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FACTS

AND

SPECULATIONS

ON

THB

ORIGIN

AND

HISTORY
OF

PLAYING

CARDS.

BT

WJLIAAM.

ANDREW

CHATTO.

Mahtiau fcitillTia." H0BOmihicharta nuces, haeo estmihicharta

hoursaway. With CardsI whilemy leisure bet Time; yet neither nor play. And cheatold

,A^i'
LONDON:

JOHN
4, OLD

RUSSELL
STREET,
MDCCCXLVIIl.

SMITH,
SOHO

COMPTON

SQUARE.

'"'

w'jacTvu

PLAYING

CARDS

9m5
'"/;.-'

PLAYING

CARDS.

(0

ai

i'':

"'

iiSWrifeiliifcJ^

"

PRINTSD

BT

0.

AND

J.

ADLARD,

BARTHOLOMIW

0LO8B.

PREFACE.

person who has never bestowed a thought on the ask, subject '*What can there be that is interesting
a

Should

in the History of Cards?" itis answered, "There may be kind, even in the much/' There isan interest, a certain of or solution a riddle, the explicationf a conundrum; and of o
certainlearned men, such as Pere Daniel, and Court de GebeJin,having assumed thatthe game of Cards was originally instructive, and that the figuresand marks of the
emblematic, speaking to the intelligentof matters of great import, their amusingly absurd specula^ tions on the set forthwith all the gravity of a
suits
are

subject
"

"budge

doctor" determining

History of Cards an not possess. But putting aside allthat may relateto their covert meaning, Cards, considered with respect to what
"

cathedra impart to the interestwhich, intrinsically, does it

ex
"

they simply are ^theinstruments of a popular game, and vestiga the productions of art suggest severalquestions, the in: of which is not without interest Where and
"

when
names

were

they invented,and what is the origin of their When were they introduced into Europe ? What
a

popular game ; and what society? What changes have they undergone with respect to the figuresand the marks fancy of the suits; and to what purposes have picture and in in cards been made subservient, consequence of those
common use

has been their progress as influence have they had on

being

so

understood? generally

And

lastly,

what have been the opinions of moralistsand theologians

VI

PREFACE.

Such axe with respect to the lawMness of the game?" the topics discussed,and questions examined, in the
followingpages. Of the works of previouswriters on the originof Cards I have freely availedmyself; usmg them as guides when when right, pointing out their errors I thought them wrong, and allowing them to speak for I thought them
or themselveswhenever they seemed instructive amusing. Having no wish to appropriate what was not my own, I fidehty and have quoted my authorities ; with scrupulous

conscious of an obUgation which I have not acknowledged. Should the reader not obtain from this work all the informationon Cards which he might have
am

not

expected,it is hoped that he will at least acquirefrom its perusala knowledge of the true valueof such investigations. Between being well informed on a and subject, knowing the realworth of such information, there is a distinction by which is oftenoverlooked, especially antiquaries. In the Illustrations be found a greater variety will of Cards than have hitherto been given in any other work on

splendidpubUcation of ' the Society Bibliophiles Erangais, of entitledJeux de Cartes

Tarots et de Cartes Numerales du Quatorzieme au Dixhuitieme Siecle.' All the cards ^withthe exception of the French Valets, p. 250, and the Portuguese Chevaliers, at
"

the same

not subject,exceptingthe

at p. 252," have been copied by Mr. P. W. Fairholt;

and allthe wood-engravings with the exceptionof the by tail-piece, W. J. Linton, at p. 330," have been executed by Mr. George Vasey.
"

W.A.
London ; 17M^j?n7, 1848.

C.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

I.
PAGB

Op

TH2

Osionr

AiTD

Name

Of

Cabds

CHAPTER
iNTRODUCnOH
OP

n.
. .

CaBDS

INTO

EUKOPE

60

CHAPTER
CaSD-PlATINO
.

m.
.

PB06BES8

OP

"

.92

CHAPTER
Op
the

IV.
the

dippebeni

Kdtds

of

Caeds,

and

Masks

op the

Suits

189

CHAPTER

V.
.

The MoKAUTT

OP

Cabd-Playino

879

Appendix

.331
. .

Index

337

LIST

OF

ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE

42 Honours" of an eight-snit pack of Hindostanee Cards Tseen-wan-ch^-pie 67-8 Specimens of Chinese Cards,of the kind called in A Card Party, from an illustration a manuscript of the Cit^de Dieu, the fifteenth century apparently of the earlypart of .71 Cards in the BritishMuseum, apparentlyof a Old Stencilled Copies of 88-9 date not laterthan 1440 1509 105 Fac-simileof one of Mumer*s Cards for teaching logic,

The

"

Sorti,1540 Copies of Four Small Cards, from Marcolini's " Thus Now," from Samuel Ward's Woe Wood-cut, " Thus of Old" and
.

117
131

to Drunkards, 1627

The

Knaves of Hearts and Clubs; and the Knaves of Spadesand 133-6 Diamonds, from the Four Knaves, by Samuel Rowlands, 1610-13
a
.

Fac-similcs four Heraldic Cards, from of about 1078

. . .

pack engraved in England

.

152

Fac-similcs the Signaturesof Edmund Hoyle and Thomas Osborne of History, showing the Copy of a platein Darly*s Political and Satirical for 1759 Coat Cards Copies of two of the painted cards,ascribedto Jacquemin Gringonneur, du preservedin theJ3ibliothbque Roi at Paris
,
.

170
183
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 212 ccntuiy part of the fifteenth Hogier, Roland, and Copies of the Four Knaves, coloured, ^Lancelot, fifteenth Valery, of the latter century. In the British part of the Museum 214
"

"

"

........

Cards belongmg to a pack engraved on copper Copies of Eight Circular about 1480, with Hares, Parroquets, Pinks, and Columbines as the
marks of the suits Four Cards of a pack en^ved on copper, apparently about the end of the fifteenth century, with Swords, Clubs, Cups, and Pomegranates, as
...
. . .

222

the marks of the suits. In the BritishMuseum The Sevens of a pack of Tarots, with Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money as the marks of the suits
. . . .
. .

225

227

The Second Coat Cards of the suitsof Acorns and Leaves" in a German 236-7 pack engraved on wood, 1511 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,r Valets,of a pack of Portuguese Cards, of the date 1693 o " Figure of the real Spata," as shown in Baker's EclecticCards, 1813 C Tail-piece,heating Time with Cards
.....

252 261

330

to Cupid; from a cut relating Prophecies and Fortune-telling, Bagford's in Collection,arleianMSS. 5966 H 336

The Four of Cups, from

an

old card,in the same

collection

343

ORIGIN

AND
OF

HISTORY

PLAYING

CARDS

CHAPTER
OF

I.
NAME

THE

ORIGIN

AND

OF CARDS

has been distinctively termed " a cooking animal ;** a tooUmahing and Dr. Franklin has defined him to be animal." He may also,with equal truth,be definedto be
"

Man

gambling animal ;" since to gamble, or venture, on chance, his own property,with the hope of winning the f propertyof another,is as peculiarto him, in distinctionrom
a

"

he a other animals,as his broiling fishafter has* caught itwith his hands, or making for himself a stone hatchet to enable him to fella tree. Whether this gambhng peculiarity is
to be ascribed to the o of superiority his intellectualr of

his physical constitution, thers may o

determine for themselves.

Other animals, in common with man, willfightfor 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 wounding 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

PLAYING

CAEDS.

their propertyat

lots forchoice or odd or even/' drawing in of pasturage. No shepherd has ever yet succeeded to teaching his sagaciouscolley take a hand at cardswith has never hun on the hill side; the most knowing monkey " \' been able to comprehend the mysteriesof tossing and the learned pig, that tellspeople their fortune by even
**

the cards,is never able to learnwhat is trumps. Seeing, then, that to gamble is exclusivelyroper to p
man,^8ecun(Iu?n that,
"

essentianiconsecutive^ and
"

admitting

The proper study of mankind isman,"

it follows, that as Playing Cards are the instruments plainly of the most fascinating speciesof gambling that ever was by devised the ingenuity of man, their origin and history The cookdiscussion. for ing, veryproper subject rational its tool-making, gambling animal displays rationality, by accordingto Dr. Franklin, itsknowing how to find or
arc a

invent a plausible forwhatever ithas pretext to do.

an

inclination

Judging from the manner in which the origin and history by of PlayingCards have been treated variousauthorswithin
the lasthundred and fifty years,it is evidentthat the subject, have made of it, one of great is whatever they may
to term of a great designer capabihty,'' use the favorite in the landscape-gardeningline; and it seems less no
"

evidentthat some of those authors have been disposedto it by magnify its apparent insignificance associating with ing othertopics, which are generally llowedto be both interesta

and important. In this respect they have certainly have, at shown great tact; for though many learned men difierent periods,written largely and profoundly on very

trifling yet subjects,it does seem necessary for a man, however learned and discreet,o set forth, either in his t

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

or title-page in his proemium, something Uke an apology for his becoming the historiographer Playing Cards, of
"

things in themselvesslightlysteemed even by thosewho e use them most, and frequentlytermed by pious people b the devil'sooks." i..e example which has thus been set I am resolved to follow; for though, in the title-page, I
"

a rowed othertopic for the purpose of casting borlighton the principal I yet subject, wish the reader to understand that I am writing an apology for it now ;

announce

no

and in the progress of the work I doubt not that I shall be found as discursive most of thosewho have previously as on either reasoned or speculated Playing Cards. A history Playing Cards, treatingof them in alltheir of and would fonn possible associations, bearings, relations,

nearly a complete cyclopaedia science of and art ; and would biographica enlarged by an extensive stilldmit of being further a of supplement, containingsketchesof the lives who have played at cards, or at any celebrated characters other game. Cards would form the centre the point,
"
"

having position, but no space, from which a radius of indefinite comprehending not extent might sweep a circle knows, but all that he speculateson. only all that man
"

The power of reach,by means of the point and the radius, being thus obtained,the operator has his choiceof topics ; and can arrange them round his centre, and colourthem fancifid as segments at his will, boys at school colour their

of a circle. been saidabout the capabiHty To exemplify hat has just w Pere One writer, :" of of cards as a subject disquisition invention of cards,says, Menestrier,^ preluding on the to Indus, a game ^that, the apropos to the term Jeu Supreme Being the creationof the world was only a kind
"
"

torn,ii, Bibliotlieque chap. xii.Des Principesdes et curieuse instructive, en Scienceset des Arts, dispose forme de Jeiix.Trevoux, 1704.
'

PLAYING

CARDS.

with the Romans were of game ; and that schoolmasters Ludi Magistri masters of the game or sport. Here, called for a descant on creation and ; then,is a fineopportunity f for showing that the whole business of human life,rom the cradleto the grave,isbut a game ; that all the world is a great gaming-house," to avoid using a word
"

"

"

to ofiensive

ears

pohte,
"

"And

allthe men

and

women

mereijplayers."

a Illustrative this view of human life, couple of of from Terence and Plutarch, are suppertinent plied quotations,
^ M. by anotherbrotherof the same craft, C. Leber. According to Pere Daniel,^ a reverend fatherof the order of Jesuits, who wrote an elaboratehistoryof the
"

French Military Establishments, the game

"

of Piquet is symbohc, allegorical, political, historical, military, and and contains a number of important maxims relatingto war
and government. Now, granting,for the sake of argument, that the game, with respectto itsesoteric rinciples, p is really nigmatic, may be fairlyenied that Pere Daniel it d e has succeeded in explaining correctly hisfancied discoit veries ; may be examined in detail, and shown, with very little to trouble, be the mere seethings his own working of imagination others ; may be proposed,and, as a matter of
course,

supportedby authorities, ancient and modem, on the origin, use, and meaning of symbols and allegories, and
*

Ita vitaest hominum quasicum ludasTesseris ; Si illud, non quod maximb opus est jactu, cadit, Illudquod cecidit forte, arte ut corrigas. id Tekent. Adelph. act.iv,sc. 7.

"Ludo TesserarumPlato vitam comparavit,in quo et jacere o utiliaportet, bene iis et jacientem qua ccciderunt." Plut. Op. Moth.EpisL ad Paceium, uti Listoriques IcsCartesa Jouer,par M. C. Leber, 63. sur p. "Etudes " In a paper entitled, L'Originedu Jeu de Piquet, trouv6 dans THistoire de France sous la rcgne dc CharlesVII, Printed in the M"$moires pour THistouredes Sciences,c.~Trevoux ; in the vol. " forMay, 1720,p. 934-968.
"

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

illustrated with maxims of war and state policy, arefully c from the bulletins, correselected memoirs, and diplomatic spondence of the greatmilitary chiefs and statesmen of all nations: thus a respectablevolume in point of size at least might be got up on the of Piquet alone, out with"
"

subject

trenchingon the wide field cards in general. of Court de Gebelin,\a Gnostic,at least the philosophic, in
if not in the rehgious,sense of the word, finds in the old Itahan Tarocchi cards the vestigesof the learning of the indeed, ancient Egyptians, somewhat mutilated and disguised,

by Gothic ignorance, not the profound which suspected knowledge concealedin its to but intelligible playthings, still
intoallancient itself the penetrating genius which initiates is mysteries, fond of exploringthe profoundlyobscure,and becomes oracular, tallcing of confidently what itsees, when
it is only groping in the dark. Court de Gebelin'stheory suggests at once a generalhistory scienceand art,which, of as eveiybody knows, had their cradlein ancientEgypt, and induces dim, but gloriousvisions the ancient Egyptian of kings," Sesonch, Rameses, and Amonoph: the chronologers,Sanchoniathon, Manetho, and Berosus, follow,as known from Bishop a matter, of course, whether originally
from Mr. Jenkinson, in the 'Vicar of Wakefield.' Then who can think of the knowledge of the Egyptians,and of itsessence being containedin the ancient without hieroglyphic o symboliccharacters f a pack of cards,

Cumberland,

or

d ou o dissertation "Du Jeu de Tarots, Ton traitc e son origine,ilTon la source de nos Cartes I'onfait voir qu'ilest et explique ses allegories, oil m is "c. This dissertation contained hisMonde primitif, modemes ^ jouer," Dissertations elees, torn, i, m analyst et compart avec le Monde modeme." he was led to make this that p. 3G5-394. Paris,1781. It is not unlikely discoveryfrom the noticesof a philosophic game of the ancient Egyptians, Dc Ludis Graicorum, p. 53. Lugduni quoted by Meursius, in.his treatise on the subject Batavorum, 1622. A summary of Court de Gebelin's conceits lesCartes ^ Tarots isto be found in Pcignot'sAnalyse do Recherches sur
"

In

of

jouer, 227-237., p.

PLAYING

CARDS.

being intohis mind?^ and this coining writing subject, once leads naturally, chronologicalrder,to Clemens in o started, Bishop WarAlexandrinus, Athanasius Kircher, Horapoilo,
burton, Dr. Thomas Young, and Mons. ChampoUion. To writeproperlya history PlayingCards in connexion with of tation the learningof the Egyptians,as suggested by the disserof Court de Gebelin,would require the unwearied rished energy of one of those brazen-bowelledscholars who flouat Alexandriawhen ancientscienceand art, sinking

intoa state of second childhood, had again found a cradle in Egypt. Oh, Isis,mother of Horus, how is thy image
wormultiphed ! Though changed in name, milhons still ship it, ignorantof the type of that beforewhich they bow.^

All is symbol : the cards of the gamester are symbolic; full of meaning of high import, and yet he is ignorantof it,
cares

though Court de Gebelinwould teach not to know it,

;
"

isindifferent about his soul,and prays only that he may hold a good hand of trumps, symbol again !^ As cards are printedon paper, from engraved blocks of
*

him

He shall have a bell, hat's t Abel; And by itstanding isDee, one whose name In a rug govni; there's and Rug, that's D Drug; And rightancnst him a dog snarling er;
There'sBruggett

And here's now

Drugger. That's his sign. -^bel Mystery and Hieroglyphic ! The Alchemist,aet ii.

See an image of Isis, homed, with the infantHorus on her knee; and note, thatantiquaries have not settled theVirgin Mary issometimes represented why with the crescenton her head. Isiswas the protectressof seafaring people; and her image, as we learnfrom Petrouius and other writers, frequently was placedin ships.
"

frequently Egyptian hieroglyphics it in : would be superfluous to tell the learnedreaderwhat itmeans. The hand holding a hammer, in the hieroglyphic Coat of Anns, is suffiusuallyknown as the Blacksmiths' ciently by the motto, explained
occurs
"

'

The hand

By Hammer

and Hand,

All Arts do stand."

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

wood, and as wood-engraving appears to have suggested the art of typography, or printingfrom moveable types, Breitkopfcombines in one generalessayhis inquiries into
the originof playingcards, the introduction linenpaper, of beginning of wood-engraving in Europe ;^ thisessay and the
portion of the author'sintended History of Printing. Singer^ follows very nearlythe same plan as but though his Researchesform a goodly quarto, Breitkopf;
a

being but

both in point of sizeand appearance, yet has not looked he into every corner. The wide field Playing Cards still of ; admits of further cultivationfor,though often turned up by the heavy subsoilplough of antiquarianresearchand
it well harrowed by speculation, remains undrained. tation In the 'Nouvelles nnales desVoyages,'^e finda disserA w

by M. Rey, Compass
;

Playing Cards, and the Mariner's two incongruousthings, yetindissoluapparently

on

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 appearsthatthis dissertation cards and the compass isbut a fragmentof a on

a colours, nd badges work composed by M. Rey, on the flag, from this of the French monarchy. Judging of his talents, " to fragment,"he appears to have been admirably fitted be regretted of write a general history cards; and it is to prehensive that he did not give to his so-called fragment," that comthe essayon the mariner's title, and introduce
"

die Einfuhrung des LeinenpaVersuch, den Urspnmg der Spielkaken, in Europa zu erforschen. Von pieres, und den Anfang der Holzschneidekunst 1784. J. G. I. Breitkopf. 4to. Leipzig, " of Researches into the History of Playing Cards ; with Illustrations the
"

Origin of Printingand Engraving on Wood.

London, 1816.
"

By Samuel Weller Singer. 4to.

deuxieme de Tannde 1836. 'Originerran9aisede laBoussole et des ' Cartes a jouer.' Fragmens d'un ouvrage sous presse,intitule, Histoiredu " Monarchic Fraufaise,*c. Par Drapeau, des Couleurs, et des Insignes de la
Tome

M. Rey.

Livre X"

Umversalit6des Fleurs de Lis.

PLAYING

CAED8.

flag as incidental of compass and the history the French for the fragment illustrations the fleur-de-lis, certainly of flag, does on cards," rent from a historyof the French
"

'

in little of place, a generalcollection voyages of out unless,indeed, it be there introduced as a and travels, traveller's tale. Mons. C. Leber, one of the most recent writers on ^ Playing Cards, is an author, whom it is very difficult
seem

for though he is always picb'ng up something that appears to relateto his subject, he yet does not seem to have had any clearidea of he what he was seeking for. The grand questions, says,
to follow in his devious course
;

from ; what are they; what do they say; and what ought we to think of them ?" These however, Mons. Leber, by no means questions, undertakes
are,
"

Where do cards come

to

answer.
"

He

narrow

path a but diligently avoiding the wide and floweryfield conjecture, of i t amassingfactso guide otherinquirersntothe origin thatthey and primary use of Playing Cards. He is certain
"

confines himself,as he says, to a very veiycrookedone too,he might have added

of ancient origin,and of Eastern invention and that ; they constituted symbolicand moral game. He a primarily to by professes be guided in his researches the evidenceof ; cardsthemselves but though a diligent collector cardsof of
are

kinds, does not appear to have been successful exhe in tracting all from his witnesses. They allstand mute. answers In short,Mons. Leber, notwithstanding his diligence a as collectorf cards,and his chifibnier-like o gatheringof scraps
theirhistory connected with them, has left prettynearlythe same as he found it. In the he genuine spiritf a collector, o longs formore old cards," but then,how to find them ? still
Par joucr. M. C. Leber. Originally the sixteentholume of the 'Memoires de la Society v royaledes Antiquaircsde Trance/ and subsequently published separately. Paris,1842.
'

Etudes historiques sur

les Cartesa

m printed

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

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 hithertobeen discovered
their originand presumed emblematic meaning, itis explain for a fulland complete history a chance thatthe materials
In the mean of Playing Cards will ever be obtained. time," says Mons. Leber, "we this work must wait till of time and perseverance shall be accompUshed/'^ To
"

his words from his own interpret to wait," example, to keep moving without advancing, like a may mean,
"

in a wheel. Notwithstanding all the old cards squirrel thathave been discovered, and all that has been collected from both taleand history, how farare we on the "

subject,

from possessing,'^ exclaims Mons. Leber, and who shall history for a positive ever amass, allthe elements necessary duction, of playing cards."^ Thus much may serve by way of introo capability"f the subject. Man, as a gambling animal, has the means of indulging in hishopefulpropensity,as soon as he has acquireda property

"

and

as

evidenceof the

"

odd from eitherrealor personal,and can distinguish even, or a short straw from a shorter. The first game that he played at, in the golden age of happy ignorance,would be one of pure chance. We have no positive naturally informationabout this identical game in any ancient or suppose,forno one can modern author ; but we may fairly
de Ce n'est pas I'affaire quelques armies,ni des travaux, ni de debris, pieces tant de cli^tifs d'line des sacrifices seulevie,que de rassembler iuformes, et dont la decouverten'est plus souvent mutilees, egarees, souill6es, bonne fortune plutot qu'une bonne action. H qu'un capricedu hasard, une faut done attendreque cette oeuvre du temps et de la perseverancesoitaccomp 60. plie.""Etudes Historiqnes,. Estampes, Dessins, et Cartes a Cataloguedes Livres imprimis,Manuscrits,
I
"
. .

de jouer,omposant le Bibliotlieque c

M. C. Leber, torn,i, p. 238.

Paris,

t This library, he Catalogue of vi^hich onsistsof three volumes, now c volume, belongsto the city of Rouen. The cards are describedin the first
1839.

pp. 237-48.

10

PLATING

CARDS.

to "drawing thatitwas either prove the supposition be false, or lots/' guessingat " odd or even/'* Imagination suggests ; thatthe stakes might be acorns, or chesnuts and though " reason yet she cannot controvert it. may query the fact,"

It is evident that at eitherof the two simple games above when itcame to his turn to hold, might named, a player, dexterous improve hischanceof winning,by means of a little
and thus,to a certain called cheating, management, vulgarly from the laws of blindFortune, extent,emancipatehimself
"

personificationchance which a gambler, most assuredly, of That cheating is to first elevated the rank of a divinity.^ coevalwith gaming, cannot admit of a doubt ; and it nearly
a

is highlyprobable that this mode of giving an eccentric if motion to Fortune'swheel was discovered, not actually bout,under the oaks of Dodona, at practised, thefirst regular beforethe floodof Thessaly.* or elsewhere, Man, having left the woods for the meadows, progressing
from the sylvanor savage state to that of a shepherd,now but also eats a bit of mutton not only roasts his chesnuts, to them ; and afterhaving picked the leg clean, forms
of the small bones, between the shank and the foot,new instrumentsof gaming. Taking a certainnumber of those

bones, three for instance,he makes

*

on

four sides of

With the Latins, Ludere par impar ; with the Greeks, 'apuaZeiv; nai^eiv, ludentes,sumptis m manu fabis, talis, nucibus, amygdalis,interdum etiam nummis, intcrrogantes alterum divinarejubebant,
'apTia'ijiripiTra. "Nempe
*'apTia 'tj trepiTTai* paria, nempe, an

impariahaberent." Meursius, de Ludis

"

Gracorum, p. 5, edit. 1C22. * Fortune is a parvenue,

the Olympian circle," great means, of

but no

family :

Di chifigluola fusse, di che seme b Nasccsse,non si sa; ben sisa certo Ch'infino Giove sua potentia a teme.
IkLLCCHiAVELLi, Capitolo Fortuna. di Dr. Thomas Hyde is inclined think that the to game of Astragali was known from the time of the generalDeluge." De Ludis Oricntalibus.xon. O 1G91.
*

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

11

number of marks: on one side a single each a certain point, and on the sideopposite points on anotherside ; six 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, the pointsmay as high, or as the cast may be of three different run niunbers,
so
are

does he count hisgame.^ Conventionalrulesfor playing now estabhshed; definite values,independent of the

casts; some number of points,are assigned to different being reckoned high,whileothers are counted low, and sometimes a positively gainst the player,although the chance

turning up be the same as that of theformer. The of their becomes more game now compUcated; and the chances
being more
numerous,

and the odds

more

a ing various, know-

and makes a calculation gamester who plays regularly, of the probability any given number, or combination of of being thrown, either at a single cast, or out of a points, certain number, has an advantage in bettingover his more
!" simple-minded competitors. Luck is all exclaims the novice, and guesses; the adept mutters, "Knowledge
"
"

and counts. The cuttingof bones into cubes,or dice,and numbering them on all their six sides,would probablybe the next
"

is power,"

for supposing that step in gaming; and there are grounds inthe introductionof dice was shortly followed by the vention a game which of something hke backgammon ; than dice,and allows affordsgreaterscope for calculation his skillin the management also of the playerdisplaying Should it be asked,what has any of those of his men. in the I answer, games to do with the originof cards?
The ancient Greek game of Astragalior Astragalismos" the Tali of the in to Bomans" appears to have been played in a manner similar that described casts are to be found in Meursius, the text. The names given to the different
'

De Ludis Grrecorum,under the word ASTPAI'AAISMOS.

12
words of
an

PLAYING

CARDS.

Irishguide,when pointingout to a traveller Well, to find, placeswhich he was not wanting several then, none of them's it." is to The next game, which it seems necessary notice, of the UtTTua of the Greeks,and the Latrunculi the Latins; to have some as in the sequel it may perhaps be found
"
"

to the game of eards. though remote, relation positive, It would be superfluoushere to inquireif the game of that which was invented were UiTTtia,or Latrunculi, really War; itmay be sufficient by Palamedes during the Trojan

who, in the Penelope'ssuitors book of the Odyssey, represents first playingat it:
to remark, that it is mentioned by Homer,
"

Before the door they were

amusmg

Sittmg

on

the skinsof oxen

themselvesat tables, * which theythemselveshad killed."

In whatever country the game may have been invented, or however it may have been originally layed, it was p n game certainlyot a game of chance. It was a scientific
'

nt990nn

*EfitvotIv pivoiffi ove (iouv Uktuvov "vroi.

"

Ovpautv OvfiovIrtpirovi irpoirapotOt A. Odt/$i, 107.

"

The word used by Homer, 7r""r"rot, ^whichproperlymeans the pebblesor tables a term, which having ; employed in the game," ishe^e translated pieces become nearlyobsolete signifying draughts, now as may be used to denote an

H commentator fond of discoveringomer's the games ofAstragalismus covert meanings,that the poet intendedto censure the former as a cause of strife,nd the latters a fitting a amusement and Pettcia," a
a

cognate game. ancient It might be plausibly urged by

for idle and dissipated persons, like the suitors Penelope. In the of book is twenty-tliird of the Iliad, 87, Patroclus represented having killed, v. as

boy, though unintentionally, a companionwith whom he had quarrelled Astragalir Tali o : at when playing
when
a

'Afx^iiafiavroe, iratdaKaruravov 'i9i\uv, "Stjmoe, "K ' 'aynpiorpayaXoKrixo\u9iic.

