian 
 
 jugderinl622, 117. 
 Phaer's Book of Precedents, 121. 
 Picture cards in Cotta's Card Alma- 
 nac, 259. 
 Piozzi, Mrs., refers to the game of the 
 
 Pour Kings, 20. 
 Piquet, tlic meaning of the game ex- 
 
 plauicd by Pure Daniel, 209. 
 Plutiua, B., cards mentioned by, 93. 
 
 Pollux, Julius, bia account of the «ime 
 
 of Petteia, 13. 
 Pomegranate, a mark on cards, 226. 
 Poupart, C, pays Gringonneur for cards 
 
 in 1393, 74. 
 Prayer-book, the soldier's, in a pack of 
 
 cards, 321. 
 Prayers, playing for, 311. 
 Price of a pack of cards in the time of 
 Roger Ascham, 133; in the reign 
 of Queen Anne, 167. 
 Process of card-making at De La Rue 
 
 and Co.'s, 272. 
 Prodigal, picture of a, 163. 
 Protestants of Ireland, in the reign of 
 Queen Mary, how saved from per- 
 secution, 327. 
 Pulci's Morgante Maggiore—Re di 
 Naibi, 234. 
 
 Quartes, 22. 
 
 Quatuor Re^ea, a game so called, men- 
 tioned m the wardrobe accounts of 
 Edward I, 18, 64. 
 
 Queen, none in the earliest European 
 cards, 15. 
 
 Quire, derivation of the word, 25. 
 
 Rabelais, translated by Urquhart, 19. 
 Rabbinical treatise against gaming, 
 
 316-20. 
 Reiffenberg, the Baron de, his account 
 of a woodcut discovered at Malines, 
 with the supposed date 1 418, 86 ; 
 mistakes the Spanish soia for a 
 female, 229. 
 Rennell, Dr. Tliomas, his sermon against 
 
 gaming, 187. 
 Republican cards, 253-6. 
 Rey, M., on cards, 7. 
 Ringhieri's Cento Giuochi liberali, 63. 
 Rive's, the Abbe, Eclaircissements His- 
 toriques sur les Cartes a jouer, 20, 
 66. 
 Roccha, Angelus, Conmientarius contra 
 
 Ludum Alearum, 61. 
 Rogers represents the followers of Co- 
 lumbus playing at cards, 105. 
 Rowlands, bam., his Knave of Hearts, 
 
 and More Knaves yet, 134-7. 
 Roy's, "William, satire on Cardmal Wol- 
 
 sey, 109. 
 Russia, great consumption of cards in, 
 272. 
 
S42 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sadler's, Sir Ralph, State Papers, US. 
 Saint Foix's historical essays on Paris, 
 
 123. 
 Saintr6, Petit Jehan de, 68. 
 Sales, St. Francis de, a card-player when 
 
 youn^, 309. 
 Sandro di Pipozzi, cards mentioned in a 
 
 MS. work of his, 65. 
 Sarisbcriensis, Joannes, 62. 
 Satirical cards, French, about 1819, 264 
 Schon, Erhard, cards of his designing, 
 
 238. 
 Sciential and grammatical cards, 139-41. 
 Sex of the East India Company, 32. . 
 Seymour's Court Gamester, 168. 
 Sheppard, W., lib England's Bahn, 
 
 Sheridan's character of the East India 
 
 Company, 32. 
 Sbifflcrs, diplomatic, 181. 
 Singer's Researches into the Histoiy of 
 
 Playing Cards, 7, 131, 147, 201, 
 
 223, 238. 
 Skelton's Bowgho of Court, — Card of 
 
 Solis, Virgil, cards of his designing, 238. 
 Solme, Thomas, * the Bushoppes poure 
 
 thresshere,* uses the term Yack an 
 
 napes^ 233. 
 Sota, the Spanish name for the Knave of 
 
 cards, 229. 
 South-sea bubble, cards ridiculing the 
 
 speculators, 169. 
 Spata, a weapon figured in Baker and 
 
 Co.'s eclectic cards, 261 . 
 St. Christopher, woodcut of, with the 
 
 date 1423, in Earl Spencer's collec- 
 tion, 86. 
 Stencilling, early cards executed by 
 
 means of, 83. 
 Stephens, Henry, relates an anecdote 
 
 of a losing gamester's swearing, 
 
 Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, 107. 
 