. .

"

It isnot imlikely thatan ancient Museum, in pieceof sculpture, the British a boy bitingthe arm hiscompanion,with whom he has quarof relled "representing
to at Tali ^rchites thispassage.
"

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

IS

the exercise of the mind, and whollydependent requiring as to its on result the comparativeskill f the two players o ; he who displayedthe greatest judgment in his
moving

to pieces, according the rulesof the game, being thewinner.^ This game appears to have been similarto that described

in Strutt's 'Sports and Pastimes,' under the name of Merrels, which is still layed in many parts of p England, and which was, and may be still, common a game in almost everycountry in Europe. It appears to have branched out intoseveral species, with the Greeks and Romans ; and though, in some of them, the game was very intricate, yet never attainedwith those people to the it
or perfectionf chess. One of those varietiesf Petteia, o o 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 partycould be taken by the i opponent when he succeeded in inclosingt between two of hisown.^ Whatever may have been the origin chess, seems to it of be generally admittedthatthe game, nearlythe same in its
board of sixty-four played, with its d squares, grades, ^was firstevisedin and men of different India; and, without giving implicit creditto the wellknown account of its invention an Indian named Sissa, by

prmciplesas itisnow

"

"

thatthe date assignedto it, namely, about may assume Christian era, is the beginning of the fifth centuryof the correct for allpracticalurposes: a difierence p sufficiently one way or the other, either of two or threehundred years,
we

known to the m Mr. James Christie"ore generally work by the late than as a man of learning of greatresearch" entitled and world as an auctioneer by Greek game supposed to have been invented "An Enquiry intothe ancient the Palamedcs antecedent the Siege of Troy; with Reasons forbelieving to in Game to have been known from remote antiquity China,and progressively improved into the Chinese,Indian, Persian, and European Chess." London,
"

See

,1801. ' ix, lib. cap. 7. Onomasticon, Julius Pollux,

14

PLAYING

CARDS.

is of very little importancein a

as

abo^t conjecture the game,

connectedwith Playing Cards. Having now arrived at " Chess,we fancy thatwe see something Uke land,"though To speak without figiu-e, itmay be but a fog-bank all. after it seems likely that the game of cards was suggested by
that of chess. between The affinity the two games, and the similarity of the coat cards and the principal pieces in the game of ;^ chess,have alreadybeen pointed out by Breitkopf and

but little t he isso copiousoii the latter topic, hat he has left to do, in thisrespect, for any of his successors except to notes; for,as was said of William condense his diffuse to are generally be found scattered Prynne,his brains about
the margin of hisworks, and not in the text. or A side, suit, chessmen consists six orders, of which of 1, Schach,the king; in the oldorientalame were named g
"

3, 2, Pherz, the general;, Phil, the elephant;4, Jspen^ 5, mar, the horseman, or chevalier; ^wc^, the camel; and,

infantry. In thissuit therewas no queen,as the introduction a female intoa of the game representing stratagemsof war would have been
6, Beydel or Beydak, the footmen
or

to ideasof propriety and long after ; contrary the oriental now the introduction ofchessintoEurope,the secondpiece, its the Queen,retained Easternname under the form called

Fierche, Merge, even afterit had acquired a or of Fierce, femininecharacter.^ Fierge at lengthbecomes confounded
As the militaiyrotmdwork of the game of cards,and its similarity to g be denied; so a closerexaminationof thisaffinity readily chess,cannot may
*
"

lead to the originof the change in their figures and colours." ^Breitkopf, Ueber den Ursprung der Spielkarten, 30. s. " du "Le traducteur PoiJmede la Vielle, les end^crivant Echecs,s'exprime
"

ainsi;
*

La Reyne, que nous nommous Fierge, Tient de Venus, et n'estpas Vierge;

" Aimableestct amoureuse.* "c. L'Origine Jeu des Echecs, par Mons. Ereret. Hist, de TAcad^mie des du Inscriptions, y, p. 255. torn,
"

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

16

the with the French Tierge, a maid ; and finally, pieceis Bame^ the lady, European, and so becomes thoroughly called and character. With respectto the changes which the other pieceshave undergone in the European game of chess, it is only necessary to observe that Pliil^ is the elephant, 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, isthe French Tb^^r,and the English J?oo^ or Castle;and the Beydel or Beydak, the footmen, are now the French
,

both in name

Pions, and the English Pawns,

change that has taken place in the second piecein chess ^namely,from a male to a female has alsohappened to the second principal in figure French
the very same
" "

Now

and English cards. Among the oldestnumeral cards that have yet been discoveredno Queen is to be found; the figuresor coat cards being the King, the three principal Knight, and the Valet or Knave. theold Spanish pack of cards; nor There was
was

no

Queen in

thereusuallyin the German in the time of Heineken and Breitkopf. In the Spanish,the coat cardsof each suitwere the King (-B^),

the Knight {Cavallo), the Knave, groom, or attendant and a {Sota) the German, the King {K6nig\ chief officer \ in instead The {Oher\ of and a Subaltern(JJnter)} Italians,
making any change in the old coat cards, sometimesadded the Queen to them, so thatthey had four insteadof three,

namely.Re, Beina, Cavallo, and Fante, The followingextracts from an Essay on the Indian Game of Chess,by Sir William Jones, printedin the second
* seem Researches,' volume of the Asiatic

to estabUshmore

nn un dans chaque couleur roi, officier Unter. On apsupdrieurou capitaine, omm^ Ober, et un bas-officier appel^ n Franjois ne sont pas en de nos jours dans rEmpire, oil lesmots encore pelait Unterkute"'^ les officiersup^rieurs OherUute, et les bas-officiers vogue, s 1 Heineken,Id"ie d'Estampes, 241. Leipsic, 771. Gen^raled'une Collection p. un c'est

* "

Comme

il jeu militaire,y

16

PLAYING

CARDS.

than anything that has been expressly rittenon w clearly bethe affinity by the either Breitkopfor others, subject, to If evidencebe required prove : tween cardsand chess that chesswas inventedby the Hindus, we may be satisfied
"

; with the testimonyof the Persians who, though as much vention inthe ingenious inclined other nationsto appropriate as of a foreignpeople,unanimously agree,that the

game was imported from the west of India,togetherwith the charming fables Vishnusarman in the sixthcentury of to have been immemorially known It seems of our era. in Hindustan by the name

angoBy or members of an horses,chariots, Amaracosha, to be elephants, and foot; used by soldiers and in thissense the word is frequently descriptions realarmies. By a natural of epicpoets in their
corruptionof the pure Sanscritword, it was changed by the old Persiansinto Chatrang ; but the Arabs, who soon

that is the four of Chatur-anga, army, which are said, in the

had neither took possessionf their the initial o country, after letter that word in their alphabet, nor final of and consequently alteredit furtherinto Shatranj} which found its into the modern Persian,and at length into way presently the dialects India,where the true derivation the name of of
.

isknown only to the learned. Thus has a very significant ferred word in the sacredlanguage of the Brahmans been trans-

by successive hanges intoAxedras, Scacchi, Echecs, c Chess ; and, by a whimsicalconcurrence of circumstances,

given birth to the English word check, and to the Exchequer of Great Britain.
"

even

name

It would appear that the etymology of this name was a matter of great even According to some, it was race. among people of oriental uncertainty Sad-rengh, he hundred turns,or wilesof the players according others, was t it to ; Sad-rangiy the hundred vexationsof the game. A third derivationas from w Shesh-rengh, colours, if each of the six ordersof pieceshad beien as distinguished six by a separatecolour." Hyde, De Ludis Orientalibus. Par. 1. Historia Shahiludii, De Nomme Shatrangi. Oxon. 1694. cap.

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

17

Of thissimple game, so exquisitely contrived, so and invented in India,I cannot find any account in certainly the classical writingsof the Brahraans. It isindeedconfidently that Sanscritbooks on Chess exist this in asserted country; and if they can be procured at Benares, they be At present, can onlyexhibit I will assuredly sent to us. a description of a very ancientIndian game of the same kind ; but more complex, and, in my opinion, more modem
than the simple chess of the Persians. This game isalso frequently or the Chaturaji, called Chaturanga,but more

"

Four Kings, sinceitis played by four persons, representing two allied as many princes, armies combating on each side. The description taken from the Bhawishya Puran, in is is which Yudhist'hir represented conversingwith Vyasa,
the at who explains, the king's request, form of the fictitious warfare,and the principal rulesof it. Having marked
'

eight squareson all sides,' ays the sage,'placethe red s thegellowto the army to the east,thegreen to the south, "^ Itisworthy ofremark, west, and the blackiothenorth.'
"

form the groundof fourofthe suits one thatthesecolours of of the divisions an eight-suit pack of Hindostaneecards. of determined It appearsthat in thisgame the moves were
by casts with dice,as inbackgammon, so that itwas one of chance as well as skill. On this point Sir WilUam Jones " in a ; observes The use of dicemay, perhaps,be justified
a has representation war, in whichfortune unquestionably of but itseems to excludeChess from the rank which great share, has been assignedto itamong the sciences, to give the and game beforeus the appearanceof Wldst,except thatpieces are used which are held concealed." of only instead cards,

by That the suitsof cards were formerlydistinguished an emblem which form, a was as suggestive a particularolour, well as representing particular c of iscertain. The Germans still two of their suitsRoth and Grim^rcd and call green and the emblems are a heartand a leaf.
"
"

]8

PLAYING

CARDS.

Though Sir WilUam Jones mentions Whist in particular, from his own description, that the simiitisyet apparent, larity
other game of cards played by This evidence of the the same. four persons is precisely between a game of cards and an ancientIndian similarity,

of

to Chaturajiany

is game of chess, themore important,as the factappears to have forceditself ratherthan upon the noticeof the writer,
to have been sought for.

It may herebe observed, thatin the wardrobe accounts of Edward I, thereis an item, of money paid for the use of Quatuor Reges the king forplaying at the Four Kings
"

"

that and that it has been conjectured the game was cards. The Hon. Daines Barrington,who appears to have been of thisopinion, m says: "the earliest ention of cards that I

History of the have yet stumbled upon is in Mr. Anstis's Garter, 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 [1278]:
quatuorregesviii^. v^.' From which entry Mr. Anstiswith some that playing cards were not probability conjectures, unknown at the latter end of the thirteenth century; and

perhaps what I shalladd may carry with it some small confirmationof what he supposes."^ As this is not the place to discussthe question,if playing cards were known
earlyas the reign of Edward I, it may be to sufficient remark that the substanceof what Mr. Barrington has adduced in of Anstis's
so

in England

confirmation

conjecture

in consists a statement of the factof Edward having been in Syria, and that he might have learnedthe game of cards there^ taking it for granted that cards were of Eastern
"

Observations the Antiquityof Card-playing England. In the Archseo-" on in logiji, vol.viii. " " Edward the First, five when Princeof Wales, servednearly yearsin Syria, have were and therefore, whilstmilitary operations saspended,must naturally Now, the Asiaticsscarcely ever wished some sedentary amusement. change

'

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

19

in Syria at that period,"and in a second-hand referenceto Breitkopffor a passage in the GiildinSpil, wherein it is stated that a certaingame being unquestionably intoGermany came meant cards ^first about the year 1300. From Sir William Jones'saccount of the game of Chatur"

invention, and known

the specifically, or anga or, more chaturaji Four Rajas, Kings" there can scarcely a doubt that the be game of the Four Kings played at by Edward I, was chess, and that
"

this name
Assuming

literal translation of the Indian one. this, then, as an established fact, have eviwe dence
was a

in of the number four being associated Europe at thatperiodwith the game of chess,which, as has been previously bore so greata resemblanceto a game pfcards. shown,

Now, whatever may have been the origin the name of of itis undeniable that the idea of the number four is cards,
very generally associated with them; there are four suits, and in each suitthere 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 representedby High, Low, Jack,
and the Game. It is also certainthat,in thiscountry,cards were the Books of the Four Kings, long before the called to passagerelating the game of QuatuorBeges, which might have suggested the name,

Garter. They

are

so

History of the appeared in Anstis's calledby Sir Thomas Urquhart, in his

translation Rabelais, chapter 22, book i, in which contains of an account of the games thatGargantua played at: "After supper,were brought intothe room the fair wooden gospels, and the books of the Four Kings, that is to say,the tables
theircustoms : and as they play at cards,though in many respects different from ours, itis not improbablethat Edward might have been taughtthisgame,
ad quatuor reges,whilst he continuedso long in this part of the globe." Archaeol. viii,. 135. p
"

20

PLAYING

CARDS.

the Books of the and cards."^ Cards are not indeed called Four Kings in the originaltext of Rabelais; though itis that they were known in France by that name, and certain
that the Valets or Knaves

which, as of the analogy between chess and cards.^ Mrs. Piozzi, published in 1801, speaking of cards,in her Retrospection,
" says, It is a well-known vulgarity in England to say, ' Come, Sir, will you have a stroke at the historyof the Four Kings ?' meaning, Will you play a game at cards ?''

fom a term also called 's Breitkopf theory Peignot remarks, corroborates
were
"

Magazine, for August, 1844, alsocalls A writerin Eraser's cards the books of the Four Kings, as if they were well known by that name.
or, as the word is sometimes cltaliar, cliatur, four in the Hindoswritten in English,chartah, signifies tanee language, as it enters into the composition of

Now

as

cliaturanga, nd as chess probably suggested the game of a cards,I am incKned to think thatboth games were invented in Hindostan, and that chahar or chatur in the language of that country formed a portion of the originalname of The common term for cards in Hindostan, is Taj cards.
dc en "Apr^s soupcr vcnoicnt placeIcsbcaulxEvangilcs bois, c*est-a-dire force deux, trois." Rabelais, ivre chap. 22. ou l tablicrs, Ic beau flux, i, ung, ' The following to verses in relating this point are quoted by Peignot, his Analyse de Rccherchcs sur les Cartes ^ Jouer, from a poem intituled "La Magdeleine au Desert de la Samte-Baume en Provence, Pocme et tien, spirituel ChreCarme." Lyons, 1668. par le P. Pierre de St.Louis,religieux
"

'*

Voila quant a Teglise aliens la maison : a Pour voir apres celasi ma rime a raison. Les livres que j*y voy de diversepeinture,

Sont lesLiVEES

des

J*y remarque au Rouge aux Carreaux, aux Cocurs, noir aux Piques,aux Fleurs; Avecque ces beaux Roys, jevoisencore des Dames, De ces pauvrcs maris lesridicules femmes. Battez, battez bien, les battez,attez tons, b les N'^pargnezpas lesRoys, lesDames, ni lesPOUS."

Roys, non pas de TEscriture. dedans dilTcrcntes couleurs.

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

21

Tas; and its primary meaning, as I am informed, a is leaf, sense to folium.But as itis also used in a figurative
or
a a and as the term signifying signify diadem or crown, is frequently crown used in most languages to signify regal the compound term or c/ia/tar-tas, authority,

c/ia/iar-taj,
"

idea as the Four of would be suggestive nearlythe same in Kings," and be almost identical sound with the Latin
or whatever it might be, chartas. The name, cliartcB would be liableto change in passing from Hindostan, into Europe ; in the same manner through other countries, as we

transformed of chess, into the Persian Cliatrangyhe Arabic Shatranj, the t Scacchi, Greek Zatrikion,the Spanish Axedrez, the Italian

find Chaturan(/a,the Sanscritname

the German
Chess,

Schach^ the French Echecs, and the Enghsh

given to cards by the earhest French and Cartes German writerswho mention them, is,respectively. and Karten in Latin, Chartce;but as Charta signifies
The
name
"

paper, and as cards are made of paper, it has generally from that been supposed that they received their name
name signified original circumstance. But ifa part of their the number four,hether derivedfrom an eastern root, or w be from the Latin quarta,itcan scarcely doubted thatthey

the name acquired of charta,not in consequenceof their being made of paper, but because the Latin word which
sound as anotherword signified paper had nearlythe same as Pherz, the manner four, in the same which signified in General, in chess, found a representative Fier(;ie, and ideal subsequently became confounded with V%erge\ the
"

followed change of Vierge into Dame, the wifeof the king, of course, like wooed, an' marriedan' a'." It is deserving of remark, that in several old French have works, writtenwithin fifty years of the time when we being known in positive evidence of the game of cards
"
"

22

PLAYING

CARDS.

as France,the word issometimes spelled quartz or quartea, it if, the mind of the writer, was rather associated in with

the idea oi fourthan with that oi paper. The possible derivation cards from quarta, was suggested by Mr. of Goiigh,in his Observations on the Invention of Cards, in though he was of the eighthvolume of the ' Archoeologia,' from the paper of opinionthat they obtained their name '* *' Perhaps,'* says he, it may be which they were made.
too bold
a

ludus quartarum quarieSt his Etymologicon] sive cartarum,' by which Junius [in explainscards, may be derived from quarta, which, Du Cangc says,is used simply forthe fourthpartof any thing, to and so may be referred the quatuor reges; but as Du thatthe conjcctiure
*

Cangc expresslyays, thatquarta and carta are synonymous, s I lay no stress on this, but leaveitto the critics.*'

furtherthis speculationon the Indian carry still origin PlayingCards, both name of and thing, itis to be
To
"
"

Italian Naihiy by the earliest observedthat cards are called been writers who mention them ; and that they have alvvays calledNaypes, or Naipes^in Spain,sincethe time of their
first introduction into that country. Now in Hindostan, where we find the word Chahar, Chatur, or Chartah, they

have alsothe word Na-eeb, or Naib, which,judging the from to as sound only,appears at least likely have been the original of naibi and naipCfas itisof the EnglishNabob} This word

Na-eeb signifies viceroy, lieutenant, deputy,who rules a or district, a feudatorywho owes over a certain as 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,

b *'Tlic and v in Persian are constantly one instance used for each oilier; is willsuffice the plural na-eebya viceroy, equallypronounced nu-vaub and of
a

A PersonalNarrativeof nu-baub, or, accordingto our pronunciation,abob" n Journey from India to England, by Captain the Hon. George Keppcl, ii,
"

vol.

1827. p. 80. Second edit.

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

23

that they might have been calledChaturthe supposition Nawaub the Four Viceroys, the cognate game of chess as was called the Four Kings and thatthisname subsequently
"

"

became changed into Chartah-Naib,is,at least,s probable a as the derivation Naipes from N. P.,the initials Nicolas of of Pepin,theirsupposed inventor. Though thislast etymology

has very much the appearanceof a conundrum, propounded for in jest the purpose of ridiculing certain a of mologist class etyitis who always seek for roots at the siu-face,
that which receivedthe sanctionof the royal nevertheless Spanish Academy, and which is given in theirDictionary.^
Several Spanish writers,however, of high reputationfor knowledge of the formationof their their native language, have decidedlyasserted that the word Naipes, signifying
m cards, whatever it might have originallyeant, was derived from the Arabic; and ifthetestimony Covclhizzo, of

writerquoted in Bussi'sHistory of the City of Viterbo, the word Naibi could be rcUed on, the questionrespecting having been brought into or Naipes, and cards themselves,
a

Europe through the Arabs, would appear to be determined. His words are ; " Anno 1379, fu rccato in Viterboel Gioco
tra Seracinia, e chiamisi loro Naib.''^ That is, In the year 1379, was brought
DELLE

Carte,

che

venne
"

de

"Naipe, carton,"tj. Tamarid quicreque sea nombre Arabigo, lo mismo y Broccnsc\ pero comunamcntc so juzga sc los did cste nombre por la que el P, con que se siguificabacl se las puso, que fue una N y una primer cifra que nombre de su inventor,Nicolao Pepm : y de ahi eon pcquena corrupcionse 1734. dixo Naipe." Diccionarioe laAcademia Espauolo,edit. d " Istoria Bussi, p. 213. Roma, 1743. dcllaCitta di Viterbo,da Pcliciano
*
"

The passage relating cards appears to have been first to pomted out by Leber, in his Etudes Historiques sur lesCartes a jouer, 43. "Though we have p. birthor death,"says date of Govelluzzo's no information respectingthe precise " Mons. Leber, in a note at p.. 17 of Mens. Duchesne's Precis Historique,it Giovannide Juzzo de is yet certain that thischronicler, whose name isproperly he relates Covelluzzo, about cards century,and that what wrote in the fifteenth from thechroniclef Nicholas beingbroughtintoViterboin1379, was extracted o

24

PLAYING

CARDS,

from the into Viterbo the game of cards, which comes Naib." country of the Saracens,and is with them called It may be observed, that the very word here given as in forcards stillignifies Arabia a deputy the Arabic name s be a word of of the Sultan. Even though it may not it Hindostanee origin, may have been introducedintothat
greatportionof Hindostan was subjected to the Mahometan yoke, and when many of the Rajahs of nativerace were superseded by the Naibs or deputiesof a
language when
a

to believe ]\Ialiomctan sovereign.^ There appears reason thatthe word Naipe or Naipes,as appliedto cards,did not tion but cards generally, was rathera designasignify primarily
"

as of the game playedwith cards; in the same manner the game at cards,in consethe Four Kings" signified quence

of a king being the chiefof each of the four suits. 1773, one of the explaIn Vieyra'sPortuguese Dictionary, nations Naipe" is, a Suit of Cards ;" and of the word
"

"

" lated, the phrase, Nao tenho nenhuma daquelle naipe,"is trans" I have none of that suit/' It is not unlikely Latin, that the Greek word x"P^vc,
,
"

derivedfrom the East,and that itwas as originally w associatedith the idea of four," expressive of to a square quarrc of paper, in contra-distinction a long
Charta, paper,
"

was

"

"

"

strip paper or parchment, which, when rolledup, formed of '(viiXtfia, volume. In middle-age Greek, the word or an 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 was ancestors, who, as well as liimself, an inhabitant have resided Viterbo, there at the periodwhen cards of and who possibly ight m first introduced." were
d. 999. Gallicum, qnartier; scutulum quadratura. Extat. apudCo^"Xaprapiov; Constantinop. x"P''*o"'" dinum dc Ofiic. idem quod x"^Pf^piov" Meursii aulie Glossarium Grajco-Barbarum,4to, Lugd. Batavor.,1605. Quartier dots, A de
" "

'

Mahmoud,

i the Gasnevide,first nvaded Hindostan in a.

or quarter, square pieceof timber." Cotgrave'sFrencliand English Dictionary.

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

25

to convey the idea of a square,or four-sided pieceof wood, to have specifically a signified squarewooden trencher: and

pubUc schools, may be consideredas a representative the general form of of the thing. It is curiousto trace how a word primarily
of
of expressive the nxxmherfourhas, in Greek, Latin,French, and EngUsh, been employed to signify either paper generally, 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 a few sheets;and of
"
"

the top of the trencher-cap worn Oxford and Cambridge, and at some

at the Universities of
our

the modern quire, now

a number signifying definite

of

sheetsof paper. In Hindostanee the word c/iit I a signifies,believe, note or letter, and is in this sense synonymous with the Latin

Episfola, e. and the German Brief paper,^ either in general, or of

Should it also signify kind, and particular

"

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 from chartary a with the j55c/fl monkish writers. It may be Observed that of * Persian word literally the Rev. four-strings," Stephen Weston has signifying traced the descent of Ki9apa; cithara; chitarra; and guitar. To these derivates he oldEnglishgitternmay be added."" Specimens of the Conformity of t languages, the the European Languages, especially English, with the Oriental 12mo, 1802. the especially Persian. By Stephen Weston, B. D. * It may be here noted that the word Wuruk or Wumq, used by the Moslems p in Hindostan to signify card,signifies the leaff a tree,a leafoiaper, a o also See Richardson's beingin the lattersense identical with the Latin folium. " of Arabic Dictionary,word "Card;" and the word Wuruf in the list terms Hindostan,given in a subsequentpage. used at the game of cardsas playedat is 3 in Hindostanee, chatur^ Should I be toldthat the correctword for "/o/^r," forthe p in x"f""'ic" be chatta,or cattah," not chartah."d.ndi requiredto account root, I should answer supposing the latterword to be derived from the same by giving a case in point the derivationof quartus from quatuor, leavmg here, by way of contrast, a different I others to assign the reason. subjoin Epistola,a letter. "Quieren algunos que.este nombre etymology of (?";"/""
"
"
"

2G

PLAYING

CARDS.

the primary meaning of c and cards,will be materially orroborated. Xa^Trjg,c/iaria, however, the investigation this point to those I leave, of who understand the Hindostanee language, as all the
on the preceding speculations

is knowledge that I have of the word in question, derived Passion and Principle, from one of Theodore Hook's tales, in the first series of Sayings and Doings.' Wliereverhe with which he uses itis might have picked it up, the effect his peculiarly own.
'

Breitkopf, who is decidedlyof opinion that cards are of Eastern invention, c and of greatantiquity,onsidersthat the
known to Naipcs, by which they were first is the Italians and the Spaniards, derived from an Arabic future word ]Va6aa signifying divination,foretelling
name

Naibc,

or

"

"

events, fortune-telling, such like. In this opinion he and

says he is confirmed by the exposition the Hebrew word of Naihes, which he seems to think cognate with the Arabic Nabaa.* He, however, produces no evidence to show that
cards were known eitherto the Arabians or the Jews by the name of Naibe, and from a subsequent passage in hiswork, itis evidentthat the was suggested merely from

conjecture

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, derivassc c la ciudaddc Carta insigne d se por aver sidocuiia de la rcyna Dido, y atribuycn esta ciudad la ctimologia, aver sidola pria por
mcra

"

Seneca impugnado que dib materia en que lasCartas sc cscriviesscn." dc Seneca,"c. Por Don Alonzo Nunez dc Castro, 220, Madrid, IGGl. p. -Ito. Is thereany evidence show thatthe form of ancient to Carthage \.'as Square?
"

hat einen leisenTon, wie die Zauberer die Zaubertrommel,uhd Nadi, cin Prothun, von siehgegeben ; davon Iifada, Wahrsager, hcrkommt. Eiclihorn in plict, crkliirt, der Einleitungzum A. Tcs:

'

"

Im

Arabischen heist Nahaa

er

Wortc Nadi, Nabiini, tamente, diehebriiischen durch gottliehe Eingebung, uud durch Lcute, die durch gottliehe Elugebuug liandelu." Ueber den Ursprung
"

dcr Spiclkarten,. 15. s

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

27
"

countryin support of the presumed fact. Playing Cards," he observes, were calledwith us Brief thatis letten,in e^
"

Latin,Bpistola^ so and they are called still.The but people do not say, 'give me a pack of cards,' de e ; and Brief (unjeu lettres) they do
*

common
'a

Sjpiel
a

' not say I want

but I want a Brief letter). should,at least, We (a card,' have preservedthe name to us from cards ifthey had come
y

France ; for the common

of allgames that come by is contradicted the factof cards having been called Karten in Germany, beforethey acquiredtherethe name of
; Briefe and
e, this very wovd Brief which ismerely a translation is of the Latin C/iarta, presumptive evidence of the Germans having obtained theirknowledge of cards from

people always preservethe names from other countries."^ This argument

either the French or the ItaUans,with whom the name done" into Latin,had the same meaning as cards, when the German word Briefe,
"

With respect the term Naibes,or Naipes, there are two to etymologieswhich seem deservingof noticehere ; the one

propounded by Bullet,in his Recherches Historiques sur lesCartes a jouer and the other by Eloi Johanneau, in ;' his Melanges d'Origines Etymologiques.' Mons. Bullet
'
*

thinksthat cards are of French origin, and thatthey were not invented before the introduction of linen paper, his chief being evidently forfixing reason thisepoch as a ne-plus-ultra he founded on theirLatinisedname, c/iarfa. From France and supposes that they passed into Spain by way of Biscay, of Naipes. This word, acquiredin theirpassage the name Basque term is accordingto Mons. Bullet, derivedfrom the
"

napa, signifying"plat, plain,uni," which very properly

designates cards, and corresponds with the Latin charta. This ety:-iology isfanciful ; if rather than felicitous charta
d'Estampes,p. 210. Hcinekcn, Idee Gcncrule d'liuccomplete Collection Lcipsic, 1771.
"

28
were

TLAYINO

CARDS.
"

synonymous with ^nensa,

"

table,
"

napa would appear to correspond more the Basque language, like the Celtic,is

the Basque term nearly with it. But

one

peculiarly

; s adapted foretymological peculation a person who undergrub up in itswild fertility may readily of standsa little it, a root for any word which he may not be able to supply

elsewhere.^ with a radical Mons. Eloi Johanneau is of opinion that cards are of than they are generally supposed to much higher antiquity Naipes, the be and with respect to then*Spanish name,
,

is, originof it, to him, too plainand simple to requirethe aid of any scarce or voluminous works to prove it; itis,in
one requires short, of those truthswhich, to be perceived, truth is, that the only to be enounced. This incontestable from the Latin inappa, the in word naipey a card,comes

nejlier

Of this antithesis, or being merely changed into an n. change of a letter, severalexamples are produced ; as the French najjpe, table-cloth, a and also from mappa; nefle la from mespilum ^\A mespilus; and faire Sainte

Mitouche, forfaire Sainte Nitouche, Then naipe and la mappa have an analogous meaning. Naipes, Playing Cards,

differ rom a mapy f which is a geographiccard, scarcely from a nappey which is spread or, except in point of size,
" "

The Abb6 Bullet, to book on Cards,in previous the appearanceof hislittle Dictionary. In the former 1757, had commcneed the publieation a Celtie of are many traces of his mind having acquireda bent from hisCelticretlicre searches.
'

"

in the Celtic as; and in the languagehe finds same the true meaning of the names of the Queens of Clubs and Hearts, Argine and Judith. Argine is formed otar, la,the, and ^//2, b belle,eautiful; Judithis a corruption Judic, which isformed of and
as

He finds the origin the term of

or ace

"

oijud,

tended fancy,are inqueens, according to liis queen, and dye, twice. Both tliose to representAnne of Bretagnc,wife of CharlesVIII and Louis XII. According to Perc Daniel,Argine is an anagram of Rcgina, and is meant for
a

Mary of Anjou, of CharlesVII ; and Judithis not the lieroine the Old wife of agree, Testament,but the wife of Louis-le-Debonnairc. Though those doctorsdisto have equallii for his opinions. The yet each appears good reasons
consequence isthat we
can

put

no

in faith either.

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

29

likea chart on the table. In ancient times,too, mappa the which was displayedat the signified tessara,or signal, speaking of those games in games of the circus.Tertullian, Non vident missum his DiatribeDe Spectaculis,' : says ab quid sit. Mappam putant ; sed est diaboli altoprseci" They perceive They not what isdisplayed. g pitati ula,"
' "
"

think it the mappa, but it is the jaws the devil." It is of that in Tertullian's therewas estimation, evidentfrom this, something very wicked in the mappa ; and the bad odour which, even at that earlyperiod,the word was in,appears to have been retained by its presumed derivative, naipes, ever since: Servavit odorem diu. But then for the grand in discovery Mons. Johanneau finds, Ducange's Glossary, : of passage citedfrom Papias,^ lexicographer the eleventh a century, which proves that the word mappa then signified Playing Card, and that the game of cards was known at
a

least threecenturies previousto the period assignedto its invention by the Abbe Rive.^ "Mappa," according to Papias," is a napkin; a picture, representation games, or of isalsocalled mapa ; whence we say mapa mundi,"" a map
also of the world. An ancient Latin and French glossary, citedby Ducange, explains the passage from Papiasto the " following geographic effect: Mapamundi, a mapemunde (or

and it is derivedfrom mapa, a nappe, a pictureor representation games."^ Though it may be admitted of

map);
*

The Abb^ Rive, grounding his opinion on an interpolated passage in the invention of French translation Guevara's Epistles, ascribes Gutenys of 1330. With respectto the it cardsto the Spanijirds, places about the year and demy. he adopts the N P etymology of the SpanishAcaNaipes, origm of the name Historiques *Eclaircissemcnts The Abb6*8 brochureon cardsisentitled Paris, 1780. dcs Cartes" joucr.* sur llnvcntion ct Critiques * Mapa ctiam touaille, "Mappa, dit Papias, togillay (c-cst-ii-dirc,

nappe);

Un vieux Mapamuudi. dicituriCTURA vel Porma Ludorum, unde dicitur P de latm-franpais la Bibliothbque Saiut-Germain-des-Pres, cit6par de glossaire : en le traduisant Ducange, reproduit et expliqueainsice passage precieux, * form de ou a Mapamundi, mapemunde; et dicitur Mapa, nappe ou picture,

30

PLAYING

CARDS.

or that nappe, a table-cloth, napkin, isderivedfrom mappa, a word was sometimes used to signify and that the latter pictureof some kind of game ; ityet does not appear to be

true, eitherthat mappa, as explained by incontrovertibly Papias, signified card,or a game of cards,or that the a word naipes was derivedfrom it. What Mons. Johanneau

to truth,appears in reality be to considers be a self-evident by than one of those confident no better entitled, assertions in moral truths, consequence of the sincerity f o courtesy,

belief. A greatmany truthsof thiskind pass the author's current in the businessof life, and maintain their nominal value,long after theirrealcharacteris known, upon the
credit the indorscrs. of i Wherever cards may have been first nvented, and whatever may be the etymology of the words charta and naipes,
or

naihi, it is certainthat cards are now Hindostan, where they form the amusement

well known in of the natives,

both Hindoos and Moslems. That they were inventedthere, may be a matter of dispute; but that they have been known
therefrom and were not introduced there earlyperiod, from Europe, appears to be undeniable. The Hindoo cards arc usually ; circular the number of suitsis eight, and in
an

though in some packs ten ; and the marks of the suits, instancesshowing an agreement with those of European are evidently to cards, such as are peculiar the country,and identified with the customs, manners, and opinionsof the
some

European cards in people. They coincide with the earliest having no queen, the two coat cards being a king and his
"
"

tinguish principalinisteror attendant and in the suitsbeing dism by the colouras well as by the form of the mark
or

emblem. It appears necessaryhere to notice an

"
"

which objection,

Etymologiques ct dc Questions Grnmmaticalcs. jcux.' Melanges d'Origines Par M. EloiJohanneau,p. 40.

1818. Paris,

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

31

itself the supposed derivation charta, to s of readilyuggests "four." cards, from a word of eastern origin,signifying : It is this ifthe ancientHindoo pack consisted eigJdor of ten suits, even would it not be preposterousto derivethe
word which impliesthatthere were Facts and ovA.yfoiir. most assuredlyare stubborn things, no w speculation,hether lame of a leg, or going smoothly on European
name
a

from

can stand againstthem. It is not, however, allfours,'^ Hindoo cardsconsistedf eight o proved that the most ancient
"

or

ten suits and till this be done, the speculation ; must

just for what pass

ten, or

from

Whether there were eight, the derivation y^a^rnQ,charta, twenty suits, of paper, be word of Eastern origin,would still unaffected.

it is worth.

I If the game of cards were suggestedby that of chess, am inclinedto think that the earliest ack would consist of p

added to only two suits, and that more were subsequently " f the satisfy wants of busy idleness,"ora more complicated game. Be thisas itmay, cards did not arriveat Europe
from Hindostan "per saltum;" it is probable that their was through theintervening comparatively countries pi-ogress it home with a suite"of eight, slow ; and even ifthey left isnot impossible that they might losehalf of them by the by a fact from a description : way. But, to meet the
"

objection

of pack of Hindostanee cards to be subsequentlynoticed^ and of the game played with them, itappears thatthe ei^ht visions but as two diare not consideredas a singleseries, suits both This partitionorroborates c suits oifoiir each.^ the theory of the game of cardsbeing suggestedby that of being derivedfrom a word primarily chess,and of the name the number four. signifying On the supposition, then, that cardswere inventedin the to East, it feeems advisable first account of the give some
a

"

41. bo to The description alluded will found at p.

32
now cards

PLAYING

CARDS.

intoany investigation before entering used in Hindostan, of the period when the game was firstbrought indeed, no less than a into Europe. A high antiquity, is tliousand years, claimedforone of the packs subsequently
pure fiction, which the it of the cards themselves contradicts, apparent newness assumed, seeingthat in the East customs are may be fairly described but ; this rejectingas
a

and symbols, or marks, on slowlychanged, thatthe figures forms and signification those cardsare, in their generally,f o a at leastas early date as those which are to be found on

the oldestEuropean cards. There is no collection Hindostaneecards in the Muof it scum of the East India Company ; the purveyors, would to to seem, even them likely be interesting not considering
the Lady Proprietors, who, though they have no voice,at leastin LeadenhallStreet, influence, yet have considerable by their votes, in the choiceof Directors. The natives of Hindostan always speak of "the Company" as if,in the the great body of proprietors were a female, abstract, " Mrs. Company ;"* and it would appear that the direction*'
"

"

of thingsat home, is rapidly approximatingto Gynccocracy.^

"

pure

even witli the of the Company appearsto be a matter of interest ladles AlTghanistan."At night the ladies Maliomed Shah Khan, and of of in Mrs. Eyre to dinner. othereliicfs were travelling our company, invited who She found them exeeedingly kind in manner in and prepossessing outward being both well-dressednd good-looking. They asked the old appearance, a 8CX
"

The

questionas to the genderof the Company." in Affghanistan.

*

"

Lieut.Eyre*8 Journalof Imprisonment

you speak of a Gun :" Moore, in hisLifeof Sheridan,observesthat but a very imperfect report of Sheridan's celebrated speech on the impeachment of Warren Hastings is preserved. The foUowing to piquant passage relating the East India Company, as then constituted and actingsoccurs in a report of the speech publishedin an old Magazine, for February,1787. "He remembered to have heard an honourable and learned f gentleman (Mr.Dundas) remark, that there was something in the first rame the Company, which extendedthe of and constitution sordidprinciplesf their o

"Apropos debottes,"" "Now

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

83

In the Museum of the Royal Asiatic Society, thereare threepacks of Hindostanee cards,one of them consisting of ten suits, and the other two of eight suits each. In each when complete,the number of cards is twelve; that is suit, two coat cards,or honours, and ten others, whose numerical
vdue is expressedby the number of marks upon them, in a mode similarto that by which English cards,from the ace pips." The cards of allthe packs are circular the diameter of the ; i largest s 2finches, and of the smallest about 2g inches. The material of which they are formed would appear to be
canvas,*

by to the ten, are distinguished the number of the

"

but

so

that each single with varnish, card stiffened

feelslike a piece of wood. All the figures and marks ; appear to be executed by hand, not printednor stencilled each pack is contained in an oblongbox, the cards being placedon their of edges;and on the top and sides the box, the marks or emblems of the several suitsare depicted. From the styleof theirexecution, I should conclude that cardthough painting in Hindostan, was a regular profession,
possiblycombined with
as just some

other,to

"

make ends meet,"

was card-painting combined with wood-engraving in part of the fifteenth generally, Germany in the latter as might, in century; or just shaving and hair-cutting

civil policy, with their c all theirsuecessiveoperations,onnecting a pedlarand the the meanness boldestachievements, even of and with their Alike in the politicalnd the militaryline could be a profligacy pirates. of a saw observed auctioneering ambassadors and trading generals; and thus we brought about by affidavits army employed in executingan arrest; j an revolution a town besiegedon a note of hand; a prince dethroned for the balance of an Thus it was they exhibiteda government which united the account. traffic a merchant's of mock majesty a bloody sceptre, and the little of hand and picking a pocket one counting-house, wielding a truncheon with with another." vas, " It is are made of canexpressly statedthat the cardsof one of the packs in a memorandum wluch accompanies them. This is the pack which is

originover

handlingthem they seemed to saidto be a thousand years old. On first be made of thin veneers of wood.

me

to

84

PLAYING

CARDS,

former times, afforda decent subsistence when eked out tooth-drawing, s surgery, uch as blood-letting, with a little
"

"

Qiice prosunt omnihm artes"

In giving a separatedescription each of those packs, of it seems most proper to begin with that for which the

is highestantiquity claimed. This pack is one of the two which consistof eight suits; and, from a memorandum I ticulars which accompanies it, have obtained the followingparrespectinga former possessor and the presumed antiquity the cards. They formerlybelonged to Captain of D. Cromhne Smith, to whom they were presented,about the year 1815, by a high-casteBramin, who dwelt at other placein one of the northern Sircars of Southern India. The Bramin considered them to be a greatcuriosity, and informed Capt. Smith that they had been handed down in his family from time immemorial.
Guntoor,
or some

He supposed that they were a thousand years old,or more ; he did not know if they were but believedthat perfect,
two more there were originally 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

mation. of the Bramin's inforThe writerof the memorandum," looking at the costume of the figures and the harness of the animals,and that the Mahometans do not tolerate considering painted images,'"concludesthat these cards are Hindostanee.
account of them.

Such is the sum

The pack consistsof eight suits, each suit containing two honours and ten common cards in allninety-six ards. c In allthe suits the King is mounted on an elephant; and in six,the Vizier, second honour, is on horseback; but or in the blue suit, the emblem or mark of which is a red
" "

Though Mahometans might to object paintfiguredcards,it appears that do tliey "tolerate"them, and that very tion amply, by using them. See a descripthe Gunjcefu, cardsused by the Moslems, at or of page 41.

'

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

85

; spotwith a yellow centre ^he rides a tiger and in the white suit, the mark of which appears like a grotesque head, he is mounted on a bull. The backs or fiendish of the cards are green. The followingare the colours all of the ground on which the figuresare painted in the several togetherwith the difierent suits, marks by which the suits
"
" "

value of the and the respective distinguished.

common

cards were

also

COLOUES.

MAUKS.
. .
.

1. Fawn 2. Black 3. Brown

4. White 5. Geeen

Something likea pineapple a shallowcup. in A red spot,with a white centre. tulwar,"or sword. A grotesque kind of head. Something likea parasol without a handle, and with two broken ribssticking throughthe top.
A
"

...

6. Blue

....

7. Bed

8. Yellow

...

A red spot, with a yellow centre. parallelogramwith dots on it,as if to represent .A writing(shortest vertical). side An oval.

On everyone of the common cardsthereis alsodepicted, in additionto the mark of theirrespective suits, something like a slender leaf,tapering upwards, but with the top curving down. Of thispack of cards I have nothingfurther to observe here than that if they are even a hundred years old, they must have been preservedwith great care ; and that I am inclined to think that the Bramin, who gave them to Capt. Smith, had over-rated their antiquity and in rarity order to enhance the value of his present. In a second pack, consisting, likethe preceding, eight of suitsof twelve cards each, the King appears seated on a throne ; while the Vizier, in the former,is on horseback, as
except in three of the suitswhere he appears mounted on an a elephant, single-humped camel, and a bull. Though

there be

diSerencebetween thispack and the former,in

86

PLAYING

CARDS.

there can be no doubt that the marks of some of the suits, In the pack the same game might be played with each. the backs of allthe cards are red. now under consideration are the coloursof the ground and the marks The following

suits. of the several

The thirdpack of Hindostaneecardsin the possessionf o to Society, whom itwas presentedby the theRoyal Asiatic Sir John Malcolm,is much more curious late and interesting

than cither the other two previously sists noticed. It conof of ten suits, f twelve cardseach ; and the marks of o
the suitsare the emblems of the ten Avatars,or incarnations i of Vichnou, one of the three principaldivinities n the s religiousystem of the Hindoos. The King is represented by Vichnou, seatedon a throne, and in one or two instances
as accompanied by a female; and the Vizier, in most of the suitsof the other two packs, is mounted on a white horse. In every suit two attendantsappear waiting on the second

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 suitsare as follows
as
"
"

In a note to the article Wliist, the ForeignQuarterly eview, No. 48, in on R to, thispack of cardsis previously referred merated noticed, and the suitsare thus enu" While this article : in the press,we have been favoured with a was
*

as

sightof two packs of cards in the possession the Royal Asiatic Society: and, of truthismore strange than fiction, cerone of these, consisting Ten Suits, of

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

37

COLOUBS.

MABKS.
, .

1. Red
2. Yellow 3. Gold
4. Green

.A
"

fish. A tortoise. boar.

.
.

.
.

.A
.

.A
.

lion. A
man's
axe.

6. Bhottnish Gbxen

head.

6. Red

7. Brownish
8. Pr.-^B
9. Brick
.

Gbeen
.

Red
.

10. Green

.An An ape. A goat or antelope. or cattashal umbreUa. .A horse,saddledand bridled. white .A

.

The following descriptionof the ten Avatars,or incarnations, of Vichnou, as representedin a series drawings,^ of willexplainthe meaning of neariy every one of the marks of
does represent the Ten Avatars tainly
nava^ or

incarnations the Vistnof, of

or

Vish-

sect

The suitsare

1. The 2. The 3. The 4. The 5. The

Fish. Tortoise. Boar. Lion. Monkey.

6. The 7. The 8. The 9. The 10. The

Hatchet. UmbreUa (or Bow.) Goat. Boodh. Horse.

"The Dwarf of the 5th Avatar is substituted the Monkey ; the Bow and by Arrows of the 7th by the Cattashal Umbrella, or the which gives precisely same
takes the placeof the Plough." outline and the Goat there,as often elsewhere, ; On the pack of eight cards,which was probably one of those previously noticedin the present volume, the writer of the article makes the following
: observations The otherpack has eightsuits, f eightcardsand two court cards o inclusive the honours, in each in all. [The each ; eighty of number of cards, istwelve, as has been previously The Parallelogram, Sword, suit,
"

observed.]

Mower, and Vase, answer to the Carreau,Espada, Club, and Copa of European : the suits the Barrel (P), Garland (?), two kindsof Chakra (quoit) and complete is the parallelogram. The Flower the set." ^The Sword isplain enough, and so
"

I and the Cup, I confess, have not been able to make out ; and I questionmuch ifthe Parallelogram described, represents which in another pack, subsequently a royal diploma or be the original the Carreau or Diamond on of mandate
"
"

European cards. The two kinds of Chakra" are simplytwo circulararks. m * Engravings of those description, be foimd in as well as their will subjects, 'Religionsde 1* Antiquityonsiderdesprincipalementdans leursformes symc 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 cards. The only suitswhich do not exactly of in drawings, as correspondwith the Avatars, represented the those numbered 8 and 9, the emblems of which are a be observed that goat and an umbrella. It is,however, to
are

authors do not agree in their accounts of the concur Avatars of Vichnou, though they generally different in representing them as ten in number, that is, nine passed It isalso possible that the goat which and one to come. which appearscouchantas ifgivingsuck and the umbrella, Hindoo
" "

in the east isfrequently the sign of regal dignity, may be tion symbolicalof the eighthand ninth Avatars in the descripof the drawings. Though the Bramin Dwarf, in the

Avatar of the drawings, carriesan umbrella, there fifth be can scarcely a doubt that the Man's head, in No. 5 of is the cards, the symbol of thisAvatar.

THE

TEN

AVATAES

OF VICHNOU.

1. Matsyavatara.

Avatar of Vichnou, as The first

Fish; represented the body of a man with the tail a as of fish. The human part is coloured blue ; the rest is white.
In two ofhisfourhands he holdsthe ChaJcra, Soudarsana, or which here appearssomething like a quoitwith rays proceeding
from it.^ In the palm of anotherof his hands the diamond carre mystique isdisplayed. According to the
" "

Bhagavat Purana, the precious stone or diamond called Cdstrala, a sort of talismanwhich illuminates things, is all and in which all things are reflected. It is the perfect
it on his wears mirror of the world, and Vichnou generally breast, holds itin the palm of that hand which is raised or in the act of benediction.
'
"

Esp^ce de

roue

et cnflammde,symbolede laforcevivantequi p6ii^tre

meut ruiiivcrs."

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

39

The secondAvatar,as a Tortoise ; m tortoise.The the upper part of the figure,an, the lower, Cliakra of appearspoised on the fingers one of the hands.
2. KouRMAVATARA.

The thirdAvatar 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
3. Varahavatara.

boarisblue.
4. Narasinhavatara.
as a

The fourthAvatar of Vichnou,

Lion, to destroythe giant Hiranycasyapa. Vichnou h appears with a lion's ead,but with a human body,holding the Chakra in one of his hands.
5. Vamanavatara.

A The fifthvatar of Vichnou, as

Bramin Dwarf, to avenge the gods on the giant Bali. In hand he holds a kind of narrow-necked pot,with a one
or spout to it, and in another a cattashal, umbrella.

Avatar of Vichnou,as a The sixth Bramin, armed with an axe, to chastise kings and warriors. The colourof the figureis green, and in one of his hands he holds either flower, a kind of leaf. or a
6. Parasou-Rama.

7. Sri-Rama, or Rama-Ichandra. The seventhAvatar of Vichnou, in the familyof the Kings of the race of the Sun, to avenge the gods and men of the tyrannyof Havana, King of Lanka or Ceylon. The figure Vichnou in this of Avatar, is blue or green ; and he is seated on a couch or
throne with his wife Sitabesidehim, while monkeys appear him adoration. In the cards, the colour Vichnou of ofiering isblue, and a female shares histhrone,which isveiy much likea font or shallow bath. Monkeys also appear before him.

40
8. Chrishna.

PLAYING

CARDS.

The Eighth Avatar of Vichnou, as an Infantsuckled by his mother Devaki. Rays of glory surround the heads of the mother and child.

The ninth Avatar of 9. Bouddha, the Son of Maya. Vichnou, who appears richlydressed,seated in an attitude
on like of meditation a throne,the back of which is of a shellform "espece de conque'^ and is adorned with Lotus flowers.
"

"

The tenth, and future Avatar of Vichnou, as a Horse, or Man-horse, armed with sword and buckler, destroythe world at the end of the presentage. to The figure has a human body, and a horse'shead.
-

10. CalkI'AVatara.

As there are different accounts of the incarnationsof Vichnou, as has been previously observed,the followingis light on the more givenwith the view of throwing a little "Vichnou, the second person in the Hindoo

subject:

is tions trinity, said to have undergone nine successiveincarnato deliver mankind from so many perilous situations. The first, they say,was in the form of a lion; the second of

hog ; the third tortoise;he fourth a serpent the fifth a t ; thatof a Bramin (adwarf, ; afoot and a halfhigh)the sixth
a
a

man monster, namely,half

halflion;the seventha dragon;

the eightha man born of a virgin and the ninth an ape. ; Bemier adds a tenth,which isto be thatof a great cavalier. (Voyage,ol. ii, 142.) A very particularand a very v p.

different is account of thesetransformations given by Mr. Sonnerat (Voyages, i,p. 158), vol. with curiousrepresentation of each of them."* In thisaccount we have both a lion,
The Institutions Moses and those of the Hindoos compared. By Joseph of 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, alsoprobablysymbols though neither them occur in the cards, of of the same thing, nor in the description of the drawings.

present the reader with a description of and of the game played another pack of Hindostanee cards, with them: it forms an articleentitled 'Hindostanee Cards,'in the second volume of the Calcutta Magazine,
I shall now
1815;

"

fac-similes and is accompanied with two plates, of^ which are here given.

The words Gunjeefu Tas are used in Hindostanee and to denote either the game, or a pack of cards. I have in ' vain searched the AsiaticResearches,' AsiaticAnnual
''
*

Register,' Sir William Ouseley's OrientalCollections,' and b Repertory,'y Dalrymple,forsome account or the Oriental
* '

description the mode of playing the cards in use among of f the nativesof Hindostan; and further,rom thetotalsilence conclude that of the French and English Encyclopaedias, they have never engaged the attention any inquirer. A of description the or cards,used by the Moslems, of

gunjeefu,

be may therefore acceptableto oiir readers. " In the Dictionary, Hindostanee and English,' edited
'

by the lateDr. 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-sixards,dividedinto c the King, eight suits. In each suit are two court cards, likethose of Europe, cards, and the Wuzeer. The common

bear the spotsfrom which the suits are named, and are ten in number. "Four suits are named superior,* four the inferior^ and
suits.
'
*

Beshbur Kumbur.

42

four superior the [honoursthe] "Plate I represents of Kumbur. Beshbur; and Plate II, the inferior, c suits, alled distinguished, are here numbered The kings are easily and from 1 to 8. the ten followsnext in value to "In the superior suits, the king and wuzeer ; and the ace is the lowest card. In
the ace has precedenceimmediatelyafter the inferior suits, the the wuzeer, then the deuce,and others in succession, ten being of least value.
"The game is played by threeor sixpersons: when six three take the superior, suits. and three the inferior play, the cards are well The pack being dividedintoparcels after

mixed, the playerscut for the deal; and he who cuts the highestcard 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 the adversaries.The cards are dealtfrom ri^Jdixyleft,
of the European mode. " The Lead. When the game is played by day,he who holdsthe red king, {Soorkh, sun,)ust lead that and the m it any smallcard. Should ho playthe king alone, is seized
reverse

by the next player. The adversaries throw down each two is common cards, and the trick taken up. When the game
: of the suitsare thus explained from the original abbreviated appellation, *

The

names

a Soofed, Taj, crown. white, a silver oin; figuratively, c zur-i-soofed,

the moon.
or

Shumsher, sabre. Gholam, a slave. CAnn^, a harp. Soorhh, red, a the Burat, a royaldiploma, or zur-i-ioorhh, gold coin; figuratively, sun.

assignment. Quimash, merchandize. " In forthe deal, Tajisthe highestsuit,nd the rest have precedence, cutting a in that suit, the orderabove recited. after

Plate I

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

43

is the white king, {Soofed, moon,) the isplayedby nighty The cards are then played out at the led in likemanner. throwing away option of him who leads, the adversaries theirsmall cards,and no attentionis paid to the following

having a superior unless when one of the adversaries, suit, card of the suitled,chooses to play it to gain the trick. In order to guard a second-rate card which may enable t you hereaftero recover the lead,it is customary to throw down a small one of that suit,and call the card you are desirousto have played. With this call the adversaries
"

must comply.

lead holds none

As in Whist, when the person who has the but winning cards,they are thrown down.