 Stubbcs, Philip, his opinion of playing 
 at cards and other games, 124 ; on 
 ruffs, 165. 
 
 Stukelcy, Dr., old cards formerly belong- 
 bgto, 205. 
 
 Suits of cards, names of, 228, 230. 
 
 Sunday, card-playing on, 146. 
 
 SurMcra, the title of a Rabbinical trea- 
 tise against gaming, 317. 
 
 Swabbcr8,101. 
 
 Swearing, a vice to which gamesters 
 ttrej)ronc, 311, 
 
 Tahures, a Spanish name for gamesters, 
 etymology of the word, accordini< 
 to Diego del Castillo, 115, 116. 
 
 Taj, or Tas, a name for cards in Hindos- 
 tan, 41. 
 
 TaU,ll. 
 
 Tarocchi, or Tarots, 190-5. 
 
 Tarotiers, French card-makers called by 
 this name in 1594, 272. 
 
 Tax on cards, when first levied in Eng- 
 land, 131. 
 
 Taylor, the water-poet, his picture of a 
 prodigal, 163. 
 
 Taylor, Dr. Jeremy, on card-pkying, 
 297-300. / V ;i h* 
 
 Tenicrs, in a picture represents two ! 
 
 soldiers playing at cards in the hall 
 
 of the high priest, 123. 
 Terms used at the game of cards in Hin- 
 
 dostan, 43. 
 Thiers, Dr. J. B., his Traitd des Jeux, i 
 
 80, 293, 309, 311. I 
 
 Thimble-rig superseded by railway spe- 
 culation, 101. 
 Toplady, the Rev. Augustus, on card- j 
 
 playing, 300. ^ \ 
 
 Townshend, Lord George, caricatures 
 
 ascribed to, 184. 
 Transformation of cards, 260. 
 Turner, Sharon, his derivation of the 
 
 word jackanapes, 231. 
 T. W., the initials of the engraver of a 
 
 pack of cards of the 15th century, 
 
 222. 
 
 Urquhart, Sir Thomas, his transktion of 
 Rabelais, 19. 
 
 Valery, a name on an old Knave of 
 
 Hearts, 217. 
 Valet, the original meaning of the word, 
 
 231 
 Vega, Garcilasso de la, his account of ' 
 
 the Spanish soldiers manufacturing 
 
 cards, 106. 
 Vichnou. incarnations of, in n pack of 
 
 Hindostanee cards, 36-40. , 
 
 Vierge, Fierge, Pherz, the queen at 
 
 Chess, 15-21. 
 Visconti, Philip, Duke of Milan, cards 
 
 painted for him, 230. 
 Volay, Jean, a French card manufacturer, 
 
 132. 
 Volj)iito, Mons., cards formerly belonging 
 
 to, 221. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 843 
 
 Ward, Samnel, preaclier, of Ipswich, his 
 Woe to Drunkards, 130. 
 
 Wesley, John, sometimes sought an an- 
 swer by lot, 129: fond of whist 
 ^ when a voung man, 301. 
 
 Whist, its relation fo chess, 17. 
 
 , a game of English origin, 160-5. 
 
 White's coflee-house, 161-2; club at, 
 178. 
 
 Wilson, Mr. T., old cards engraved on 
 copper, formerly belonging to, 224. 
 
 Wilson, Professor, on card-playing, in 
 the * Noctes Ambrosianae,' 303-7. 
 
 Wood-engraving, the earliest with an 
 authentic date, 85. 
 
 Worcester, council of, prohibitions in its 
 
 canons, 62. 
 Wuruq, a leaf, the name for a card with 
 
 the Moslems in Hindostan, 25. 
 
 Xavier, St. Francis, card-playing in the 
 East in his time, 53 ; his lenity to- 
 wards gamesters, 307. 
 
 Yack an napes. Jackanapes, Jack-a- 
 naipes, tne Knave of cards, 233. 
 
 Zani, P. on the Pipozzi MS., 65. 
 
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