Afterthe cards have been aU played,the parties their shuifle one tricks, and the lastwinner, drawing a card,challenges fore to of his adversaries draw out any card from the heap behim, naming it the fourthor fifth,c. from the top or "
The winner of thistrickin likemanner challenges his right-hand adversary. The number of cards in the possessionof each party is then counted, and those who have fewest are obliged to purchase from an adversaryto bottom.

their deficiency complement. The greatest of winner at the end of four rounds has the game. "The followingterms used in the game may be acceptable
make up
to those who desire to understand it when played by

isof : natives I think they unequivocally prove that Gunjeefu Persian or Arabian origin.
"

Zubur-dust, the right-handplayer. Zer-dust,the left-hand player. Zurb, a trick. Ser, a challenge. Ser-k'hel,he challenging t game. Ekloo, a sequence of three cards.

Khurch, the card played to

one

led; not a winning card.

44

PLAYING

CARDS.
N

to KlielJava, 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 the game when played,I do of t interestingo cause its being prenot think it sufficiently ferred in vogue in Europe. The by Europeans to the cards
"

number of the suitsare too great,and the inconvenient form of the cards (the sented size and shape of which are repreThe Hindoosby the plates^) great are objections. tanee cards are made of paper, well varnished the figures ; and the ground and backs of every appropriatelyainted, p suitof one colour. The Slave standingbeforethe King in No. 3, is the figureused as the spot or crest on all the The tradition common ing regardcards of that suit that they were the origin the Hindoostanee cards is, of

invented by

band her husfavorite or sultana, queen, to wean from a bad habithe had acquiredof pullingor eradicating his beard.'^
a

With respectto the word Gunjeefu, which, accordingto for the preceding account, appears to be a general name and thatit cards,I am informed thatitisof Persianorigin,

pack of cards and the game. In Bengal, known by the name cards are more generally of Tas, which as is a Hindoo word, than that by Gunjeefu,Gangeefah, or it is otherwisewritten. Prom the reference, the prein ceding
both signifies
a

account, to the 'Dictionary,Hindoostanee and

"By an oversight the engraver,a native Bengalee artist, the Moon in of No. 2, PlateI, isrepresented crescent instead full. [Theerror has been as of
in The priceof the pack faithfully retained our fac-similes.]
was
*

two rupees."

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

45
am

I English/ edited by the late Dr. Hunter/ think that

inclined to

signification, with to cards; and that the only difierenceetween b reference them consistsin the pronmiciationand mode of spelling. Now, the word Tajis said to signify crown ; but ifitbe a for alsoused figuratively a king, the wearer of a crown is figuratively as just "crown" used to signifyempire for cards would be or the Hindoo name regal power
"
"

Tajand- Tas

have the same

"

Four Kings" has been already on the terms Chartce and shown; and if my speculations Naipes be correct,it was by a name signifying originally

synonymous with England by the name

Kings/' That cards

of the
"

were

known

in

four kings,or four viceroys, that cards were Europe.

known in first

With regard to the game describedin 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 suitsappear to be consideredas 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 dealtby fours. In the European game of four suits

In the DictionaryHindostanee and English, edited by the late Dr. to be found under the word Hunter, the names of the Eight Suits of Cards are
*
"

of a gentleman of eminent suit."" On the authority of the first I am informedthat there is no Sanscrit in attainments Hindostanee literature, for Playing Cards. word * A particularccount of the mode of playingthe game of "L*Hombre k a des Jeux.' The autrois," thor be found in the first volume of the 'Academic will de I'hombre; 11 d a I'etymologieu jeu d "D est inutile e s'arreter observes, se de direque lesEspagnols en sont lesauteurs, et qu'il sent du flegme suffit "Z"i de la nation dont iltireson origine." According to the same authority, n*a pas, a la Cluadrille n*est,a proprement parler,que I'hombre a quatre, qui I'hombre a la verite, beaute, ni ne demande pas une si grande attentionque trois;uiaisaussifaut-il est plus amusant et plus recrdatif." convenir qu'il

the Taj, name

46

PLAYING

CARDS.

beingomitted and eights cards the tens,nines, and forty thereare three players, nd the cards are dealtby threes. a fail A personwho can play at Ombre willscarcely to perceive between the two games. otherpoints of similarity several
"

"

From

Spadillo, the terms used in the game of Ombre be Basto,Matador, Punto, "c. there can scarcely a doubt
"

"

that the other nationsof Western Europe derivedtheir knowledge of it from the Spaniardji.The Hon. Daines in Barrington, his Observationson the Antiquityof Card
'

Playing in England,'derivesthe tlicSpanish, " hombre,"

a

names

man

of the game from and there is reason to

bcUevethatitwas one of the oldest games at cardsplayed into at in Europe. If the game of cards were introduced Europe by the Arabs, it is in Spain that we might first
in Valle, his Travels in expect to find them. Pietro della the East, between 1614 and 1626, speaks of the people f though differingrom ours in the figures playingat cards,
and number of suits;and Niebuhr, in his Travels,also speaks of the Arabians playingat cards,and says thatthe game is calledLab-el-Kammer.^ It is, however, to be

in thatthe game of cards is not once nientioned observed, the Arabian Nights ; and from this silence may be conit cluded
thatat the time when thosetales were

playingwas not a it is believed, not earlier is than about the end of the fifteenth century,though many of the talesare of a much higher antiquity. Leaving out of consideration the pack of ten suits, with the emblems of the ten incarnations Vichnou, as being of
mythologicalcharacter,nd probably not in common a use forthe purposes of gaming, itis evidentfrom the other three packs,of eight suitseach,that the cards known in
of
a

compiled cardpopular pastime in Arabia. The compilation,

Barringtou's bservations "hc Antiquity Card-playing England." O in on of Arcbacologia, viii, 1787. vol.

'

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

47

Hindostanare not unifonn in the marks of the dijQTerent though itis obvious that any game, depending on suits,
"

value of the several and the conventional sequences cards, which can be played with one of the packs,may be also
"

The dijSference in played with eitherof the other two. the marks is, indeed, much less than is to be observed in old French,Spanish,and German cards, which present to render it impossibleto derive as so many differences
emblem, s whateveritmight originallyignify, appearsto have had no meaning or value,beyond what might be assigned specific to it by the conventional rulesof the game; whether it them from
one

type. The original

mere

mark

or

were a

a sword or a chalice, club or heart or a diamond, a green leafor

a a

piece of money, hawk's bell,in

playingand counting the game, itwas

more.

*'pip/' noand thing

Whether the two packs of eight suitseach,in the possession Society, are considered by the of the Royal Asiatic
natives Hindostan as consisting two divisions four of of of in suits each,as in the pack described the extractfrom the * CalcuttaMagazine,* I have not been able to ascertain.

In allthe. three packs the sword is to be found as the mark of one of the suits and the soofed soorhh of the one ; and the pack silver and coin and gold coin,figuratively moon
"

by the sun I considerto be represented the circulararks m in the othertwo ; and the oval in these is not unHke the mark of the suit named Quimash merchandise in the former. The II,No. 7 mark of the suitBurat, see Plate a royal diploma or assignment, corresponds which is said to mean containingdots, very nearlywith a parallelogram as if meant in for writing, the pack formerlybelongingto Capt. D. Cromline Smith; but though a parallelogram
"
" "

"

"

crossedby two lines, and with the longest side vertical alsooccurs in the other pack, itsagreement with the Burat
"

48
isby
no
means so

PLAYING

CARDS.

apparent. The marks of the suitsTaj, Plate I, fig. and 1, a a Crown, and C/iupjf, Harp.* (sec by Plate II,fig. 5,)I am unable to recognise,ither name e inclined i to or figure,n the othertwo packs ; though I am think that,in one of them, the placeof the Tajis supphed
kind of fruit, and in the other by a flower. It will be observed that, the plate, in the mark of the suitcalled C/imff,a harp, is a bird. In the other two packs, the by
a

suitswhich I considerto be the substitutes f the C/iunff o have a mark which I have not been able to make in the C/iunffy is as out ; but in one of them the Vizier,

mounted on a single-humped camel. In the suit called 4 I cannot make out what G/iolam,a slave Plate T, fig. isintendedforthe mark," whether the Ma/iut,who appears
"
"

by or guiding the elephant, the kind of mace carried the Vizier whatevermay be the mark, I consider to the suit ; be represented that with a white ground in Capt. D. C. by Smith's cards, the mark of which is a grotesquehead, as in both suits the Vizieris mounted on a bull. The correspondi
suit in the otherpack I conceiveto be the one which has foritsmark a man's head. With respectto the marks of the several in suits, the different described, packs of Hindostanee cards,previously
"

what
'

they r what objects graphicallyepresent,

"

they might

for a kiud of harp. ^Inthree othor packs kind,which I have had an opportunity of harp occurs both in the honours and the numeral cards. I examining,the througha mistakeof the native suspectthatthe birdhas been substituted artist the cards. In one of the packsjustlluded the cards arc not to, who engraved a but likeEuropean cards, but of much smaller size. In circular, rectangular, another pack of Hindostanee cardswhich I have seen, the marks in allthe eight are birds in four they are allof the same form" something ; suits of the suits, likethat of a starling" but differing theircolour; in three others they are in by so geese, and of the same colour, that the suitis only to be distinguished all the ground on which they are isa painted. The mark of the eighthsuit peacock.

Chung isalsothe Chinesename of Hindostaneecards, the same of

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

49

have been intended to

by signify the person who

devised

them, and what allegorical meanings may have assignedto them by others, much might be said; and a writer quick of imagination, and hieroglyphicwit,likeCourt de Gebelin,
"

find in them not only a summary of allthe might readily knowledge of the Hindoos theological, moral, political, and but knew scientific also a great deal more than they cither
" "

dreamt of. As I feel my inabilityo perform such a t task,or ratherto such pleasuresof imagination; and enjoy does not afford space for so wide a as the present work
or

discursus, shall confine my observations to such marks I 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 ten of the incarnations Vichnou,I shall suits, epresenting of only r

incidentally to, as I am refer either are purposes of gaming, but

not such
as

or
are

of opinionthatthose cards are were generally used for the

to be classed matic with thoseemble-

been devised periods, cards which have, at different in Europe for the purpose of insinuating knowledge intothe

minds of ingenious youth by way of pastime. In referring any of the marks to be found in the three to eight-suitacks of Hindostanee cards,which appear to be p intended for the purposes of play only, itseems imnecessary

object
between

to specify the particular pack to which they belong, as my is merely to callattentionto the apparent agreement
some

of the marks of Hindostanee cards,and those which are either known to have been the marks of the European cards,or are to be found on such old earliest
or in the preserved in public libraries, still collectionsf individuals. o In the earlyEuropean cards,which have cups, swords, for the marks of the pieces of money, and clubs or maces

cards

as

are

50
four

PLAYING

CARDS.

of the Hindostanee identified and ifwe are to suppose that ; cards are readily formerly in these cards certain emblems of Vichnou were to be found eitheron the represented ^butwhich are not displayingthe ten ordinary Playing Cards, or on those to incarnations Vichnou itwould not be difficult account of for the cups, and clubs or maces ; for, according to Dr. or war Frederick Creutzer,^the mace club is frequentlyto

the suits/ sword and pieceof money

"

"

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 be
seen

in

one

the marks in European suits, ups, or chalices, c swords,money, have been supposed to represent the fourprincipal and clubs,

in a European state, to wit. Churchmen ; classesof men Swordmen, or feudalnobiUty ; Monied men, merchants or as traders and Club-men, workmen, or labourers, itisjust ;
"

in parallel the four superiorsuitsof one of the packs of Hindostanee cards,given in Plate I ; there may.be found Taj, crown, royalty; a Soofedy^As^x money, merchants;
easy to
run a

sword, fightingmen, seapoys; and Gholam, a both of hill the coolies necessar slave, and plain. It may not be unhere to obsen^e that the four great historical castes ShwrnheTy
a

2, of the Hindoos are, 1, Bramins, priests; Chetryas,soldiers; 3, Vaisyas, tradesmen and artificers ; and 4, Sudras, slaves,

and the lowest classof labourers. Of these four castes the Bramins alone remain unmixed ; the otherthree,as distinct
" the Copas, Espadas, Oros, y still marks of the suitsin Spain : Bastos." The "Oros," literally golden money, are also calledDineros, 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 discrepancyetween the names, Spades and Clubs, b and the marks of thosesuits, in Englishcards, in willbo noticed itsproper place. * Religionsde I'Antiquitd traduction Fran^aiso Guigniant. de ; * Von Hammer's Mines of the East.

These

are

ORIOIN

AND

NAME.

51
so

castes,exist only in

name,

for they have become

mixed, inter-

can thatthe subdivisions nor neither be ascertained reckoned by the learnedpundits themselves.^

In the oldest European cards, or stencilled, printed, which are probablyof as earlya date as the year 1440, the marks

h leaves, are bells, earts, and acorns ; and in the of the suits Hindostanee cards we finda leafor a flower, the mark of as one ; of the suits and I am inclinedto think that, in the latter, he figures of the oval,and of that which appears t
something likea pine-applein a shallow cup, were the types When those marks are comof the bellsand the acorns. pared, without reference to their being representations f o
specific of objectswhich the mind has alreadya preconceived idea,the generalagreement of their forms is, to the eye, apparent. For the heart,I have not been able to discoverany corresponding mark in the Hindostanee cards. Should I be told that the form of the heart might be suggested
more

by that of the leaf,I have to observe that the form of the leaf in Hindostanee cards, is not the same as that t which occurs in European, and thatin the latter,he

heart appears always to have been colourof the so-called red. Between the marks of the suits on old French cards, be found Coeur,Carreau,Trefle, and Pique," and those to on Hindostanee not venture to make any direct cards,1 shall form of comparison. It,however, may be observed thatthe
"

This is Mr. Colebrooke'sconclusion. Sir John Malcolm gives a different doubted, both as regards account, the correctness of which may be very justly the priests, the present time and the past : " The fourdivisions Hindoos, viz. of human society, in soldiers, appear to have existed every merchants,and labourers, have they been maintained but at a certain stage of civilization; in India alone BhiUs (Beels) on forseveral thousandyean with prescriptive vigour."-'Essay the Society, by Sir John Malcolm, in the Transactionsf the Koyal Asiatic vol i, o p. 65, 1824.
'

52

PLAYING

CARDS.

the Pique" the spade in English cards" is almost precisely the same as that of the leafin other European packs; and line that the Trefle the club, in English cards" in its out"

Those who likenessto the acorn. bears a considerable Carreau, or diamond, from the Cosplease may derivethe on the breast, or held in traluyor mystic diamond, worn the palm of the hand of Vichnou ; it does not, however,
the mark of a suitin any of the Hindostanee cards that have come imder my observation; and the mark to is that of the suit which itbears the greatestresemblance Burat, as shown in Plate II,No. 7. An examination of a
occur as

extensive greater varietyof Hindostanee cards, and more knowledge of the names of and significations the marks of the suits, games played,would probably and of the different lead to the discovery more points of resemblance than I of have been able to perceive. by The different hings signified marks, apparentlyagreet ing in their general forms, on Hindostanee and European the following partly accounted for on degree serve to explain grounds, which will also in some both in form and name, the difference, of the marks of the suitsin different packs of old European cards. cards, may

be

Graphic forms of allkinds, whether symbolic, or positive

stood, jepresentations specific of which objects, are readilyunderboth in theirfigurative tion, meaning and direct significaby the people with whom they originated,are, when brought into a different coimtry without theirexplanations,

knowledge b ofteninterpretedy thatpeople accordingto their and opinions; and forms forwhich they have no corresponding
or are referredto originals, which they failto identify, of and objectssimilarshape with which they are familiar,

by theirnames. Similar changes in the meaning called of symbolic figuresalso take place with the same people,in
are

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

53

meaning becoming obsolete, consequence of the original in throughchange ofcustoms and opinions, thecourse of time. a figure In thismanner of the homed Isis, with the young Horus in her lap,appears to have been taken for arepresenher on tation the Virgin Mary, with the crescent moon of head, nursing the infant Jesus; and thus the figures of Minerva have passed forthoseof Adam and Eve. Jupiter and In the sixteenth the suit of century it appearsthat in Italy
ColonnSy Bastoni clubs, or maces, proper was alsocalled ; ;^ pillarsand the suitof Danari ^money SpeccU, mirrors bore on merelybecausethe clubor mace as depicted the suits, some resemblance to a slenderpillar,nd thatthe form of a
" "
" "

Danari,likethatof an ancientmirror, Among was circular. the pitmen in the neighbourhood of Newcastle-on-Tyne, the diamonds on the cards are frequently calledPicks from
^

to their similarity the head of a pick,the tool with which they dig the coals a writerUke Court de GebeUn, might ; black discoverin this connexion between picks and diamonds" " a type with a pair of handles." It may be
"

here observed, thatthe suitwhich the French term piques, isthatwhich we, improperly, spades. call But, even admitting the agreement, both in figure and signification,severalof the marks of the suitsin early of European cards,and those which occur in the cardsnow used in Hindostan, it may be said that this factby no in the East, means proves eitherthat cards were invented Hindostanee cards were or that the marks of suitson the t actually he models of those resembling them which are to be found on earlyEuropean cards; for cards might find as into Europe their way into the East from Europe as well from the East. When St.FrancisXavier was in the East
'

jm

Innocentio Einghieri, p. Cento Giuochiliberali d'Ingegno, 132. 4to. et

Bologna, 1551.

54

PLATING

CAEDS.

was a common Indies, ^from 1541 to 1552, card-playing amusement with the European residents and traders;^ Portuguese ship that and it is very Ukely that the first there,about half a century before,had a pack of arrived
"

"

cards on board. That European cards were sent to the East, among other articles merchandise,towards the end of of the sixteenth century,appears evident from a passage in
of narrative the first voyage of the English,on a private account, begun by Captain George Rajrmond, and finished
a

learn from Sir Lancaster;* and we Alexander Bumes, that commerce has imported cards into the Holy City of Bokhara, that the pack consists thirtyof by Captain James

Russian.^ sixcards, and thatthe games are strictly Looking, however, at all the circumstances," the probabihty of Cards having been suggested by Chess, the names
ChartcB and Naipes, the marks to be found

the tradition their having been known of from a very earlyperiod, ^thebalance of evidenceappears decidedly in favour of the conclusion that cards were invented
"

them, and in Hindostan

on

in the East. No. xlviii the of

'

The writer of an article Cards, in on Foreign Quarterly Review,' previously

referredto, speaks confidentlyof the great antiquityof

The Life of St. Francis Xavier,by Father Bouhours: translated John by Dryden, pp. 71, 203, 697.
*

"The Cth October,[1592]hey met with a Malacca shipof 700 tons, t They found was which,afterher main-yard shot through,yielded. on board fifteen piecesof brasscannon, 300 buttsof Canary and Nipar or Pahnas wine,with very strong raisin sortsof haberdashery-wares, hats, red wine; all knit caps, and taffeties, stockings Spanishwool; velvets, of and silks; camblets,
....

"

Venice glasses,counterfeit by abundance of suckets,rice, stones (brought an Indian from Venice, to Playing Cards, and two or three cheat the Indians), packs of French paper." The prizewas taken in the Straits Malacca; and of the articles European manufacture to have been brought to Malacca of appear by the Portuguese." The Naval Clironicleor Voyages ; of the most celebrated EnglishNavigators, i, vol. p. 392. Svo. 1760. " Barnes'sTravels intoBokhara,vol. p. 169. Second ii, 1835. edit.

ORIGIN

AND

'

NAME.

55

for cardsin Hindostan, but does not give any authorities " the fact. We know," he says, that the Tamuli have had cards from time immemorial ; and they are said to be
"

with the Brahmins, who unquestionably of equal antiquity them still, claim to have inventedthem." The and possess
statement of the Bramin who gave the cards to Captain D. Cromline Smith, though certainly not true with respect

to that individualpack, may yet be received as confirmator

of the traditional evidence in favour of cards having been known in Hindostan from a veiy generally

earlyperiod.^ Playing Cards appear to have been known from an early entitled period in China. In the Chinese dictionary,

Cldng-tsze-tung, published compiled by Eul-koung, and first A.D. 1678, itis saidthat the cards now known in China as invented in the reign Teen4sze-pae^ ox dotted cards,were in of Seun-ho, 1120 ; and that they began to be common the reign of Kaou-tsung, who ascended the throne in 1131.^ According to tradition, they were devisedforthe amusement concubines. M. Abel of Seun-ho's numerous
"

Card-playingappears 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 Malays, with wooden in and lostunder a palm-tree, Malacca, by the half-naked in h and pamted dice; and tliat e could not pass through a bazaar thiscountry with cards,most cheaply [Hindostan] without seeing many partiesplaying dried, to and theirdissupplied them by leavesof the cocoa-nut or pahn*trce, At the comer tinctive of characterstraced with an ironstyle over chalked-outquares, s every street g you may see the Gentoo-bearers ambling dice; or Coolies with cards playing with smallstones for men, and with wooden the palm-leaf. Nay, in a pagoda under the very shadow of the idol,I have of seen Brahmins playing with regular packs of Chinese cards."" Sketches of India: writtenby an Officer Travellers Home, pp. 68 and 100. forPireside at Fourth edition, 1826.
"

of For the referenceto the Ching-tsze-tung, nd the explanation the a British passage relatingto cards,I am indebted to Mr. 8. Birch, of the
'

Museum,

66

PLATING

CARDS.

Remusat, probablyon the authority the Ching-tsze-tung, of has alsoobserved that cards were inventedby the Chinese

Mons. Leber,however, considersit to be more first likely that they got their cards from Hindostan ; and
in 1120.^
that,like the Europeans, they merely changed the types,and invented new games.
or

modified

for cards in China is Che-pae, which The generalname literally t "paper tickets/' At first hey are saidto signifies from the have been calledYa-pae, bone or ivory tickets, A pack of dottedcards materialof which they were made. smallcircular pieces,and the marks of consists thirty-two dots of red and black are placed, alternately,t two of a in for instance, a card containing eight dots, the comers;
"
"

four are placedin one comer and four in the other diagonally in to ; opposite it. Ten of those cardsare classed pairs the first "the most honorable," pair are called Che4mn,
"

"

and

to superior allthe others; thesemay 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 the woman with of
are
"

six, and that of the man with twelve. The second pair are Tien-pae, " celestial called cards;" each contains twentyfour dots of black and red,correspondingwith the twentyfour terms in the Chinese year. The third pair are called
"

terrestrial cards;" each containsfour red dots correspondingwith the four cardinal pointsof the compass.
"

Te-pae,

"

The fourthpairare called Jin-pae, " human cards;" each to containssixteenred dots,relating benevolence, justice, degree. The fifth order,and wisdom in a four-fold pairare
"

IlO'pae; each card contains called eightblack dots,relating to a supposed principle of harmony in nature extending
Second U6mo'irosur IcsRelations dcs politiqucs Hois do Prance avec Ici Mongols," dans Ic JournalAsiatiquc,c Scptcmbre, Hinpercurs d 1822, p. 02.
" "

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

57

itself towardsallpointsof the compass. The remaming names, twenty-two cardshave distinct which itis needless hereto give: the aggregateof the dots upon them issaid to to have reference the number of the stars.
The cardsmost commonly used in China,are those called " Tseen-wan-che-pae, a thousand times ten thousand cards in a pack ; namely, three cards." There are thirty
"

of suits nine cardseach,and three singlecardswhich are is to of one of the suits superior allthe others. The name Kew-ko-wan; that is,the nine ten-thousands, myriads of or The name Kwan or strings beads, shells, mpney. of of
"

the othersuitis Kew-ho-ping, " nineunitsof cakes;" and that of the third is Kew-ko-so, " nine unitsof chains."
"
"

of the three singlecards are, Tseen-wan, a thousandtimes ten thousand; Hunff-hwa,\hQ red flower; and Pih'hway the white flower. The
names

Nos. 1 and 2 In theannexed specimensof Chinese cards, are the first and thirdof the suitof nine myriads of Kwan ;

No. 1.

No. 2.

58

PLAYING

CARDS.

No. 3.

No. 4.

r^oooco

jJM^MttiMii II MtJii

No. 5.

No. 6.

ORIGIN

AND

NAME.

59

Nos. 8 and 4 are the one and the threeof the suitof cakes; No. 5 is the one of the suit of chains; and No. 6 is that of
the three superiorcards,which is calledthe white flower. Besides those above described, the Chinese have several

Pih-Uze-^ o othervarietiesf cards : one pack or set is called pae, the hundred boys'cards ; another,Tseen-wan-jin-pae
"

cards," ing containthe names of persons famous in Chinese history and a ; as Chinese Chess, Keu-ma-'paou^ name thirdhas the same horses,and guns. This lattername chariots, corroborates what has been previously said about the probability the of
game of cards having been suggested by that of chess. The marks to be found on Chinese cards scarcely afford gleam of lightby which we might judge theirrelation of to the cards of other countries in a pack of such as are : chiefly used in Cochin China, I have observed the form of
a

"a

mens' thousand times ten-thousand

names

the diamond nearlythe same as itappears on English cards; Tseen-wan-che-pae, and in a pack of the Chinese cardscalled
as the mark of the suitof Nine Cakes is nearlythe same Danari, which GaleottusMartius" thatof the old Italian in his treatise 'DeDoctrinapromiscua,' writtenabout 1488

considersto have been meant for a loaf. The cards commonly used in China, are much narrower than ours ; an idea of their sizemay be formed from the
"

allowance for a small margin of white paper all round, but rather wider at the top and bottom than at the for a card, sides. The Chinese name

specimens given,making

considered singly,or

as a

one

of the piecesof

pack

or

set,

appears to be Shen,

fan.

60

CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
OF
CARDS

11.
INTO

EUROPE.

became known in At what period Playing Cards first invention, introduced or Europe, whether as an original from some other quarter of the world, ^hasnot yet been
"
"

however, of allauthorities ascertained.From the silence, by whom we might expect to find them distinctly named ifthey had been in common use, itmay be fairly concluded, that, though theypossibly might be known to a few persons beforethe year 1350, they did not begin to attractnotice intofrequent use tillowards the latter nor come t end of the
fourteenth mentioned century. Packs of cardsare distinctly Jeux de by the name retain in France which they still Cartes in an entry made in his book of accounts, about
"
"

1393, by Charles Poupart, treasurer of the household to CharlesVI of France. Considering,then, thisentry as an

factin the history cards,I shall now proceed established of to lay beforethe reader some of the grounds and evidences on which ithas been asserted that well known cards were in Europe beforethat period. Severalwritersof the sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies, in discussingthe lawfulness of card-playing,gratuitously
assuming that the game was included under the general term Alea} have spoken of cards as ifthey had been known
in fortunseconsistat, quamvis pro omni ludo,qtii varietate suiniqucat juxtaententiam,vel opinionem aliquot scriptorum; quorum ^ nus Joannes Azorius in tertiaparte Institutionum Moralium, dicens: mero est 'Alcailudus comprehendit Ludum Chartarum Lusoriarum, Taxillorum,Tabui

"Alese nomeh

larum, et Sortium.' Proprietamen, ut aitJacobus Spiegelius, pro solet accipi

INTRODUCTION

INTO

EUROPE.

61

from time immemorial. The easy mode of deriving aliquid diquo by means a comprehensive de of genus is of frequent deh'ght settling in use with those decisive characterswho
^

of consciencewith a stronghand ; and who, enveloped in the dust of the Schools,lay vigorouslyabout them, both '^ with weapons borrowed from the old Horse rightand left,
cases

Armoury of the Fathers," and re-ground, for present use, discovercards,implicite,s on the Decretals. He who can a has it,^ St. Cyprian's tract, De Aleatoribus,r in Olearius o

in the canons of any Councilor Synod previous to 1390, willhave no difficulty in finding Roulette" and " E or O," impKed under the generalterm Tahulce. Having thus indicatedthe value of

in the

injunctions gaming against

"

the hypothetic evidencein favour of cards being known in the game was subsequentlycomprehended earlytimes, ^because of under a schoolman'sdefinition the term Alea^ it
"
"

to may be left pass for what itis worth. Mons. Eloi Johanneau's proof that cards were

known in

Tesseris, Tali etiam,vel Taxilli, vulgo Dadi vocitantur Tesserae : autem. quae et Tali, diversi vero quantum ad nuvel Taxilli, Cubi, vel Dadi, sunt idem, et menun Non desunt alii, ui Alea lateram et punctorum. q
esse ut Polydorus velint, pro Chartis Lusoriis passim intelligendum Virgilius, alii Commentarius contra Ludum Alearum, Chartarum et scribunt."" ac p. scilicet Taxillorum; a FratreAngelo Roccha, Episcopo Tagastensi, 2, 4to.
nomen

Romse, 1616.
*

"Bishop

ofBamberg.

What

do you say is the

name

of the emperor who

wrote your Corpus Juris? Olearius. Justinian.

A cleverprince! I drinkto hismemory. It must be a grand book. Olearius. It may indeed be styledthe book of books : a collection all of or is now laws, ready for the decisionof every case ; and whatever obsolete have men doubtfulis expounded by the comments with which the most learned
Bishop.
"

enrichedthismost admirablework. Bishop. A collection laws! The deuce !" Then the Ten Commandments of all are there P Olearius. Implicite, hey are ; e:cplicile, t not.
Bishop.

That isjusthat I w

G^o^^r von out explication.""

with a plainly nd simply, i. a Berlichingen, Play,by Goethe, act

mean

;" there they are,

62

PLATING

CARDS.

the eleventh century,from the testimony of Papias, viously prenor requires, indeed admits of serious neither noticed, refutation. If itcould be shown that the word Naijpe or
a used in Spain or Italyto signify painted before it was used to signify Playing a cloth or a picture, Card, itsafiinity with Nappe and Mappam\^i be admitted to be clearly who was bom established. John of Salisbury,

Naibe

was

ever

in the earlypart of the twelfthcentury,says not a word in on hiswork 'De Nugis Curialiiim'" the Trifling Courtiers of
a ^whichmight indicate knowledge of cards,although one devoted to an examination of of the chapters is especially the use and abuse of gaming.* Had cards formed one of of the common pastimesof the courtiers his age, itis
"

highly probable that he would have mentioned them, by them from the some name or other, so as to distinguish
other games which he enumerates. The 38th canon of the Council of Worcester, held in 1240, contains the followingprohibition: "Prohibemus
l ne etiam clericis, intersint udis inhonestis, vel vel choreis, ludant ad aleas vel taxiUos; nee sustineantludos fieri e d

Rege et Regina, nee fieri:'* that is, "We

levari, nee publicas arietes palaestras in reputabl also forbidclergymen to join disdancings, to play at dice; neither or

games
"

or

John of Salisbury Joannes Saresberiensis in England about ^fi^" bom 1110. He went to France when he was about seventeen years old,and remained in that country severalyears. He subsequentlyvisitedEome in a
"

"

publiccapacity. On Ms return to England,he became the chaplainand acquired the friendship Thomas IkBecket. After the murder of \ Becket" of which of 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 lessthan from his reputationas a learnedand pious man, he was Bishop of Chartres, elected known is that where he died in 1182. The work by which he is principally to title itis,'Policraticus de Nugis referred in the text. The general of sive Curialium,et Vestigiis Philosophorum, libri octo.*. The chapteron gaming, " De Alea,et usu et abusu illius," the fifth the first ook. Edit. Leyden, is b of 1639.
"

INTRODUCTION

INTO

EUROPE.

63

they allow games of King and Queen to be acted shall nor nor permit ram-raisings, public wrestlings."^ [fieri], Ducange, who quotes the passage in his Latin Glossary, isinclined think thatthe game de to under the word Ludi, King and Queen Bege et Eegina might have been the grounds for game ofcards. There are not, however, any just to have seems s entertaininguch an opinion. The
"
"

conjecture

been suggestedmerely from the circumstance of therebeing a King and Queen in the cards with which the writerwas \ most familiar but had he known that no Queen is to be

European cards, probably he found in the earliest would not have made so bad a guess. Besides, looking the context, at be therecan scarcely of King and Queen
doubt that the games were a kind of mumming
a
"

not game

"

exhibitions

as n which the clergyenjoyed spectators,ot as performers. Payments to minstrelsand mummers for theirexhibitions forthe amusement of the monks, and eke of the lord Abbot himself,re not of unfrequent occurrence in the account a

books of old monasteries. In the

are

same

the clergy clause,

nor publicwrestallow of ram-raisings hngs sports in which they were as unlikely appearas to actors as in the games of the King and Queen. What may have been meant by ram-raising arieteslevari the
" " "

not enjoined to

reader is left to find, if he can, in the pages of Strutt and Fosbroke. The next passage,supposed to relateto Playing Cards,
cimous

robe is which demands attention, thatwhich occurs in the Ward1278, and which has accounts of Edward I, anno been already sary chapter. It appears necesquoted in the first
to give it here again, togetherwith the Hon. Daines

Barrington's in order of remarks on it, the chronological evidences o adduced in favour the antiquityf Card Plajing of
"

1787. Archaeologia, vol.viii,

64

PLATING

CARDS.

in Europe.

The earKest mention of cards thatI have yet History of the Garter' stumbled upon, is in Mr. Anstis's the following passage from (volii, 307), where he cites p. in : the Wardrobe rolls, the sixthyear of Edward the First Waltero Sturton ad opus regis ad ludendum ad quatuor
"
'
'

from lieffes,yiii.s.y.d.'; which entry Mr. Anstis,with some that Playing Cards were not unprobability

conjectures,

known at the latterend of the thirteenth century; and small perhaps what I shall add, may carry with it some of confirmation what he supposes."
The simple factthat 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 its respecting is supof position, origin, of more weight,in corroboration Anstis's than Mr. Barrington'ssupplemental conj(3cture is to The first of question be determined, the identity the
game ofcards, and thatof the Quatuor Reges adducing the slightest evidence,he assumes
;

but, without

the fact, and to speculate Edward might have learnt then proceeds where the game. But even admittingthat cardswere meant by the

it lieges, isjust likelyhatEdward learned Quatuor as t as the game from his Queen, Eleanor of Castile, thatho
term

learned from theSaracens the Holy Land; for, it in admitting itto be ofEastern origin,nd thatEuropeans first obtained a a knowledge of itfrom the Saracens, or a people of Arab itmay be fairly supposed that Spain would be one of introduced. in the countries which cardswould be earliest
race,

In the cards now in use in England, there are certain in the names as peculiarities of two of the suits, compared that we obtained with the marks, which seem to intimate
our

firstnowledge of the game from Spain, although subk sequently we might import our cards from Franpe.

Seeing that chess was

known

in the East by
a

term

the signifying Four Kings,and thatitwas

amusefavorite

INTRODUCTION

INTO

EUROPE.

65

with the higher classesin Europe in the reign of be Edward I, therecan scarcely a doubt thatthis was the game to which Walter Sturton'sentryrelates.If cards
ment
"

in Europe in the early part of the the silence them, of respecting reignof Edward the First, for about a century afterwards, allcontemporary writers, though negative, must be admitted as conclusive, evidence Petrarch,though use. of their not being in common he treatsof gaming in one of his dialogues, never mentions
were

indeed known

and though Boccacio and Chaucer noticevarious games at which both the higher and lower classes the of periodwere accustomed to play,yet thereis not a single
them
;

in which passage the works of either,,

can

be fairly construed in
a

cards. From the followingpassage, which

to

mean

occurs

work

on

in the * Government of a Family,' manuscript, composed by Sandro di Pipozzi,^ n 1299, it has been concluded by i Breitkopf that cardswere at thatperiod wellknown inItaly:
Se giuchera denaro, di o carte, gli apparecchieria ocosi, alle lavia,"c." to the authority Zani, however, opposes of
"

the manuscript,the negativeevidence of Petrarch, who flourished a subsequent would at a period,nd who, ho thinks, to not have failed have mentioned cards if they had then been known among the variousgames which he enumerates
in the first ialogueof histreatiseDe Remediis utriusque d vations Fortuna3/^ Mons. Duchesne alsoremarks, in his Obsersur IcsCartes a joucr,' as the copy of Sandro that,
*

'

di Pipozzi's and examined by work, citedby Taraboscbi,

Cartes" jouer, Mons. Leber,in hisEtudesHistoriqucs Ics sur remarksthat Singerrefers this posed to and thatthe name thus transauthor as Pipozzidi Sandro, however, has been copiedby otherwriters the on of cards. Itis, subject to be observed that Breitkopftwice as in the same manner gives the name Singer. * Materiali dell*ncizioni I O dell'rigineet de*Progressi Storia per servire lia a in rame, inlegno,"c. p. 159. 8vo. Parma, 1802.
'

06

VLAYING

CARDS.

date than 1400, there is reason to Zani, isnot of an earlier was believe that the express mention of cards in it, the That such interpolations interpolation a transcriber. were of frequentlymade both by printersand transcribers, will
on observations several appear evident from the following works, both printed and mannscript,which have been cited in in proofof the antiquity card-playing Europe.^ of

The Abbe Rive, who ascribesthe invention of cards to known therein Spain,endeavours to show that they were

the early century. The evidenceof part of the fourteenth this is, according to his statement, to be found in the Statutes the military of order of the Band, promulgated by

Alphonso,King of Castile, where thereisa passageexpressly forbidding the members to play at cards. Whether cardsare
expressly mentioned in any old Spanish manuscripts of the Statutesin question, has not been ascertained;but of all

the different of editions, riginal o and translated, Guevara's ' Golden Epistles,' work from which the Abbe Rive the i the obtained his information, first n which cards are expressly b named, isthat of the French translationy Gutery, at published Lyons in 1558.^ As the word is not to be found in the original in the Italian Spanish editions, nor

translations made from them, therecannot be a reasonable doubt of its being an interpolation Gutery, who probably of thought that a general prohibitionf gaming necessarily o included cards; and thus, par consequent," the Abbe
"

Those observations have been chiefly derivedfrom Mons. Duchesne's paper Paris, on cardsabove referred to, and from a letter written by Mons. Paulin to certain keeper of the MSS. m the Bibliothtique Roi, in answer du assistant to queries submitted him through a friend the writer. of * Tlie Spanisli Guevara'sEpistles was at original edition of printed Valladolid in 1539, and the work was several in timesreprinted Spain and inFlanders.The were letters intoItalian were translated also editions and French ; and several by Geffery publishedbeforethe year ICOO. There is an English transition Fenton, 1582; and anotherby Edward Hellowcs,1584.
"

INTRODUCTION

INTO

EUROPE.

67

Rive isfurnishedwith positive evidence that the game of in Spain in 1332. Another authority, cards was common
to referred by the Abbe Rive in favour of the antiquity of is Spanish cards, of the same kind. In a collection the of 'Laws of Spain,'printed in 1640, he findsthe following

passage in an Ordonnance issued by John I, King of in Castile, 1387 : "We command and ordain that none of our shall subjects dare to play at dice or at cards {Naypes) in so either pubhc or in private, nd that whoever shall play, a
"c."*

There

can,

however, be

i cards(Naypes)s an in the same Ordonnance as given in the collectionntitled e 'Ordenangas Reales de Castilla,' printed at Medina del Campo, 1*541. In thisearlier dition,laying at dice and p e

doubt that the word interpolationforitisnot to be found ;

no

formoney is indeed forbidden tables

"

"

de

de jugaruego j

dados ni de tables, dinero'* but cardsare not mentioned. a Jansen, in his 'Essai sur TOriginede la Gravure en
"

Bois et en Taille-douce,' the fourfollowing verses from cites the romance pointed out to him of Renard le Contrefait, by the lateMons. Van Praet,in evidence of cards being
known in France at least early 1341, the year in which as as the romance finished: was
"

fols foUessont, et Qui pour gagner,au bordcl vont ; aux tables, Jouent aux dez,aux cartes, delectables." Qui a Dieu no sont Si comme

The manuscript containing the verses as they are here it given is in the Bibliotheque du Roi ; but certainly is date than 1450 ; while in anothermanuscript, not of earlier about a hundred years apparently d older, alsopreserved in the Bibliothequeu Roi, the word
of the
same
romance,

Mandamos y ordenamos q ningunos de losde nucstros reynos,sea osados de jugarados jugare," d no q los y ni naypes, en publico en escodido, qualquier "c." Recopilacion lasLeyes destos Regnos, "c. Edit.1640. de
* "

68
"

PLATING

CARDS.

Cartes" is not to be found in the correspondingverse, which is as follows:

"

Jouent k geux de dez ou de tables."

Meerman^ imagined that he had discovereda positive in the work known use of cards in France, date forthe early de but which was, the Chronicleof Petit-Jehan Saintre, in in fact, writtenby Antoine de Lassale, 1459.^ Saintre
as

of the pages of CharlesV, and on his being appointedcarver to the King on account of his good conduct, the governor of the pages is representedas giving them a Observe your companion lectureon their bad courses :
had been
one
"

here, who, through his good conduct, has acquired the favour of the King and Queen, and of all while you are ; dicers keeping bad company, and haunting and card-players,
taverns and cabarets."^ The factof the work having been
on composed in 1459, however, renders it of no authority the question; and even if it had been written by Jehan Saintrehimself, there cannot be a doubt that the term
"

Caries'is an interpolation.

The term

is indeed to de cartes,*' **joueucc card-players,

be found in the earliest printededitions the work, and of

Meerman, OriginesTjpograpliic", i,p. 222. Edit.1765. vol. * " Tout le ce charmant ouvrage a 6t^ compost en 1459 par monde saitque Antoine de Lassalle." Duchesne, Precis Historiquesur Ics Cartes a jouer, to the Jcux de Cartes Tarots/ "c. Mons. Duchesne himself p. 5, prefixed does not appear to have known " what allthe world knows" when he wrote his * Observations 1837 ; Cartesa jouer/ sur les printedin theAnnuaire Historique, forhe there seems to admit that the work was lived composed by a person who at the period to which itrelates, and refers to two manuscripts in which the word "cartes" isnot to be found. He says that a third manuscript, which century, appears to have been transcribed containsit, about the end of the fifteenth but does not inform the readerthat the work itself a mere romance, is writtenin 1459.
'
"

Vcez civostrecompaignon qui, la a pour estrc tel, acquis grace du Roy et de la Royne et de tons, et vous qui estes de carieset de dez, noiseuxtijoueux dcshonnestes tavemiers, cabarets." ct sieuv^s gens, et

" "

INTRODUCTION

INTO

EUROPE.

69

in d alsoin a manuscriptpreserved the Bibliothequeu Roi ; but then thismanuscript does not appear to be of an earlier date than the latter end of the fifteenth century, and there
isalsoreason
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 the Sorbonne, nor in another in the of library St. Germains. The latter much older than is of in either the others. Mons. Duchesne says that, 1583, of itbelonged to Claude d'Expilly, and that these two verses,
an which show that it was even then considered f are written in the first olio :

old manuscript,

"Ce livre soitgard^non tant pour sa beauts. Que pour le saintrespectde son antiquity."

this examination," says Mons. Duchesne, "we may conclude that the word Cartes is an interpolation made by a transcriber century later consequently it cannot : a

"From

be admitted as a proof that cards were known in 1367."* In an edition William de Guilleville's poem, allegorical of
d entitled Le Pelerinaige e THomme,'^ printedat Parisby Verard in 1511, the followingverses, in which cards are Mr. N. Hill, named, were pointed out to me by my friend t of the Royal Societyof Literature,o whom I am greatly
'

indebted for much curious and interestinginformation to relating the Origin and History of Playing Cards. to quit the At folio xlv,a, Oysivetetempts the pilgrim
Peignot considers the passages in which Cards are mentioned genuine,both in the romance in the Chronicle of Renard le of Petit-Jehande Saintr6and Contrefait. He had taken the passagesjust he found them in Meerman and as Jansen, and made no further inquiry. Saint-Foixappears to have been the
*

to firstperson in France who pointed out the passage relating cards in the Chronicle Petit-Jehan Saintr^. See Peignot'sRecherches sur lesDanses de of dcs Morts, et sur TOriginedcs Cartes a joucr, 211-262, 315. pp.
"

Tliis work

was

composed about 1330

70

PLAYING

CARDS.

by rightway by recountingto him the pleasures enjoyed those who placethemselvesunder her guidance :
**

Je meyne gens au bois, Et laleur fais-je dnnscurs, vcoir Jeux de bastcaulx de jougleurs, et
, . .

Jeux de tables ddschiquiers, et De boulles mercilliers. et de De cartes, jeux tricherie, Et de mainte autre muserie."

At
"

Ixxii, folio a,

Quartes for
"

so

the word is there

:

spelled is noticedas
**

game prohibited

Mains icux qui sont denyez, Aux mcrcllcs, c quartes, t dcz,""c.

As therewas reason to suspect that the word Cartes in or Quartes, the printed poem, copiesof De Guilleville's found to be in as it was was the same an interpolation, other works examined by M. Duchesne, M. Paulin Paris,
d of assistant-keeper the manuscripts in the Bibliotheque u Eoi, was requested a friendof Mr. Hill,to compare the by
that of the earliest anuscript copiesof printedtext ^\ith m The the poem preservedin the collectionnder his care. u was that the suspectedwords had resultof the collation been interpolated.The followingis a translationf o letter the on of M. Paulin Paris's
a

tion por-

subject.

grimage "I have compared the verses of our MSS. of the Piland of Human Life with the printed editions, have found the lattervery 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 leurfais veoirbaleurs, je Gieux de bastiaux de jugleurs, et De tables de eschcquiers, et

De boulcset de mereliers, De dcz ct d*ciitrcgsterie, Et de raaiiitc autre muscrie.

MS, 0988, fol. 44,
verso.

fol. (No.2), 47, veno.

INTRODUCTION

INTO

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71
as

The other passage referredto is,in both MSS. follows : Tant Taime quo jeen suissote,
"

Et quo en pers souvent ma cote, A mains jcux sont dcviScs, qui Aux merelles, tables, dez." et

interpolations to As all the different referred appear to have been made in good faith, not for the purpose of nor with any view showing the antiquityof card-playing, of deceiving the reader, but merely to supply what the
"

to of his own age, felt be an omission, ^they good grounds for concluding afford that, the time when the several written, at works were first cards were not a common game in eitherFrance or Spain ;

looking at the manners transcriber,

"

itis for, had they then been well known in those countries, as that they would have been mentioned by the just likely
original writers as that they should have been interpolated by later transcribers.

f Pittoresque'or on article Cards, in the 'Magasin is April,1836, an illustration given,of which the annexed In
an

72
cut is
a

PLAYING

CARDS.

fac-simile.The writer of the article says that it is exactly copied from a miniature in a MS. of the from St. Augustine by Raoul de Cite de Bieu, translated
in it Presle, who began the translation 1371, and finished in 1375. The writer,consideringthe MS. to be of the date as the translation, same says that the miniature represents

of persons of distinction the reign of Charles V.^ As he adduces, however, no evidence to show that the MS. is of so earlya date,his so-calleddemonstration that cards defective;for,in well known in 1375, is essentially common than to find, transcripts books, nothing is more of in the illustrations, things which were unknown when the
were

first written. The costume, indeed, appears like that of persons of distinction more about the latter end of the reignof CharlesVI, 1422, than of the reignof Charles V, 13G4" 1380. From the kind of cardswhich

works

were

the parties are

can be playing with,no safeconclusion drawn with respectto the age of the manuscript; forit is seen

known what kind of cards were not positively

used chiefly

in France between 1392 and 1440. But, whatever may be the date of the manuscript, it is evident that numeral
to cards marked with pips" and honours, similarly those in common now known in France at the time use, were
"

when the drawing was made. The followingaccount of the introduction of cards into Viterbo, in 1379, previously referredto in Chapter I, is
Voiciune demonstration d*une : fac-simile concluante c'est \g dn manuscrit de la traductionde la Cite de Lieu de Saint Augustin, miniature par Raoul de Preslcs, qui le termina en 1375. Cette miniature represente des du personnages de distinction regne de CharlesV, debout autour une table ronde aux de et jouant cartes. Nous devons cetteminiaturea Tobligeance M. leComte H. de Vicl-Castel, nous I'acommuniqude, documens qu'il qui que d*autres ainsi sur lescartes. Le en avaitrdunis manuscritd*ou on a tir6la miniature,acliev6 1375, avait^t^ commence en 1371." Magasin Pittoresque, Quatrieme Annee,
...
"

* **

1836, p. 131. Avril,

INTRODUCTION

INTO

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78

here given as it is to be found in Leber's ' Etudes Histo" Bussi relates, in riquessur lesCartes a jouer/ Feliciano
a k his * History of Viterbo/^work but little nown, that in 1379, the epoch of the schism caused by the oppositionof

the anti-popeClement to Urban VI, the mercenary troops of each party com'mitt3d allmanner of annoyances and spoliations in the Roman States,and that a great number of w cattle,hich had been stolenby the marauders, and driven to Viterbo for the provisionment of that city,were there ' And yet,'adds the and carriedoff in a moment. seized,

historian, who
'

so

much

could believe it! In this same year of distress introduced into Viterbo the there was

game of cards,or, as I would say,playing cards,which previously were \ not in the leastknown in that city the words

'In the year 1379, of Covelluzzo,are, folio 28, verso: brought into Viterbo the game of cards, which was from the country of the Saracens, comes and is with them As the introductionof cards into Viterbo Naib! called
"

is here directly fact, there can be recorded as a historical little oubt, if the passage in Covelluzzobe genuine, that d in cards were known to the Italian condottieri 1379. In
the chronicleof Giovan Morelli,of the date 1393, Naihi is mentioned as a kind of game ; and, from the context, ithas 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 aftercards
as ordinances, a game condemned by-synods and civic of hazard, grave writers allowed that sober,decent people the game provided that they played purely for might

were

enjoy

*
*

Koma, 1742. Istoria deUa Citta di Viterbo,p. 213. Folio, " Non giuocare a zara, ne ad altrogiuoco di dadi,fa de' giuochiche

usano
"

fanciulli; a' a* agli aliossi,liatrottola, ferri, Naihi, fH coderone, e simili," a Cronica di Giovan. Morelli, in Malespini'sIstoriaFiorentina, 270. 4to, p.
Florence,1728.

74

PLAYING

CARDS.

the sake of recreation, and not for the chance of winning theirneighbour'smoney. a Heineken quotes from the ' Giildin Spil/ book written

century by a Dominican about the middle of the fifteenth friar, the name of Ingold, printed at Augsburg, by of Gunthcr Zainer, in 1472, the followingpassage relating
to cards :^
"

Nun

zaltvon Cristgeburt, tausend dreihundert iar." That is: The game is right deceitful and, as ;
"

gelesen han, so da in dem iar, man

ist das Spil vol untrew ; und, als ich ist es kommen in Teutschland der ersten

I have read,was firstbrought into Germany in the year 1300.'' The title of Guldin Spil,'"the Golden Game,"
'

on appears to have been given to the work by the author, account of itsbeing a kind of pioustravesty the principal of in vogue in Germany at the period when he wrote : games

that which was moral exposition, formerly dross is converted into gold : the " old man" is and the reformed gambler, instead of idling away put off, his precious dice,or cards for beggarly time at tric-trac,
a

having given each game

"goes" his whole soulat the ' Guldin Spil' groschen, That the author had read somewhere of cards having been firstrought intoGermany in 1300, may be admitted b
; withoutquestion forto suppose that he told an untruth, would require to be backed by a supplementary conjecture his motives for falsifying, mode of eliciting as to a
"

the "truth," in frequent use indeed with philosophic historians when discussing questions great import in the of history nations, but not exactlysuitablefor determining of f a triflingact in the history of Playing Cards. Having
admitted the good faith the author of the Guldin Spil/ of the next questionthatpresents itself whether what he had is, read about the introduction cards into Germany was in of
'

'

240. Idee Geueraled'uncCollection complete d'Estampcs,p.

INTRODUCTION

INTO

EUROPE.

75

it true itself ; it is, however, unnecessary to discuss here, known in Germany at so early a foreven if cards were there is no satisfactory evidence of their having period, century later. Von Murr, who also cites from the * GiildinSpil' the to precedingpassage relating cards,thinks that the epoch 1300, isat leastfifty yearstoo early/ He, however, assigned,
been common
a

in that country untilabout

mentioned in an old book of bye-laws and regulations the cityof Nuremberg, of to which he assigns a date between 1380 and 1384. The to Vom SpiT word occurs in a bye-law relating gaming
" "

that he found cards states

Carten

'

"

"

from the penalties which the followinggames of

certain circumstances,excepted:"

are,

under

Horse-racing,shooting tric-trac, bowls,at with cross-bows,ardsyshovel-board, and c which a man may bet from two pence to a groat." Whether

the date assigned by Von Murr be correct or not, I am unableto determine. His reason forconcludingthatit\vas between the years 1380 and 1384, is as follows There is :
"

indeedno date to thisbye-law,but itis writtenin the same hand as a law relating the Toll-houses beforethe New to
Gate ; and at folio4 there is a precisedate,namely the second day beforeWalpurg's day, 1384.'' The reason isnot

of very good one ; for,even admitting the identity the hand-writing the ordinancerelating gaming, and in the to in to act of 1381 relating the toll-houses, both might have yet been copied into the book at a subsequentperiod. Itisalso
a

to be observed, that, accordingto Von Murr's own

account,

folio, the date 1384 occurs in the fourth while the ordinance folio. But in which cards are mentioned, is in the sixteenth though the date assigned by Von Murr to the Nuremberg is good regulation, may be a few years too early,there reason to believethat cards were well known in Germany
C. G. von Murr, Journal zur Kunstgcschiclitc, 2tcr Thcil,s. 98. Nuremberg, 1776.
'

8vo,

76

PLAYING

CARDS.

ing towardsthe conclusionf the fourteenth century. Accordo to Mons. Neubronner,administrator Ulm, (about at there was in the archives that cityan ancient 1806,) of
parchment volume, calledthe Red Book, on account of its l which contained a prohibition red initialetters, against dated 1397.' Card Playing,

Having

laidbefore the reader the principal rities authoby which have been alleged variouswriters, ^whether
now
"

forthe purpose of showing the antiquity card-playing in of Europe generally, with the design of supporting or their
own

of opinion as to the invention cards in some particular country itis now time to enter on what may be termed beginningfrom the year 1393. history cards, the positive of
"

CharlesVI of France losthis reason in consequence a of in coup'de-soleily 1392; and during the remainderof his intervals. life lucid though with occasional continuedinsane, In eitherthe same or in the followingyear, 1393, this
entry occurs Poupart, or,
"

as

in the accounts of his treasurer, Charles Charbot Poupart: he isnamed by Monstrelet,

for Given to Jacquemin Gringonneur, painter, threepacks of cards, and coloured,nd variously gilt ornamented, forthe a
amusement

who
*

was

fifty^six of Paris."^ Menestrier, of the king, sols t the firsto pointout thispassage,concluded from

Jansen,Essaisur TOrigme de la Gravnre en Bois,"c., quoted by Peignot, p. 256.

de Donnd h Jacquemin Gringonneur, jeux cartesa or pcintre, pour trois leSeigneur diverses deviaes, et h. couleurs, m^s de plusieurs o pour porter devers Roi,pour son Abatement, Bibliothcque cinquante-six parisis." Menestrier, sols
"

* **

torn,ii, et curieuse instructive, pp. 168-91. 12mo, Trevoux, 1704. According to Barrois, the name Gringonneur signified maker of Grangons. " Ce nom a a fait le change ; ilsignifie faiseur e grangons. * Grangium certus tessed prendre Indus.* Voir Glossariumde Ducange, Supplement, t. ii, 651. Les rarum col. de fabricant h cartesse vendaient Paris, premieres chez Jacquemin, gringoncur, ture Miniadds,parce que lesd^s et lescartes s*employaient simultandmcnt. (Voir D'oii de notre cabinet dans TAbusd en Court, manuscritde XV sicclc.) lind^gringolcr, les dcs." Cariovingicns, en comme roulcr sautillant ^Ei^mcns 1846. ct guistiqucs litt^raircs, p. 265. 4to,Paris,
"

INTRODUCTION

INTO

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77

invented by it that the game of cards was then first for Gringonneur the purpose of divertinghe king's t choly; melanlong passed as and his account of the invention
learnedworld. That the game of in authentic the politely degree cardswas invented by Gringonneur isin the highest
improbable for the generaltenor of the passage in which ; theyare named by Poupart impliesthatthe game was then

known, though from the notice of the gilding and already itmay be supposed thatGringonneur of colouring the cards, had a special rderfor them, and thatthey were not then o in general use.
If,"says Piegnot," Pere Menestrier had paid attention in which the passageis drawn up, he would to the manner have perceived thatthe expression forthreepacks of cards,' from its announces, jeuxde cartes clearly pour trois
"
'

"

"

"

that cards were verysimplicity, theirinvention was of a much

would not have mentioned
so

alreadyknown, and that date. The writer earlier of simply a collection figures,

just conceivedand

paintedby Gringonneur on small pieces as of paper,and very remarkable, well from theirsymmetry on as and regularity, from the characters represented them."^ on The Hon. Daines Barrington, his ' Observations the in doubts ifPoupart's Antiquity PlayingCards in England,' of
"

" The following slirewd account which owes itspointto Menestrier's reply," three years ago. in a weekly journal the invention cards, about of of appeared " SirWalter Scott says,that the allegedoriginof the inventionof cards produced It he had ever heard given in evidence.^ was one of the shrewdestreplies made by the lateDr. Gregory, at Edinburgh,to a counselof great eminence at of the Scottish bar. The doctor*stestimony went to prove the insanity the issue. On a cross-interrogation the point at was party whose mental capacity he admitted that the person in questionplayed admirablyat whist. *And do 'that a person having a you seriously say, doctor,* said the learned counsel,

in for a game so difficult, which requires, a pre-eminent superior and capacity time deranged degree, can be at the same memory, judgment, combination, and in his understanding?' 'I am no card-player," with great said the doctor, for the amusement that cards were invented *but I have read in history address, were decisive." of an insaneking/ The consequences of thisreply

78

TLAYINO

CARDS.

to entry actually elates Playing Cards. He is of opinion r de that the words " iroia jeux cartes* mean three setsof illuminations upon paper, ''carte originally signifying If Mr. Barrington had produced any nothing more/' in to either the time of CharlesVI, or authority show that, " de cartes" was used to signify at any otherperiod,

\mjeu

or set of illuminations, that the term

elsethan a pack,or a not have had so much the appearance of a starvedconceit. Though in 1893 cards might have been but little known

signified anything his doubt would game, of cards,

ever

t and seldom played at, except by the higher classes,he ; for game in a shorttime appears to have become common in an edictof the provost of Paris, dated 22d of January, 1397, working people are forbidto 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 addressedto all the seneschals,baiUies,provosts, and other officers the of kingdom, it may be safelyconcluded that if cards were known in France in 1369, the game was by no means so
indeed says that it is between 1369 and 1397, a period of twenty-eight years, duction introthatthe invention Playing Cards, or at least their of
common

as

in 1397.

Duchesne

intoFrance,ought to be placed. Cards having been presented at the court of France for the amusement of the king, and prohibited in the cityof Paris, either too good or too bad for the amusement of as
to working people, appearforthwith have become fashionable; but,besidesthe recommendations sesses alludedto, the game posto fail render charms of itsown which could scarcely it a favorite as with gamesters of all classes, soon as its principleshould be known.^ To ladiesand gentlemen who s
About the bcginniiig the fifteenth of century the passionforgaming appears to it to have been very prevalent France ; in and persons who were addicted
*

INTRODUCTION

INTO

EtJROPE.

79

from the more might play,merely as a relaxation serious business of hunting and hawking, dressing and dining, fascinating; no game could be more while to those who might
play for gain,what other game The great infirmityof human
well as the ignoble, as eager desireto obtain money,

could be

more

tempting?

nature, with the noble as old stories plainly show, is the too
or

money's worth, in a short time and at little cost ; and, hence, to risk a certainsum on thechance of obtaininga greater, state whether at dice, cards,

lotteries,art-unionlittle-goes: the latter, in or indeed, under the prudent direction what may be called handicap" of
*'

from theiralways coming out strong towards legislators, the end of the session, like the beaten horses for a handicap at the end of a race week, the spiritof gaming
"

"

is refined, and made subservientto the purposes of pure charityand the promotion of the finearts. He who devised

thegame of cards,as now usually played,appears to have had a thorough perceptionof at leasttwo of the weak pointsof

human nature

for next to

man's

trust in his "luck," in all

games of games of chance, is his confidencein himselfin all skill.The shuffling, utting,and dealingat cards,together c

with the chance afforded by the turn-up of the trump, placethe novice, in his own conceit, on a par with the
bonds,with by endeavouredto guard themselves from itsfascinations voluntary is a penalty in case account of a bond of thiskind of infraction.The following for 1828. "Mons. extractedfrom the Memoirs of the Academy of Dijon Baudot a trouv^ deux actes de ce genre, qui mdritentd'etire conservesh cause de leursingularity.Le premier est tir^.duprotocolede Jehan Lebon, notaire, et de ses clercsJehan Bizot, Guyot Bizot de Charmes, et Jehan Gros. On y lit. pendant une annde, entre qu*en 1407, ily eut convention de ne pas jouer Jehan Violier de VoUexon, boucher, a Dijon;Guillaume Garni, boucher, Vivien le Picardet, Huguenin de Grancey, tournestier aux (employ^ toumois), a tons de Dijon, peine de d6ux patissier,t Gorant de Barefort, coustellier, e francsd'orau profitde ceux qui n'auront pas joue, de deux francs d*or a et de lever de Dijon, profit la Ville.*' au le Procureur de la Ville Commune
par
et
"

The second was

engagement, in the year 1505. similar

80

PLATING

CARDS.

gamester; who, on the other hand, isapt to experienced his in chance,from hisover-confidence underrate opponent's his own skill.
During the middle ages,the clergy, their notwithstanding to superior sanctity, vows appear to and their pretensions have been not a whit more exempt from the weaknesses of laity nay, from the human nature than the unsanctified ; vows history the times,itwould seem that their rendered of them not only more susceptibleof temptation, but more Ukely to fall. Their preaching pointed one way, and their lives another ; and hence the old proverb, Mind what the
"

friarsaySy not what he doesJ' The vicesof the times are indeed writtenin the canons of synods and councils, and in

ralities the penitentials f bishops directed against the immoo ; of the clergy and from the experienceof the past, vows are thus recorded,we have ample proof that clerical not always a certain charm against secularvices.After cards
were

it fairly ntroduced, would appear thatthe clergy i were not long in cuttingin ;" for,according to Dr. J. B. Thiers, forbid to play at cards,by the they were expressly
once
*'

synod of Langres, 1404.^ Menestrierrefers the statutes of Amadeus VIII, Duke to of Savoy, 1430, forbiddingallkinds of gaming for money
to are though his within his territories, subjects allowed amuse themselves at certain games, provided they play
Thiers,referring the Synod of Langres of 1404, Tit.de Ludibus prohito bitis,hus givesthe prohibition " Nous d^fendonsexpressement aux Ecclet :
a ceux siastiqucs, principaleraent et qui sont dans les saints ordres, sur tout aux aux cur^s, de joucr dez,au triquetrac, aux cartes." Traits aux ou pretrcset des Jcux et des Divertisscmens, M. Jean BaptisteThiers, Docteur en Thdopar logie, 193. 12mo, Paris,1686. Though this by p. synod is alsoreferredto Menestrier,Bullet,and others, it is overlooked by Mons. Duchesne, who, " the prohibition cards to the clergy, speaking of of says, C'est seulement au : xvi on trouve la defense *Ludosque synode de Bamberg, in 1491, qu*au titre
"

" taxillorumet chartarum,et his similes, locis sur in publicis.* Observations lesCartesli dans jouer, TAnnuaire Historique, pour Tannde 1837, p. 176.
"

INTRODUCTION

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81

onlyformeat and drink.* "With respectto cards,they to they are allowed women, are forbidden nevertheless, ; with whom men may alsoplay, providedthatthey play only for
"

pins,"
"

dum

Indus jBat tantum

cum

spinulis." In this
"

passage a pins
"

" not construe the word spinuHs** but would take it to mean any small articles ^hterally,

jurist would

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," to allude ratherto pin-stakes,"'than the seems to
"

"

"

game of "push-pin." Early in the fifteenth century, card-making appears to have become a regular trade in Germany, and there is to beUeve that itwas not of much laterdate in Italy. reason
" In 1418 the name Kartenmac/ter/' of a card-maker occurs in the burgess-books Augsburg. In an old rate-book of
"

"

"FIL Kartenmac/ierin' of the cityof Nui-emberg, the name book under occurs under the year 1433 ; and in the same the year 1435, the name *'Mis. Kartenmac/ierin," probably
Margret person. In the year 1438 the name Kartenmalerin^ occurs.^ From thoserecordsitwould appear thatthe earliest of card-makersand card-painters Nuremberg

the same

"

by and that cards were known in Germany the name Karten" before they acquired the name of of Briefe." Heineken, however, maintains that they were first known in Germany by the lattername ; for as he
were

women

"

"

claimed the invention for his countrymen, the factof the

in Peignot,who affectsreat precision datesand names, says that the Stag tnta Sabaudiffl were "publi^es en 1470 par Am^dee VIII, Due de Savoie." Amadous VIII, the amateur hermit" who was electedPope by the Council of Baslein 1439, and who took the name of Pope FelixV" died m 1451. * " Donnez nous du lingeblanc. Paictesque nons ayons des linceuxblancs,
"

aures et vous Basle,1582.

demain

voz

Psedagogus, p. 112.. J. espingles."" T. Pregii

s. 2er Theil, 121, 122. Von Murr, Journal zur Kunstgeschichte,

82
name

PLAYING

CARDS.

being derivedeither from the French or Italian was adverse to his theory. Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Uhn appear to have been the chieftowns in Germany for the manufacture of cards

century; and, from the about the middle of the fifteenth followingpassage,cited by Heineken from a manuscript chronicleof the city of Ulm, ending at 1474, it would
appear that the German manufacturers,besidessupplying ing the home market did also a largeexport business: " Playinto Italy, sent in small casks [leglenweiss] cards were Sicily, and alsoover sea, and bartered for spicesand other It was probably againstthe German card-makers wares."^ that the magistracy of Venice issued and painter-stainers an order in 1441, forbidding the introductionof foreign manufactured and printed coloured figures into the city a such articles, nd being under the penalty of forfeiting liv.xii soldi. This order appears to have been from the fellowship made in consequence of a petition of " paintersat Venice, wherein they had set forth that the

finedXXX

art and mystery of card-making and of printing figiu*es,

in which were practised Venice,had falleninto totaldecay through the great quantityof foreignplaying cards, and
colouredprintedfigures which were brought into the city."* The magistrates'rder,in which this passage occurs as the o
Heineken, in his French version of this passage, in the Idee GenMe, " ballots." In his Neue en erroneouslytranslatesthe word legUnweiss^ in Nachrichten, however, he gives the correct explanation," das ist, kleinen is Fassem"" "that is, small casks." Though the word Lagel, a barrel, in
in u obsolete Germany, yet itsdiminutive,"leglin,"" as if LageHn" isstillsed in Scotlandfor the name the ewe-milker'skit. It is needlessto citethe of work from which I copy this bitof information,as the author,I that I may take. not findany fault with me for any liberties
*
"

am

sure,

will

"

se fano Conscioscia Tarte e mestier delle che carte e figurestampide,che in Venesia h vegnudo a totaldeffaction, questo siaper la gran quantitade e dcpente stampide,le qual vien fatede fuora de Venezia." carte a zugur e figure Algarotti,ettcrePittoriche, L torn, p. 320. v,

INTRODUCTION

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83

discovered by an Italianarchitect, the preamble, was of Temanza, in an old book of rules and orders name of fellowship of Venetian or belonging to the company painters. Temanza sent an account of his discovery to Count Algarotti, who published itin the fifth volume of his *LetterePittoriche/ As ithas been assumed thatthe earliest professional card-

wood-engravers, and that the engraving of cards on wood led to the execution of other figures,it appears necessary to trace the Briefmaler'sprogress,and to be identified to show how he came woodwith the engraver in general." That the earlycard-makers or cardmakers
were
"

paintersof Ulra, Nuremberg, and Augsbiu-g, from about 1418 to 1450, were alsowood-engravers,isfounded entirely
the assumption that the cards of that period were engraved on wood, and that those who manufactured them, both engraved and coloured the figures. It is not, however,
on

that the figuresof the earliest ards, not drawn by c certain hand, were engraved on wood ; in the oldestcards,indeed,

which I have had an opportunity of examining, and which appearto be of as earlya date as the year 1440, itis evident

thatthe figures were

the circumstance of paintersin the town

executed by
so

means

From of a stencil.^

occurring as cardmany women books of Nuremberg between 1433

to conclude that they, and 1477, there appears reason were at least, not wood-engravers. The name of a wood-engraver proper Formschneider
"

"

in the town-books of Nuremberg, under the quently year 1449; and as for twenty years subsequently,it freoccurs on the same page with thatof a card-painter

first occurs

"

A stencil a thin piece of pasteboard, is parchment, or metal, in which tho for the purpose of being ontlines and generalforms of any figuresare cut out, " is "c. The operation on plasteredwalls, stencilled" cards,paper,pasteboard, a ing which enterperformed by passing over the stencil brush charged with colour, into the imparts the figureto the materialbeneath. out lines
*

cut

84
"

PLATING

CARDS.

Kartenmder there cannot be a doubt that there was a between the professions, distinction bers although,Uke the barand surgeons of former times, they both belongedto
o the same fellowshipr company. A few yearssubsequentto the Formschneider, the Briefhas the same maler occurs; but though his designation

literal meaning as thatof the Kartenmaler,yet hisbusiness includingboth thatof to have been more seems general, the card-painter nd wood-engraver. About 1470 we find a
not only employed in executing figures, but also in engraving the text of block-books and about ; to have the end of the fifteenth century the term seems

the

Brief malers

been generallysynonymous with that of Formschneider. term prevailed as the Subsequentlythe latter nation proper desigwas of a wood-engraver,while that of Briefmaler likethat of the original Kartenmaler, more applied, especially
to designate
a

person who

coloured cards and

other

figures.^
Though 1470, the
we

have positive evidence that,about the year

a

wood-engraver as well as a colourer cards; and though it be highly probable that of on the outUnes of the figures cards were then engraved on wood, and that, from this circumstance,the Briefmaler

was Briefmaler

became alsoa wood-engraver, yet we have

*

no

proofthatthe

omnium illiberalium work entitled HANOHAIA mechanicarum aut tions "c., with cuts designedby Jost Amman, and descripartiura," scdcntariarum in Latin verse by Hartman Schoppcr,Frankfort,1568, thereis a cut of a Briefnf^tlert ; ing and another of a Formschneider the former appears to be colourfigures by means a stencil; the latter appears to be certain of while engravingon wood. There are alsoeditions the work, with the descriptions of in German verse by Hans Sachs,the celebrated Meistersangerand shoemaker of Nuremberg. Though itappears evidentthat at the time of the publication of f thiswork the business a Briefmaler considered distinctrom thatof a as was of In
a

"

conFormschneider, there isyet reason to believe that the old Bricfmalers tinued still both to engrave and printwoodcuts. On severallarge cuts with the dates1553 and 1554, wo find the words '" Gcdrukt zu Niimberg durch Hanns

Glascr, riefiraalcr." B

INTRODUCTION

INTO

EUROPE.

86

w earliestood-engravers in Europe were the card-makers. " Von Murr indeed confidentlyffirms thatcard-makers a and known in Germany eightyyears before were card-painters the inventionof typography, and that the card-makers were
at first properlywood-engravers,but that, afterthe art of applied to the execution of sacred wood-engraving was

thus in thatthe germ ofwood-engraving Europe persuadehimself isto be found in cards, feel in wUl doubtless greatpleasure term, cards tracing its interestingdevelopment ; the first
a subjects,

distinction was

made."*

He

who

can

engraved on wood, being assumed, we then have figures of or shortexplanations, saints with theirnames, engraved on wood ; next block-booksconsisting sacred with of

subjects

text ; and lastly typography and the copious explanatory

ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute."^ press: At what period the art of wood-engraving introduced in Europe, or in what country it
"

vras

first first

was

has not been preciselyascertained. Not the practised, by is slightest allusion made to itsproductions any writers date of the fourteenthcentury; and the earliestuthentic a that has hithertobeen observed on any wood-engraving, is 1423.
was

A wood-engraving saidto containthe date 1418 indeed discovered at Malines in 1844, pasted in the

B hiessen, riefKartenmacher,und Kartemnaler, oderwie siespater(1473) in maler,sind sclion Dcutschland 80 Jahre vor der ErUndung dcr BuclidruckerFormkunst gewesen. Die Kartenmacher waren anfangs die eigentlichcn da Figuren schnitt, sie dann ia der Folge der schneider, ehe man geistliche Zeit eine besondere Innung ausmacliten." ^Von Murr, Journal zur Kunst2er Theil, 89. s. geschichte, " de "L'homme le plus vers6 dans la connaissancedes premiersproduits la l miere xylographie, e Baron de Heineken, 6taitint^rieurement persuade que la pre'
"
"

qui parut en Europe, sculpts, empreinte tir^esur un ais grossibrement la itaitune carte. Dans son opinion, que nous croyons bien fondde, gravure de des cartes ^ jouer des images de Saints, k qui donna I'idde la conduisit celle Ainsi,une Idgcndes,d'otinaquit riraprimerie." ou gravure des mscriptions !"" carte aurait produit la presse! Quelle m^re et quellepost^ritd Leber, Etudes Historiques sur lesCartesa jouer, 3. p.

86

PLATING

CARDS.

inside an old chest; but as the numerals have evidently of been repairedby means both the of a black-leadpencil, of genuinenessand the authenticity the date have been very

justly questioned.
keeper of
to
an a

The person by whom it was found,the little almost immediately sold it public-house,

architect named De Noter, of whom itwas purchased by the Baron de Reiffenberg,for the Royal Library of Brussels, which he is the conservator, and where it now is of

preserved.^ Before thisdiscovery,he earliest t wood-engriaving with a i date, was the St. Christopher, n Earl Spencer'scollection, in which the date 1423, partly in words and partlyin Millesimo cccc' xx* tercio'* is seen engraved numerals in the same manner The as the other parts of the
"
"

"

subject.

first an personwho published account of the St. Christopher, it Hcineken. When he first it, was pastedon the was saw

inside the cover of a manuscript volume in the library of of Buxheim, near Memmingen in Suabia,within fifty milesof
citywhich appears to have been the abode of of the wood-engravers almost from the very commencement art in Europe, and in which we find a card-maker so early
Augsburg,
a

as

1418.

On the insideof the cover, Heineken also observed as anothercut, of the annunciation, the same size of
surrounded

"

The

of subjectthiscut isthe Virgin with the infantJesus in her arms,

by fourfemale saints, namely, St. Catherine,St. Barbara, St. Dorothy, ard St. Margaret. A fac-simile it is given in the Athenaeum for the 4th of October, 1845. The Baron de Reiffenberg, a account who published particular
no of the cut, and of the circumstancesof itsdiscovery, entertains doubt of the the datej and considers that the costume of the fibresand the authenticity of generalstyloof drawing arc in perfect accordancewith the period. Another been however, questionsthe authenticity the date, writer, of which he says has retouched with a black-lead ; pencil and, from the costume, he concludesthat it is not of an earlier datethan 1468. He supposes that the numeral 1 may have been omitted beforexviii the date, in which in the fac-simile the cut stands of dc thus : mutt See Quclques Mots sur la Gravure au Mill^Jsimc xblil."
"

1418, par C. D. B.

4to, Brussels, 1846.

INTRODUCTION

INTO

EUROPE.

87

the St.Christopher, and apparently executedabout the same time. The volume within whose covers those cuts were

bequeathed to the convent by Anna, canoness was pasted, in of Buchaw, who was living 1427, but who probablydied previous to 1435. The Annunciation,as well as the St. i Christopher,s now in the possession Earl Spencer. of
From the time of their first introduction, wood-cuts of sacred appear to have been known in Suabia and
of time this word alsocame to signify printsor woodcuts generally. It that originally the productionsof the woodwould seem
till engraverwere consideredas imperfect they were coloured; the Annunciation,and othersof and as the St. Christopher, an earlydate, of a appear to have been coloured by means

of Helgen ; corruption Heiligen, saints and in course of

the

subjects districts by adjacent

the

name

or

Helglein, a

thereisreason to concludethatmost of the " Helgen" stencil, In of the same period were colouredin the same manner. France the same kind of cuts,probablycolouredin the same
manner,

were

"

called

Dominos^
"

used to signify ; colouredor marbled paper generally and the makers of of cuts, such paper, as well as the engraversand colourers woodwere calledDominotiera, Though we cannot reasonably suppose that the cut of St. Christopher, with the date 1423, was the very first to believe that the art of of its kind, there is yet reason As the earliest known. wood-engraving was then but little

indicates the affinity the of subjects Subsequently, the word "Domino" was

which of itself with thoseof the Helgen.

a name

of a wood-cuts are observed to be coloured by means it stencil, would seem thatat the time when wood-engraving
firstintroduced, the art of depicting and colouring but figures by means was alreadywell known ; of a stencil so early as there are no cards engraved on wood to which a date as 1423 can be fairly assigned, and as at that
was

88

PLAYING

CARDS.

periodthere were

card-makers established professional at Augsburg, it would appear that wood-engraving was employed Helgeri'before it was applied on the executionof
"

stencilled cards before there were wood-engravings of saints. Though this conclusion in be not exactly accordance with an opinion which I have
to cards,and that there were

expressedin anotherwork,^ itisyet that which, on a further investigation the appears to be best supported of subject, by facts, and most stronglycorroboratedby the incidental
or noticeswhich we have of the progress of the Briefmaler to from his original profession that of a woodcard-pointer engraverin general.

The annexed cuts are fac-similes some of the old cards of to which I have alluded at page 83. The originals are preserved in the print-room of the BritishMuseum ; and
repeated examination of them, I am convinced that they have been depicted by means a of a stencil,nd not " printednor rubbed off" from wood blocks. They are not from
a

as nor cut into singlecards ; but appear just they coloured, are shown in the fac-similes. They formed part of the boards" of an old book, and were covers or sold to the
"

Looking at the in the ch^acter of the figures, marks of the suits those cards, in which they are executed,I should say and the manner
by Mr. D. Colnaghi.

BritishMuseum

date than 1440. Though cards thatthey are not of a later occur, of only threesuits and Acorns, namely. Hearts,Bells,
that conjecturedthe art of wood-engravingwas employed sacred subjects, as the figures saints and holy persons, before it was such of
"
"

It has been

on

It, applied to the multiplication f those 'books of Satan,' playing cards. o however, seems not unlikelythat itwas first employed in the manufacture of shortly themselvesof the same cards; and that the monks, availing principle, afterwards employed the art of wood-engraving for the purpose of circulating the figures saints thus endeavouring to supply a remedy for the evil, nd a ; of ing, Engravfrom the serpent a cure for hisbite." on Treatise Wood extracting ^A CJo. Historical and Practical, 58. Published by Charles Knight and p. Loudon, 1839.
"

I-g, 'Brill

.-"-^'

INTRODUCTION

INTO

EUROPE.

89

d therecan be littleoubt that the fourth suitwas Leaves,as in the pack describedby Mr. Gough, in the eighth volume
of the Archaeologia/ there is no Queen these,
'

As in Mr. Gough's cards,so in* ; though, like them, there appears

a

" to have been three coat" cards in each suit,namely,

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 King,
a

Knight,

or

been numbered

by their " pips" from two to ten, without

any ace. depicted by means That those cards were is of a stencil as evident from the feeblenessand irregularity the lines, of breaks in them, which, in many well as from the numerous instances, space was connected show where a white isolated with other blank parts of the stencil. The separationseen
h in the heads of the figuresin No. 1 of the fac-similesere given,would appear to have been occasioned by the stencil breaking or slipping either

operator was passing the brush over it.

while the

From the costume of the figuresin these cards, I inclinedto think that am
they
a are

the production of

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 similarfigure, with part

of a mutilated inscription, also occurs in the suitof Acorns.

90

PLAYING

CARDS.

Card-playing amusement appearsto have been a common o with the citizensf Bologna, about 1423. In thatyear 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 to general,and of Card-playing in particular, which the
much addicted,that his hearersmade a fire in the publicplaceand threw theircards into it. A cardtions and who had heard the denunciamaker who was present,

Bolognese were

n of the preacher,ot onlyagainstgamesters,but against or allwho either suppliedthem with cards or dice, in any manner countenanced them, is said to have thus addressed him, in great affliction mind.^ *M have not learned, of father, any other businessthan that of paintingcards; and

ifyou deprive me of that,you deprive me of life, and my destitute familyof the means of earninga subsistence." To

If you do not : this appeal the Saint cheerfullyeplied r know what to paint,paint thisfigure, and you willnever
*'

Father TommasoBuoninsegni, in his ' DiscorsodelGiuoco,' 27,Florence, p.

1585, thus refers the opinionof St. Bemardin and others on the to of subject " Sono stati i tanto scrupolosi severi, qualihanno detto, e gaming. che alcuni
liheredi, quel e tenutisono, ma di piii solo quegliche giuocano a restituire e carte,e chi vende, e compera baratterie bische, ed che prcstano dadi,tavolc, da inoltreiartcHci, qualifanno e vcndono carte,o dadi, cd altri l i strumcnti
non

di piu liUfficiali, Rettori,Magistratie Signori,i qualipotendo non li prohibireotali iuochi, c g proibiscono." In the notice the life St. Bemardin, in the Acta Sanctorum, citedby of of ments Pcignot,ho issaidto have required dice, that cards [naibes]^ and otherinstru; giuocare
c

to dote of gaming shouldbe given up to the magistrates be burnt. The aneciv, torn, p. is des Heresies, the card-painter given in Bcmini*s Histoire of 157. Vcnisc, 1784. Tliicrs,n his Trait($ i des Jeux, pp. 159-161, gives an
to extract from a sermon of St. Bemardin againstgaming: liis reference the St. Bcmardm is "Serm. 33, in Dominic. 5, Quadra^,I jpari.rinc" p works of but he does not mention the edition.

It may here be observed thatthe opinionof Dr. Jeremy Taylor on thissubject on isopposed to that of St.Bemardin. See his discussion the Question of
or no the making and providing which such instruments to it,isby interpretation to the sin as to involv* usually minister such an aid P" us in the guilt
:

Gaming

"

Whether

,,

INTRODUCTION

INTO

EUROPE.

91

have

cause

to regret having done

so."

Thus saying,he

took a tabletand drew on it the figure of a radiant sun, of Jesus indicated in the centre by the with the name I.H.S. The card-painter followed the saint's monogram
advice; and
so numerous were

the purchasers of the reformed

became rich. In the productions of his art, that he soon Bibliotheque du Roi at Paris, there is an old woodcut of St. Bernardin, with the date 1454, which has been supposed

engraved with referenceto this anecdote, as the saintis 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
*

to have been

in

*The History and work recently published,, entitled Art of Wood Engraving.'
a

John Capistran, a disciple St. Bernardin, and also a of Franciscan friar,followed the example of his master in

preaching against gaming have been attended with

on

;
no

and his exhortations appear to less success. In 1452, when

mission to Germany, he preached for three hours at Nuremberg, in Latin, against luxury and gaming; and his discourse, interpreted by one of his followers, which was produced so great an effect on the audience, that there
a

brought into the market-place and burnt, 76 jaunting boards, 40,000 dice,aiid cards 8640 backgammon sledges,
were

innumerable.
on

old portrait Capistran,engraved of comt memoratin wood by Hans Schauffiein, here is an inscription the efiects his preaching as above related.^ of

Under

an

Gcscbichto der Holzsclineidekunst den altestenbis auf die neuesten von Zeiten, ncbst dcr Spielkartcn imd ein zwei Bcilagen enthaltendden Urspmng Verzeichniss der sammt Wcrke, von Joseph Haller,s. 313. xylographischen 8vo, Bamberg, 1823.

'

92

CHAPTER
THE

III.

PROGKESS

OF CAED-PLAYING.

Having now shown at what periodcards were certainly well known in Europe, and at what period card-making
regularbusiness in Italy and Germany, I shall of proceedto lay beforethe reader a series facts showing both among the prevalence f the game in various countries, o
was a

greatand little people. forbidding From the repeatedmunicipalregulations cardpkying, to be found in the Burgher-books of several cities
of Germany, between 1400 and 1450, itwould seem that the game was extremely popular in that country in the earher partof the fifteenth century; and that itcontinued
to gain ground, notwithstandingthe prohibitions of
men

in office. There are orders forbidding it in the councilbooks of Augsburg, dated 1400, 1403, and 1406; though in the latter year there is an exceptionwhich permitscard-

bidden playing at the meeting-housesof the trades. It was forat Nordlingen in 1426, 1436, and 1439; but in
1440 the magistrates, their in greatwisdom, thought proper to relax in some degree the stringency theirordersby of

allowingthe game to be played in public-houses. In the in town-books of the same citythere are entries, the years 1456 and 1461 , of money paid forcards at the magistrates'

dinner. In the books of or annual goose-feast corporation the company of Schuflikker""cobblers of Bamberg, thereisa bye-law agreed to in 1491, which imposes a fine for of halfa pound of wax not shoemakers',but bees'wax the company's holy candle, to bum at the altar of the
"
"

"

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

93

gammon who shouldthrow thebackpatronsaint, ^uponany brother c pieces, ards,or diceout of the window.^ From Schuflikker" Bamit this may be concluded that the of berg in 1491 were accustomed, Uke gamesters of a more
"

"

to on recent period, vent their rage,when losers,

the caids
"

and dice, Platina, histreatiseDe Honesta Voluptate' in Baptista * lessthan an antique School of nor which is neithermore Good Living," teaching how creature comforts may be best
"

enjoyed ^mentions cards

"

as

game

at which gentlemen

may play,after dinner or supper,to diverttheirminds, as deep thinkingafter heartymeal impedes digestion.There a desire gain which was, however, to be no cheatingnor of
"

"

isas much as to say thatthe stakes were to be merelynominal lestbad passionsshould be excited, nd the processof a

healthyconcoctiondisturbed.^ is GaleottusMartins, a contemporary of Platina, perhaps " or the earliest speculated,^' at leastpubUshed writerwho his speculations, the allegorical on meaning of the marks

of the four suitsof cards. I shall give a translation the of passage,which occui*s in chapterxxxvi of his treatise De Doctrina promiscua,' written, according to Tiraboschi,
*

between 1488

and 1490.

I leave others to divine the

dorHolzschneidein Heller, om Urspnmg der Spielkarten, der Gcschichto V kunst, 307. 8.

*

"Interim vero jocis ludo,minime concito, acandum, ne sensus cogitav et tione impediant. Careatjocusquem ( urbanum, facetnm, occupati concoctionem dicacitate, modestum volo) mordacitate. Nolo mimos ; non proscurrilitate, terviam; non dicteria;non convicia, e unde ira et indignatio, t plenimque t nostra appellatione magna rixa oritur. Ludus sittalis,essera, saccho(ut utnr), Absit interludendum omnis frauset avaritia, imaginibiis carthis variis pictis. ludenti fit illiberalior voluptatem; destestandus ludus,nee ullam affcrt qua
et

'

timor,ira, immensa habendi cupiditas ariis odis ludentescruciet." m v et Honesta Voluptate, appeared at De The first t of edition Platina*s reatise, Venice,1475. The preceding extract is from the second edition, printedin 1480." bom in 1421, and diedin 1481. was -Platina
cum

94

PLATING

CARDS.

author'sprecisemeaning, referringthem to the original text which isgiven below. The topicsof thischapter are : " D The greater and lesser og Star,Orion,the Evening Star,
the Hyades, Bootes, the Kids, the planet the Pleiades, Venus, and the game of Cards." Towards the conclusion, after having exhausted his astronomical topics,he thus
apropos of the benign influenceof Venus. proceeds, " From the excellency thisplanet itis not surprising of a that the ancients called happy throw at dice Venus, not
"

Jove, though considered of greater fortune. Thus Pro-

pertius:
"Venus I hoped with lucky diceto cast. But every time the luckless ogs turned up." D
" An unlucky cast was calledthe Dog Canis'' and Dog to '^Caniculd' ^withreference the also the Little Stars. Thus Persius :
" " " "

"

"Far
*'

as

little Dog-star's the luckless range."

What kind of stars the Great and LittleDog were, has been abeady shown. Some persons,"indeed,might laugh at the invention of such kind of games being it not plain from reason that were ascribedto the learned, To say the game of cards was alsodevised by wise men. nothing about the Kings, Queens, Knights, and Footmen, b every one knows the distinctionetween dignityand ^for military service, is it not evident,when we consider the significance swords, spears,cups, and country loaves, of ? that the inventor of the game was a man of shrewd wit When thereis need of strength, indicated the Swords by as
"
"

than few ; in matters of meat and Spears,many are better and drink,however, as indicatedby the Loaves and Cups,
a

littles better than i

abstemiouspersonsare drunkards, and much

great deal, for it is certainthat and wit of more lively than gluttons

superior in the management

of

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

95

business. What I call form and country kaves, from their colour, Pliny speaks of bread of a yellowcolour" are the
"

marks which are ignorantlysupposed to signify of \ pieces The Cups are goblets, wine."* for money. The remainder of the passage cannot be literally transinto English,as itrelateschiefly the lated to pronunciation \
Hastas" Spears. The substance of it, of the word however, as follows is The common : people say Hastas,' J H, and the letter are interchangeable, as the aspiration V and so are B and V, both in Greek and Latin. As Bastoni
"
"

,''

"

'

are [clubs]vulgarlycalledHastoni,so have they sometimes the form of spears[Hastarum], but mostly that of bills, for

\
\
"

"Nou mirum ergo ob hujus planetaexcellentem e praerogativam in taxillis si felicem non fortunaputatur, Venerem nuncupavit jactum, Jovem qui major sed Unde Propertius, antiquitas.

"

Mo quoque per talos Venerem quserente ecundos, s Semper damnosisubsiliero Caucs.

et Caniculam damnosum appellavenmt. Sic Persius:
vero

1
'',

Canem

jactum etiam siderum comparatione

\

Damnosa canicula quantum

Raderet.
Canisvero et canicula sintsidcra patuit.Sed forsitan qualia superius quidam doctisquoque viris ludonun inventionem, tribui, riderent ujuscemodi h nisiet ludum quern chartarum nominant vulg6 et ^ Sapientibus fuisseexcogitatum dictaret; nam, ratio equitum peditumque potentiampncut regum, reginaruia, teream (quilibet dignitatis differentiam nonne cum militiseque enim novit), hastarum, scypborum, paniumque agrestiumvim consideramus, ensium, perspiingenii inventoremesse cognoscimus ? Cum viribus est opus, ut cacissimi ubi in hastis vero multitudosuperat paucitatem: in esculentis ensibusquevidetur,
; poculcntisquc, per panes vinumque figuratur, paucitasmultitudinemTincit ut ingenii, in esse constatenim abstemioscrapulosis et acrioris viris edacibusque voco, propter formam negotiisgendis fore superiores.Panes autem rusticos a Pliniusnarrat, (namcuppa scyphi et colorem, croceo enim coloreolim fuisse n sunt,ubi vinum,) illi sic credunt. Hastas, et sunt panes,quos imperiteummos dixit H aspiratio V convertantur,ut Hesper,Vesper. B et vulgus, quoniam toni GrsecusLatinusquetestantur; ut Basinvicem sedem praebere autem et V sibi Hastoni vulgbappellentur, ut aliquandohastarum plerumque bipennium ita fonnam gerant; utrumque enim militise Martiua, instrumentumest." Graleottus Be DoctrinaPromiscua,cap. xxxvi,pp. 477-8.16mo, Lyons, 1652.
"

"

96

PLAYING

CARDS.

The original passage is military weapons." ; extremely perplexing and the only thing in itthat appears desireto convert Bastoni" Clubs plainto me is the writer's both
are
"

j
\

"

Bastoni, which he says j Hastoni, or the Hastoni which are called Bastoni, are called for there is here an ambiguity,as in the celebratedrao cular into
"

Hastas," Spears. The

"

can

" response, Aio te, JEacida,Romanes vincereposse" to only relate the figuresof the things as seen on

cards, and not to the things themselves; for the author but more says that they have sometimes the shape of spears, frequently hat of bills. The realmeaning of thisI take to t be, that the Bastoni Clubs on cards were like more
"

"

bills than spears,notwithstanding that H and V, andV interchangeableletters. From the account and B, were
of Galeottus,it is evident that the usual marks of the j in his time, Coppe, Spadi, suits of Italian cards were Danari, and Bastoni, Cups, Swords, Money, and Clubs. In 1463 itwould appear that cards were well known in
"

England
which
was

for, by

an

act of parliament passed in thatyear,

the thirdof Edward IV, the importationof playing

cards was expresslyprohibited. This act, according to Anderson, was passed in consequence of the manufacturers and tradesmen of Loiidon, and other parts of England,

having made heavy complaintsagainst the importationof foreignmanufactured wares which greatlyobstructed their
own
"

employment.^

If we suppose that cards were

"

included

to Anderson'sHistory of Commerce, voL i,p. 483. ^The passage relating by cards,in the act referredto, was pointedout to the Hon. D. Barrington in Mr. John Nichols. Gough, in his ' Observations the Invention of Cards,* on before the Eighth Volume of Archseologia, says, that Mr. Le Neve produced in the Societyof Antiquariesa minute to show tliat cards were manufactured England before the ]st of Edward IV; for then a person had his name from

hisancestor having been a card-maker. Mr. Gough observesthat the ancestor at of thisperson" Hugh Cardmakcr, priorof St.John the Baptist, Bridgenorth a maker of cards for dressing flaxor wool. A Karter^" wool"was probably comber" occurs in the town-books of Nuremberg, in 1397.

PROGRESS-

OP

CARD-PLAYING.

97

for in the prohibition the above

card-making was then a home-manufactured or obtained Whether cards were from* abroad,they appear about 1484 to have been, as they Christmas game. are Margery at present, a common

itwould follow that regularbusinessin England.

reason,

Paston thus writes to her husband, John Paston, in a d letter ated Friday,24th Dec, 1484 : Right worshipful husband, I recommend me unto you. Please it you to
"

weet that I sent your eldestson John to my Lady Morley, to have knowledge of what sportswere used in her house

in the Christmas next followingafterthe decease of my lord her husband; and she said that there were none harpings, nor n none nor luting,or singing, loud disports but playing at the tables, ; and chess, and leaveto play,and cards; such disportsshe gave her folks other. Your son did his errand rightwell,as ye shall hear after this. I sent your younger son to the Lady Stapleton and she said according to my Lady Morley 's ;
none

disguisings, nor

sayingin that,and as she had seen used in places worof ship thereas [where] hath been/'^ It may not be she improper here to caution the reader againstconfounding "places of worship,'* with "houses of prayer,"and hence
then a common game in churches, " places with gentlemen's servants,at Christmas time. By of of worship" are meant the dwelling-places worshipful knights, and justices of the peace : persons,such as lords, inferring that cardswere in those days there were and every Shallow on born."
no

trates, stipendiarypolice-magis" a gentleman the bench was

Whether quoted
was

Richard III,in whose reign the letter above to his written,added dicing and card-playing have
no

other vices,we
"

account eitherin pubKc history

1778. renn*s Paston Letters, p. vol,ii, 333, edit.

98

PLAYING

CARDS.

or which deals, ought to deal,wholesale,in great facts,*' more devoted or in privatememoirs, which are especially
"

facts. to the retailing of little

His

successor,

however,

card player; for Barrington observesthat in his privy-purseexpenses there are three several entries Henry VH,
was

losses at cards. Of his of money issued for his majesty's winnings there is no entry; though his money-grubbing

kept majesty his accounts

favour of
a

as exactly to enter even a sixhis mercy in and-eightpenny bribe" given to propitiate so

poor criminal, thus turning with his prerogative pardoning : of

"

ficking penny by traf-

"

To have the power to forgive. Is empire and prerogative."

a common It would appear that cards was game at the ; coiui of Henry the VH, even with the royal children for, found playin 1503, his daughter Margaret, aged 14, was ing

at cards by James IV of Scotland,on

his first interview

in with her, afterher arrival Scotland for the purpose of being married to him.^ James himselfis said to have been greatlyaddicted to card-playing;and in the accounts of his treasurer there are severalentriesof money disbursed
on

are
"

On Christmas night, 1496, there account of the game. deliveredto the king at Melrose, to spend at cards,
a

On the 23d August, 1504, when the king was pears at Lochmaben, he apto have lostseveralsums at cards to Lord Dacre, the warden of the EngUsh marches ; and on the 26th of the
"

thirty-five unicornis,eleven French crowns, and a leu" in all forty-twopounds. ridare,

ducat, a

to and Newbattle], entred [of privily the said castell he founde the qucne playing a smallcompany, withinth6 chammer with where Leland'sCollectanea, the CARDEs."" Appendix, p. 284. Cited by at vol. iii, Warton, in his History of English Poetry, who also observesthat cards are
came

"

"Tlie kjngc

mentioned in a statute of Henry VII, in the year 1496.

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

99

month, there is an entry of four French crowns given to "to Cuddy, the InglisInter, louse his cheyne of grotis, to quhilk he tintat the cartis,'* redeem his chain of groats
same
"

which he lostat cards.^ M. Duchesne, in his Observations sur lesCartesa

'
"

jouer,'

t says, somewhat inconsistently,hat cards are of Italian origin, and that it was eitherat Venice or at Florence,that the Greek refugeesfrom Constantinople,firstmade them

in incorrect his chronology, as he is singular in his notions with respectto the ItaHan rence, brought to Venice or Floorigin of playing cards, first
as
"

known.

M. Duchesne is

by Greeks.^ The refugees to whom he apparently the Greeks who sought an asylum in Italy, alludes were when

Constantinople

was

taken by the Tm-ks, in 1453,

which is sixtyyears 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, is yet certain it known to the Greeks, before the end of that they were the fifteenth century; for Ducange, in his Glossary of

MiddleLudus charXAPTIA, Age Greek, under the word tarum,^ quotes the following verse from a manuscript of Emanual Georgillason the Plague at Rhodes :
"

"Kai

Ta

ravXia,

xai

ra

xapria,

rat

Kapia KaraKavasv."

"Burn the tables, ards,and dice." c

in Priyate Life of James IV of Scotland, Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, Nos. 9 and 10, 1832. * Italienne; tout ce qui tient aux arts, ont une origine "Les cartes,comrae c*est a Venise ou a Florence que les Grecs r^fugiesde Constantinopleles ont
"

d'abordfaitconnaitre."" Annuaire Historiquepour Tannee 1837, p. 188. ' 1688. Gracitatis.Folio, Ducange, Glossaqum ad Scriptores mediaeet infimce TavXia is merely a different Xapria. Under the mode of words AKupia and backgammon board with its append^ a spelling Ta"\ia^talfula, tables, kind of
ages.

100

PLAYING

CARDS.

"It appearsfrom this," says Ducange, "that the. game was at least of cards,the origin of which is uncertain, known in 1498, the yearin which thismortality happened." In the 'Journal des Dames,' for the 10th April,1828, a pubhcation, which I have not had the fortuneto see,
"

but which is referred to by Brunet the younger, in his Notice Bibliographiquesur les Cartes a jouer,' is ^there a detailed account of the modem Greek cards manufactured
'
"

at Frankfort.^

Towards the closeof the fifteenth, in the early and part before Luther had sounded the of the sixteenth century, tocsin religiouseform,and given a new impulse to both of r
the busy and the idle, the Germans appear to have been Woodcuts of this period greatly addicted to gaming.

playing at cards and dice are and women John Geilerof Kaisersberg, famous preacher common. a in his day,who, likeLatimer, was accustomed to season his h scnnons not to say fun rings a with a littleumour showing
men
"
"

* peal against gaming in his Speculum Fatuorum,' first He says that there are printedat Strasburgabout 1508.

some
^'

games at cards which are purely of chance, such der Busch unci SchantzenJ'^ while others,such

as as

offen

The following sMons. Brunct'sprefatory i note to his brochure, which was les in published Paris, 1842. "Les curieux, amateurs de livres at rechcrchent
"

avcc

aconempresscmcnt tout ee qui a rapportaux cartes; c*estce qui m*a port^ dc loisir latraductione ee que je d sacrcr un instant ti ti vcnaisdc lire, cct 6gard,

la dans un ouvragc allemand, de bibliographiqueplus vaste repertoire Tdrudition 4tcndue (Lehrbuch Volkcr des Mitder einerLiterargeschichte beriihmtesten telaltcrs, J. G. T. Grasse, Buchhandlung, Dresden und Leipsig, von Anioldische Band ii, s. 879-85); 1842, a j'ajoute nouvcllcs cet apcrpu, quclqucsindications
que je n'imprimed'ailleurs quclqucsexemplaires." qu'i ' Geilcr's bell his peal consists seven second of ringsto thistune.
"
"

"

Sc-

T et cunda nola est : luderealeadissimilibus. angit ha;c nola feminas nobiles eis saccrdotes:feminas,inquam, quae immiscent se turbisvirorum et cum
cum et saccrdotes prelatesludentcs laicis," laici quiludunt ; sunt clericis oppidoinfesti, undo seandalizanturnobiles habcs."" Speculum cum ut et nebulonibus lenonibus, in spcculonostro vulgari

ludunt,contra

c.

ii de

lib. judiciis, ; vi

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

101

both chance and skill.In treating the lawfulnessof playing at cards,dice, of and " for the sake of recreation" a savingclause games similar which appears to have been introduced in favour of the laboriously both studiousand devout, he citesauthorities
on
" "

"

de9

depend KamefflimI*

pro and

certaingloss says that to play at such is games, whether for money, or gratis," a deadly sin; for and Hostiensissays that to play forrecreation, money,
con,
"
"

*'

to killthemselves for love,with wine"

"

is

deadly sin

in the laity well as the clergy. Angelus, however, says as to thatitislawfulforboth clergyand laity play for recreation, ^' for small stakes: pro modico non notahiUy Geiler's
own

there is danger. conclusion is that,as doctors differ, Gaming in his time, as in our own, appears to have levelled : and even clergymen, alldistinctions lords and ladies,

dignified otherwise, or eager to win money, and confiding in then*luck, or theirskill,ared but little the rank or for c
character of those with whom they played,provided they compunction could but post the stakes; and felt no more in winning a ruffling burgher'smoney, than a peer would
in receiving the amount of a bet from a cab-man, or a a wealthy citizen, few years ago, in rendering bankrupt the tableat Epsom or wooden-legged manager of a thimble-rig

thimble-rig,"however, is now numbered Lord Stanley with the things that have been" "//^eV." brought it into political disrepute and Sir James Graham ; lation put it down, just about the time that the railwayspecubegan to be the "rage" under the auspices of a
Ascot.
"

The

*'

knowing Yorkshireman. Thomas

Murner,

Franciscan friar, avaiUng himself

Fatuorum, auctore Joanne Geiler de Keisersberg, conciouatoreArgentorense, 1511. It maj Edit.Lusorum turba (/"?A?/ iVirrri?). Strasburg, sect. Lxxvii. here be observed that Geiler's bellsare intended by himselffor the caps of " SpielNarre" fools. ^gambling
"
.

102

PLAYING

CARDS.

introduced the of of apparently the popularity card-playing, " " as term Chartiludium" a caption"in the title his of i Strasburg,n 1509.* The 'Logica Mcmorativa/ at printed
that of a scholastic edant,who might p work is evidently be possibly expertenough in ringingthe changes on verbal k but distinctions, who had not the least nowledge of things, The book is nor any idea of the right use of reason.

much inascuts, which representcards, adorned with numerous as at the top of each there is an emblem, just there is the mark of the suit in each of our coat cards. The for they mutually render cuts and the text taken together, each other more
nonsense

form intelligible, such

as

would puzzle even a Murner asks pardon for the interpret.In his prologue, the studious youths,for title his book; and assures of it that he had not been led whose instruction was devised,
to to adopt it from any partiality card-playing; that,in

of complicated fortune-teller to

mass

touched cards,and that,from his very childhoodhe had abhorred the perversepassionfor play. by the success of In 1518 Murner, apparently stimulated hislogical to p card-play,ublished an introduction the civil h fact, e had
never

law, writtenand pictorially illustrated the in as the former.^

same

manner

LogicaMcmorativa : Chartiludiumogice, dialectice l ; meraoria etnovus sive Petri Hjspani textus emendatus. Cum jucundo : e pictasmatis xercitio eruditi

" "

viriP. TliomjB Murucr, ordbis minorum, theologiedoctoriseximii." 4to, in Strasburg,509 Leber says that the book was first 1 printedat Cracow 1507; and that an editionof it,in octavo, was printed at Paris in 1C29. Murner was one of Luther's earlyopponents ; and one of the pamphlets which was duringtheircontroversy : bearsthe following title "Ant wort dem publislicd dcr Murner, uff seine frag, der Kiinig von Engellantein liigner sey,odcr ob doctor^Mart. Luther, 1523." "An answer to Munier on his question, gotlichc 'Whether the King of England, or the reverend Doctor Martin Luther, is a liar?'"
ChartiludiumInstitute summarie, doetore Thoma ludentc." 4to, Strasburg, 1518. A copy of this book
' "

Murner memorante et Kloss's was soldat Dr.

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

103

As I have not been able to make anything of Mumer's logical or e card-play,itheras regards the instruments the
matter professedto be taught, I willinglyvailmyselfof a
* in what Mons. Leber has said on the subject his Etudes Historiquessur lesCartes a jouer.' "These cards,*' says Mons. Leber, "made much noise in their time; and this
"

might well be, for they were a noveltywhich itwas easier to admire than to comprehend. At first people fanciedthat they saw in them the work of the devil and itwas even a ;
question whether the author should not be burnt, seeing that he could be nothing more than a with conjurer the logicians that age. But the of pupils made such

conjurer's
"

that people cried out wonderful !*' extraordinary progress, and Mumer's book was pronounced divine. Although those in cards are fifty-two number, they have nothing in common f with our pack. They differ rom allother cards,whether

for gaming, or of fanciful device,in the multiplicity nd a the divisionof the suits, hich the inventorhas appliedto the w Of these suits divisions logic, aftera method of his own. of there are no lessthan sixteen, corresponding with the same number of sectionsof the text, and having the following
names

and colom-s:

salein 1835 ; and in the Catalogue/No. 2579, we are informedthat "this very illustrativefour rare and curiousvolume containsvery many wood-engravings, of Such games, we may predistinct sume, games played by the ancientswith paper." the Statutesat large. If Murner understood any as are played at with of his LogicalCardgame, he must have learntitsubsequent to the publication tiling to of play ; and ifhe were able to make itsubservient the explanation any he have improved himselfgreatlybetween 1508 and 1518. else,
must

104

"Such isthe whimsicality thosesigns, and such theoddity of that the learned of then*relationto the things signified, Singer has been deterred from the attempt to make them
known
;

that he will not undertake at any rate, he declares

even

profound logicians of This is easily the day might not be able to comprehend. in said, but we see no impossibility explaining how the
to explain that which

the most

author understoodhimself. 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, in and crayfish the chair of Aristotle when its occupant was
a

friar the sixteenth of century. "The figureof a man with a crown

one

over

of his eyes, a book in

one
"

his head, a patch hand, and a trowel in

on

to the other,relates section, or It displaysthree symbols, the

or

Tractatus,'* x,

appellatio.

of object which

isintelligence

definition 1, the logical terms or : ; appellation 2, relative ideaswhich have become connected in the mind ; 3, privative terms, expressive privationor exclusion. The open book, of the symbol of the definition; trowel indicatesconnexion ; and the patch over the eye signifies privation. The star, which occupies the place of the mark of the suit,and casts its lighton all the other three symbols, signifies that clearness is the first merit in is [which appears shut] the

PROGRESS

OP

CARD-PLATING.

105

every definition."The cut here given is a fac-simile of to. that referred

Rogers, availing himselfof the poeticlicense,hough but t to a small extent, has represented the followers Columbus of to as playing at voyage of discovery, the cards in his first West Indies,in 1492.
"

be At daybreak might the caravels seen, Chasing theirshadows o'er the deep serene ; by tide. Their bumish'd prows lash*d the sparkling Their green-crossstandardswaving far and wide.
And The
now seaman, once more

to betterthoughts inclined.

in mounting, clamoui'*d the wind.

106

PLAYING

CARDS.

toldhis tales loveand war; The soldier of The courtier sung sung to his gay guitar. Round, at Primero, sate a whiskered band ; " So Fortune smiled, of careless sea or laud."
"

d Garcilasso e la Vega, to whom Mr. Rogers refers, ays s Primero or the followers Columbus playing of nothing about at the game; he only mentions,in his 'Historyof theConquest
that the soldiers who were engaged in that of Florida,' having burnt all theircards afterthe battle expedition, of

Mauvila,[about made ment, 1542], themselves new ones of parchwhich they painted admirably,as if they had followed
the businessalltheirlives but ;
as

would not, make so many as were time.^ Although we have no cards in theirturn fora limited it positive evidence of the fact, is yet not unlikelythat there were cards in the shipsof Columbus ; unlessindeed they had
as thisoccasion, they to the soldiers were of and sailors the Spanish Armada in 1588.' Herrera has recorded in his History of the Spanish on
*

they eithercould not, or wanted, players had the

been especially to prohibited the crews

on

TlicVoyage of Columbus, iu Poems by Samuel Kogcrs. Mr. Uogers'snote the passage above quoted is: "Among those who went with Columbus were
Primero
was

many adventurersand gentlemen of the court. fashion. See Vega, p. 2, lib. c. 9." iii,
*
"

then the game in

Y porque decimos, que estos Espaiioles jugavan,no hemos dicho con y de Mauvila los ; es de saber,que despues que en la sangrienta battalia que hacian quemaron losnaypes, que Uevavan con todo lo demas que alii perdieron, naypcs de pergaraiuo, lospintavana lasmil maravillas porque en qualquiera ; y losofrcscia, animavan a hacer lo que avian menester. Y se ncccssidad que se con ello, como toda su vida huvieran sido Maestros de aquel olicio; salian y si los porque no podian,6 no querianhacer tantos, quantos eran menester, hicieron

limitadas, que bastavan,sirviendo por lioras andando por rucda eutre los jugadorcs; de donde (6de otro paso que huvicsenascido podriamos dccir, semejante) : el refran,que entre los Tahures se usa dccirjugando Demouos priesaseiTores, los que hacian los nuestros eran de cuero, que viencn por losnaypes ; y como duravan por penas."" La Floridadel Inca [Garcilasso Vega], Parte Pride la del Libro Quinto,capitulo p. 198. Polio, i, Madrid, 1723. have their "Also I orderand command that therebe a care that allsoldiers iri room clean, and unpcstercdof chests, without consenting and other things, : therebe any, to be taken away presently neither any case to have cards;and,if
mcra
'

PR0GRKS8

OF

CARD-PLATflNO.

107

in thatMontezuma, emperor ofMexico, Discoveries America,' who was made prisoner by Cortes in 1519, took great in play at cards. pleasure seeing the Spanish soldiers
i on Barrington, n his Observations the Antiquity Cardof in playing England,'says,"During the reignsof Henry VIII
'

seems not to have been and Edward VI, this amusement in England, as scarcely common any mention of it occurs

eitherin Rymer's Fcedera, or the statute book." Had Mr. Barringtonbeen as well read in old poems and plays in the more as he was ancient statutes,it is hkely that he opinion. He says, It is would have been of a dilBFerent
"

not improbable,however, that Philip the Second, with his

coming from the court of Charles V, made the use of suite, cardsmuch more generalthan it had been, of which some presumptiveproofs are not wanting." The suppositionis ; plausible but as the presumptive proofswhich he alleges, likely be found in the reign of Edward IV, as in to the reign of Mary, they are of no weight in the deteiminawere
as

tionof the question. As Catherine, wifeof Henry VIII, the was a Spanish amongst princess, and as itis recorded that, " her otheraccomplishments, t she could play at tables, icktack,or gleek,with cardesor dyce,"^ the persons formingher
as suitewere just likelyas those of the suiteof Philip II, to have brought into England Spanish cards with the marks

of swords and clubs proper Esjpadas and Bastos: but be therecan scarcely a doubt that such cards were known to in England long before. Mr. Barrington'spartiality his
"

have any, letme be advertised." the soldiers permit them to the mariners ; and if Orders set down by the Duke of Medina to be observed in the Voyage
"

towards England, 1588 ; reprintedin the HarlcianMiscellany. ' Strutt, wlio quotes this passage in his Spoits and Pastimes,refersto Sir William Forrest, and V^'arton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii, sect,iii,
* Practise,' p. 311. SirWilliam Eorrest's work, entitled The Poesye of Princelye was written towards the conclusion the reign of Henry VIU, and presented of to Edward VI. The author allows that a king;, may for a while after dinner,

to "repose" liimsclf tables, or at chess, cards; but deniesthe latter labouring in people. Strutt says that the M^orkisin manuscript, the Royal Library.

108

PLATING

CARDS.

theory about Spanish cards, and of the game becoming the marriage of Philip much more generalin England after o look, and Mary, has probably caused him eitherto entirelyverimportance to a presumptiveproof, attachtoo little to be found in the statute-book,f cards being a common o amusement in England in the reign of Henry VIII. In a
or

to statuterelating plays and games, passed in the thu'tythirdyearof that king's reign,1541, vre find the following

No Artificer, hisJourneyman, no Husbandman, or restrictions. 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 in their master's house or presence, pain of 20^. ; and none shallplay at Bowls in open places,out of his gardener

in orchard, pain of 6*. 8c?."^ In the moralityof HyckeScorner, reprintedin Hawkins's 'Origin of the English Drama,' from a black letter of copy in Garrick^s collection,
as at least earlya date as the commencement

Henry VIII, the following are enumerated as over of the company of the ships that came Scorner:
lyers, "Braulers, getters, nd chyders, a Walkers by night, and great murderers, Overthwartegyle, and joly carders."

of the reignof forming part with Hycke-

In the morality Lusty Juventus,writtenby R. Wever, of in the reign of Edward VI, Hypocryse says to Juventus, to : whom he invites breakfast
,

"

I have

fumy carde in a place, ! That willbear a tume besidesthe ace ; She purvoycs now apace
a

For my commyngc."
'

Sir Robert Baker, in hisChronicle, year of states that in the eighteenth Henry Vill a proclamationwas made againstallunlawful games, so that in all

dice, tables, places, cards, and bowls were taken and burnt ; but that thisorder long, for young men, being thus restrained, "fellto drinking, continuednot
stealing conies,nd otherworse a

misdemeanours."

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLATING,

109

" subsequent passage it appears thatthis fumy litleesse," the personifiB carde"^is the naughty woman, cation Abhominable Livyng." of

From

"

"

Gurton's Needle/said to In the comedy of * Gammer have been first printedin 1551, old dame Chat thus invites two of her acquaintanceto a game at cards:
"

What, Diccon ?
We

Come

nere, man,

be fastset at trump,

ye be no stranger: hard by the fire ;

Thou shaltset on the king,ifthou come a little nyer. Dol ; Dol, sitdown and play tliis Come hither, game. thou sawest me do, see thou do even the same ; There isfivetrumps besides her.** find the queen, the hindmost thou shalt

And

as

Satire on Cardinal Wolsey and the Romish Clergy by WilKam Roy, without date, but most likely printed in In
a

of the bishops to addition theirother vices:

some
"

1527,^

are

charged with gaming in

To play at the cardes and dyce, Some of theym are nothynge nyce, Both at hasard and mom-chaunce."

In the privypurse expenses,from 1536 to 1 544, of the PrincessMary, daughter of Henry VIII, afterwardsQueen
to of entries money delivered the princess to play at cards. In a prefatorymemoir. Sir Frederick Madden remarks: "Cards she seems to have
numerous

Mary, there are

indulged in freely and there is a sum generally as allotted ; "^ As Mary pocket-money for the recreation every month.
i i Fumy furnished,n complete fashion, n Fienchf/oumi sorted, ^prepared, full sense, though certainly equipage. The card was a coai card, in a certain not an honour. * to For some the reader is referred account of the author of this satire, Annals of the English Bible,by ChristopherAnderson, vol.i,pp. 63, 116, 136, 137. 8vo, 1845, ' Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary, daughter of King Henry VllI, the Princess, afterwardsQueen Mary. With a Memoir and Notes, by Fred.
'
"
"

of

110

PLAYING

CARDS.
I

is said to have been extremelydevout, we may presume indulgentcasuists, that, of adoptingthe decisions the more herself their permissionto play at cards as a of she availed o w recreation hen her mind was fatiguedwith the exercise f her strenuous piety. The records of the burning of men form a in her reign for the sake of religion, and women her privypurse expenses singularcontrast with the entriesin
to of money delivered her to play at cards. From the preceding incidental noticesof cards in poems as and plays, well as from the directevidence of the statute

book and the privypurse expenses of the PrincessMary, it in England was common would appear that card-playing

during the reignsof Henry VIII and Edward VI, both in the cottageand the palace; and there is reason to believe

period the game was equallycommon in Scotland. William Dunbar, who wrote in the reignsof James IV and James V, in his 'General Satire,' exposing
the depravityof allclasses people in the kingdom, thus of to : alludes the prevalence dicingand card-playing of
"

that about the same

Sicknavisand crakkaris, play at cartsand dycc, to Sic halland-scheckaris, qwhilk at Cowkilbyisgryce

Arc lialdin pryce,when lymarisdo convene of Sic store of vyce, sae mony ^yittis unwyse.
;

Within thisland was

nevir hard nor

sene."

In the poems of Sir David Lyndsay, there are several ' to ; allusions card-playing and in his Satireof the Three Estaites,' which Chalmers says was firstacted at Cupar,
in From the following references the index,the Mary*s partiality the game. to reader may judge of " Cards,money delivered the Prmcess to play at,p. 3, 10, 11, 14, 19, 24, to 101." 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 49, 50, 55, 57, 59, 67, 69, 73,1^,81, saj^e,
to "Cards, money lent, play at, 4,13,29, 30." The sums deliveredre mostly from 20*. to 40*. One entry is for so smalla a sum as 2*.2rf., and another for 12*. 6rf.

Madden, Esq.,F.S.A. 1831.

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

HI

in Fifeshire, 1535, the Parson declareshimselfto be

an

adept at the game

"Thoch I preichnocht,I can play at the caiche : I wot thereis noclit ane amang yow all Mair fcrylie play at the futc-ball can ;

And forthe cartis, he tabcls, the dyse, t and Above allparsouns I may beirthe pryse."

In Sir David's poem, entitled The Cardinal,' exposing the personal vices and tyrannical conduct of Cardinal Beaton, who was assassinated St. Andrews in 1546, that at
*

is prelate representedas

greatgamester :^

"In banketting, playingat cartis and dyce, Into sicwyscdome I was haldinwyse ;

And spairitocht to play with king nor knicht, n Thre thousand crowncs of goldeupon ane night."

In the examination of Thomas Forret, dean of the Kirk, a and vicarof Dollar,on a charge of heresy brought against him by John Lauder, a tool of Cardinal Beaton's,at Edinburgh,
1st March, 1539, Forret's answer

chargesof hisaccuser,
*

some affords

of the in idea of the manner

one

to

The charge of gaming isfrequently allegedagainstthe more wealthy members formation. the Roman Catholic clergy by writerswho were in favour of the Reof
"

Item les grosses sommes de deniersqu'ils jouent ordinairement, Qui a la Prime, a la Chance, a la Paulme, n*ont pas este mises en compte. soit est le bon Papiste qui pourroit se contenter de voir son Prelatjouert perdre e
aprcs disnee, quatre,cinq,et six mil escus ; pour une reste de Prime, ; avoircouch(5 cinq cens escus ; pour un Aflac en perdre millc que la pluspart des episcopaux, tiennentbcrlandouvert ^ jouer aux jusqucs moindrcs chanoines,

pour

une

les prohibczet defendus,non seulement par ledroitcanon, mais par 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 Perlesprecieusesd'inestia

tous jeux

"

mable valeur, 65. 12mo, 1581. This virulent attack on the French clergy p. is ascribedby Mons. Le Duchat to Nicolas Proumenteau ; and by L'Islede Sales to Nicolas Barnaud.

112

PLATING

CARDS.

of priests the period were accustomed wliichmany bachelor : to spend theirtithes " thou sayestit isnot lawfulto Accuser. False Heretic,

Kirkmen

to take their teinds (tythes) and offerings and

though we have been in use of them, constitute corps-presents, by the Kirk and King, and also our holy fatherthe Pope hath confirmed the same ?
"

was

Dean Forret, Brother,I said not so ; but I said it not lawfulto Kirkmen to spend the patrimony of the

Kirk, as they do, on

women, and on fair riotous feasting, and at playingat cards and dice/'^ Stewart Pinkerton,in his History of Scotland,* says :
* "

the poet,in an address to James V, adviseslum to amuse himself with hunting,hawking, and archery,justing, and chess; and not to play at cards or dice,except with his mother
as the chief lords, itwas a disgracefor a prince to win from men a station, nd his gains at any of inferior time ought to be given to his attendants/' At a period somewhat later, would appear that cardit or

common a on the borders of amusement playing was Scotland, and that the sturdy rievers, hose grand game w idle lifting, was were cattle accustomed to while away their hours at cards for placks and hardheads. The following

curious passage occurs in a letterdated Newcastle, 12th January (] 570), printed in the second volume of Sir Ralph ' Sadler's State Papers.'The writerwas 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 to and submit himself Elizabeth's mercy.'
*
*

Anderson'sAnnals of the EnglishBible, ii, vol. p. 500. The Earls of Westmoreland Northumberland were the and

leaders principal

or of the Rebellion, "Rising in the North," in 15C9.

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

113

Ferniherst, I left and went to my ostes house,* where I some found many guests of dyvers factions, outlaws of
"

England, some
cards;
some

of Scotland,some neighbours thereabout, at for ale, for placksand hardhedds [a some small

; and coin]

therewas
nor none

1 learnedand enquiredthat after had diligently none thathad me in deadlyfude, of any surname that knew me, I sat down and plaidforhardhedds

thatthe Lord Regent among them, where I heard vox jpojpuli would not, forhis owne honour, nor for the honour of his

dehver the Earls, he had them bothe,unless it if country, to have theirQueue deliveredo him ; and if he wold were t agree to make that change, the borderers would startup in hiscontrary, and reave both the Queue and the Lords from him, for the like shame was that he durst better eate his
came

don in Scotland; and lugs than come own agen to ; soke Farneherst ifhe did,he should be fought with ere he
never

Sowtray edge. Hector of Tharlows^ hedd was wished to have been eaten amongs us at supper." ' In the old balladentitled The Battleof the Reed Swire,' giving an account of a fray at a Warden meeting,which
over
we general fight, find cards mentioned. This meeting was held in 1576 near the head of the riverReed, on the English side ; of the Carterfell and appears to have been attended, likea fair, y people from both sidesof the b
a

ended in

Border.
"Yet
was our meeting meik enough. Began with mirriness ; and mows And at the brae abune the heugh

the rows The clerksat down to call

'

on George Pylc,of Millhcugh, Ousenam water,about four from Jedburgh. The Earl of Westmoreland was tlicn miles south-fiastward

His hostwas

stayingwith Kerr of Eau^iherst. * Hector, or Eckie vered deliin of Harlaw, as he is called the Border Minstrelsy, up the Earl of Northumberland, who had sought refugewith him, to the B^gent Murray.

114

PLAYING

CARDS.

And sum forkyc, and sum for cwcs, i Callitn of Dandrie, Hob, and Jock : I saw come marcliingowre the knows Fyc hundred Fennicks in a flock.
"With jack and bowis allbent. and spcir, And warlikeweapons at theirwill;

Ilowbcitthey were Yet be

mc

not wcil content, : na troth wc feird ill

Some gaed to drink, and some studc siill, And sum to cardsand dycc them sped; fylda bill," Wliileon ane Farstcintlicy

And he

was

fugitive hat fled." t

About the same period the game of cards was a common in the south of Ireland. Spenser,in his View amusement
'

written about 1590, speaks of an of the State of Ireland/ idleand dissolute classof 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 nothing of their own, yet will they play for much or ; money ; which, if they win, they waste most lightly and

if they lose, they pay

with one stealthor but that through gaming they themselves are idle lossels, they draw othersto lewdness and idleness/'^
"

but make recompense slenderly, another; whose only hurt is not that
as

Henry Robson, filed was was of the person againstwhom the bill to have caused tliedispute probablyof Falstone. His non-appearance seems between the wardens.Sir J. Foster and Sir J. Carmichael, which ended in a
name

The

generalcombat between theirfollowers. ' The above passage is quoted by Mr. T. Crofton Croker in a note on the following linesin "A Kerry Pastoral," poem lanies, a publishedin Concanen's Miscel1724, and reprinted the Percy Society: by
"Dingle and Derry.sooner shall unite. Shannon and Cashan both be drained ; outright

And Kerry

forsaketheircards and dice. men Dogs be pursued by Hares, and Cats by Mice, Water begin to bum, to and fire wet. Before I shall forget." friends my college

The favorite game of the Kerry

men

issaidto have been " Onc-and-thirty."

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

115

to The counterpart thispicturewas to be found in Spain between the about the same period; and as the intercourse frequent,and the favorite two countrieswas game in both
was
"

it One-and-Thirty/'is

not unlikely that the Irish

obtainedtheirknowledge of cards from the Spaniards. In ' Cervantes' Comical Historyof Rinconctcand Cortadillo/ a

young Spanish vagabond givesthe following account of his I took along with me what I thought most a skillt cards:
"

a necessary, nd amongst the rest this pack of cards, (and I called to mind the old saying, He cai-ries All now his for with these I have gained my living all on his back,') at
'

the publickhouses and inns between Madrid and thisplace, playing at One-and-Thirty ; and though they are dirtyand torn, they are of wonderful service those who understand to them, for they shall never cut without leaving an ace at
good point towards eleven, with which being the game, he sweeps allthe advantage, thirty-one money into his pocket : besides this,I know some slight

bottom, which is one

tricks Cards and Hazard ; so that though you are very at dexterousand a thorough master of the art of cuttingbuskins, I am every bit as expert in the science of cheating
I ; people,and therefore am in no fearof 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 ;^

try the experiment ourselves: Let us may now spread the nets, and see ifnone of thesebirds,the carriers, this we
in PascasiusJustus, in his work entitled Alea, first publislied 15G0, relates that though he frequently feltdifficulty obtaininga supply of provisions in
'

however poor, in which in when travelling Spain, he never came to a village, cardswere not to be found. The prevalenceof card-playmg in Spain about the * Satyra inmiddle of the sixteenth century isfurthershown in a work entitled losdanos que alcuerpo,y alalma y contra losTahures : en que se dcclaran vectiva Sevilla,n casa de e dc siguen del juego los naypes. Impressa en is erroneously Martin dc Montcsdoca, Auo dc m.d.lvii.' Tliiswork ascribed by Antonio,in his Bibliothcca o Hispana Nova, to Dominic Valtanas,r Baltanas,

la haziendase

to Dominican friar, whose instancethe edition referred was at

printed. The

IIG

PLAYING

CARDS.

into them ; which is as much as to say that you willfall and I will play together at One-and-Thirty, as if itwas

in earnest; perhaps somebody may

be he shall him/'
sure

make the third,and to to be the first leave his money behind

firstused in Europe for At what period cards were has not been or the purposes of divination fortune-telling for 1842, page ascertained. In the 'Magasin Pittoresque' 324, there is a cut entitled Philippe-le-Bon consultant
"

une

tireusede cartes," copied from a painting ascribedto John Van Eyck. Though it has been denied that this

by pictureis really Van Eyck, it is yet admitted that the costume is that of the reign of Charles VIII, between belongs 1483 and 1498.^ Supposing then that the picture have thus evidence of cards being before the closeof used forthe purposes of fortune-telling
to the latter we period,

the fifteenth who are unquestionably century. The gypsies, of Asiatic origin,appear to have long used them for this purpose ; and if they brought cards with them in their immigrationintoEurope, as Breitkopfsupposes, they earliest

likelyto have brought with them their occult from science cards as to have acquiredit subsequently of
are as just

Diego del Castillo, who also wrote another work on the same[]sub* Reprobacionde los Juegos,*printedat Valladolidin 1528.*"The ject, entitled
author was
author derives the word Tahur^ a gamester, from HurtOy theft, robbery,by transposing the syllables, changing o intoa : and
"

Tahur y ladron, Una cosa son."

"II existe Belgiqueplusieurs en tableauxattribuds Jean Van Eyck, qu'il ^ de est inutile designer, qui par les costumes des personnages dcnotent une et
d*un grand nombre d'ann^jes.Nantes en post6rioritd posscde un, dgalement a ce maitre, dont les costumes du r^gne de CharlesVHE. attribud sont ceux Le de Philippe-le-Bon sous le titre de consultantune tireuse cartes,en a 6t6

"

sujct,

donnd dans leMagasin Pittpresque, ann6e 1842, p. 324!." Quelques Mots sur la Gravure au Millesimede 1418, p. 13. Philippe-le-Bon, Duke of Burgundy,
"

diedill 1467 j John Van Eyck in 1445.

PROGRESS

OP

CARD-PiiAYING.

117

Europeans.

subject

The earliestork, expresslytreatingof the w appears to be Le Sorti/ written or compiled by

'

Francesco Marcolini,printed at Venice in 1540. In the prologue,the author professesto explainthe mode of applying what he calls his pleasant invention "piacevole inventione but beyond the factthat certaincards 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.

the following are

Besides the small cuts of cards, which of specimens, the work containsa number

of wood-engravings,some of which are designed in a spirited A work similar Marcolini's, to manner. entitled Triompho
'

di Eortuna,' by Sigismond Fanti, professingto teach the to art of solving relating futureevents, but without questions using cards,was printed at Venice in 1527. by Juggling and fortune-telling means whenever of cards,

in introduced, appear to have had many professors the latter

'

tune-tellin S Though the ten isonie of the cardsemployed in Marcolini*system of Forit appears to have been generally omitted in the packs of cards used by the Italian century. Leber, who says that he jugglers the sixteenth of " in had examined un grand nombre de tours de cartes" described the pamphlets of the most famous Italian of jugglersthe sixteenth century,yet refersonly to Opera two works on the printedbefore 1 COO ; one of them entitled subject imparare molti giochi di nuova nou piu vista, nella quale potrai facilmente mano. Composta da Francesco di Milano, nominato in tutto il mondo il * e Bagatello/ 8vo, circa 1550. The other, Giochi di carte bellissimi di following memoria, per Horatio Galasso.* Venetia, 1593. The author of the " work, also referredto by Leber, appears to have been the original Pimperhave been still limpimp," whose fame as a mountebauk physician appears to fresh in the memory of the wits of the reign of Queen Anne: *Li rari et Giuochi di Carte, da Alberto Francese, dctto Peklimpimpim.' 8vo, mirabili Bologna, 1622.
*

118

PLAYING

CARDS.

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 to an inquiry into the nature of d attentionwas firstirected the imaghiation.* Reginald Scott, in his Discovery of
chapter *VOf Cards, with good cautions how to avoid cousenage therein ; r sj)ccialules to convey and handle the cards; and the manner a and order how to acconiplishlldifficult strange and
a

half of the sixteenthcentury. A

Witchcraft, firstpublished in 1584,

has

tilings wrought with cards." " " Having now," says he, bestowed some

waste money

among you, I willset you to cards; by which kind of witchcraft a great number of peoplehave juggled away not only

their time, their money, but also their lands, theirhealth, honesty. I dare not (as I could) and their show the lewd lest that juggling cheaterspractice, itminister some offence
to to the well-disposed, the simple hurt and losses, and to

the wicked occasionof evil doing. But I would wish all gamesters to beware, not only with what cards and dice they play, but especiallywith whom, and where they
And exercise gaming. may be inevitably
use

to letdice pass, (as whereby

a man

to one cousened,) that isskilful make and

Bumcards may undo a hundred wealthy men, that are not given to gaming ; but ifhe have a confederatepresent, the mischiefcannot be either the playersor standers-by, of
beware of him that avoided. If you play among strangers, seems simple or drunken ; for under their habit the most
presented ; and while you think by their simplicity and imperfectionsto beguile them, (andthereof, perchance, are persuaded by their confederates, your very
couseners special are
'

Life of Lord Bacon, p. 5.

cerluin curiousman's Eilit. 1G3L

and a rektes the circumstances, explanationof tlicm,in his Sjlva, Century xth, p. 215.

Lord Bacon

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

119

friendss you think,) yourselfill most of all a be overyou w taken. Beware alsoof the betters and lookers by on, and
namely of them that bet on your side; for whilstthey look on your game without suspicion, it they discover by signs to your adversaries, with whom they bet and yet are their

confederates^
the tricks are with cardswhich he notices, the " following How to deUver out four Aces and to convert :
them into four Knaves. How to tell one what card he intothe seethin the bottom, when the same card isshuffled what card he stock. To tellone, without confederacy,

Among

how thinketh. How to tell what card any man thinketh, to convey the same into a nut-shell, "c., cherry-stone, and the same again into one's pocket. How to make one draw

any card you list, and allunder one devise." verses which he quotes in the margin should be inscribed a motto on the dial-plate every gamester's as of
the same, The two
or

Of dice play,and the likeunthrifty ames, mark watch. g thesetwo old verses, and remember them :
Ludens taxillis, rcspice in bene : quid sit illis Mors tua, sors tua, res tua, spes tua, pendet in illis/*

"

Rowland, in his Judicial AstrologyCondemned,' relates the followinganecdote of Cuffe, the Secretary the Earl of of
*

b bulent w of exquisiteit and learning, ut of a turdisposition," was hung at Tyburn, on the 13th who of March, 1602, for having counselledand abettedthe Earl
a man

Essex, "

Grecian,^ Cuffe,an excellent and Secretary to the Earl of Essex, was toldtwenty years beforehis death that he should come to an untimely end, at which Cuffe in histreason.
"

to laughed,and in a scornful intreatedthe astrologer manner, to his end ; who he should come show him in what manner
Cuffe assisted Colombani in the "editioprinceps" of the Greek text of the romance of Daphuis and Chloe, printedat Floreuce,4to, 1598.
'

120

PLAYING

CARDS.

for intreated to Cuffc condescended him, and calling cards, him. He did to draw out of the pack threewhich pleased so, and drew threeKnaves and laid them on the table with downwards, by the wizard'sdirection, then faces their who to toldhim, ifhe desired see the sura of his bad fortunes,
to take up those cards. Cuffe,as he

card,and looking on up the first having men of himself,cap-a-pie,

t prescribed,ook he it, saw the portraiture compassing him about

was

and halberds; then he took up the second,and with bills that sat upon him ; and taking up there he saw the judge the lastCard, he saw Tybiu*n,the place of hisexecution, and
the hangman, at which he laughed heartily but many years ; after,being condemned for treason, he remembered and declaredthisprediction/* Queen Elizabeth,s well a

; player and even taken a hand at Priraero/ appears to have occasionally That she sometimes lost her temper, when the cards ran against her, may be fairlyinferredfrom the following which occurs in a letter, passage, writtenin the latter part

her sister, Mary, was a card her grave Lord Treasurer, Lord Burleigh,
as

of her reign, by Sir Robert Carey to his father,Lord Hunsdon : her violentlanguage must have been the result of her holding a bad hand at the moment thatthe presence of young Carey reminded her of his father's procrastination. May itpleaseyour L. t'understande that yesterdayyn the as afteraune I stood by hyr Ma**' she was att Cards in the presens chamber.
" " "

She cawlde

me

to hyr, and askte

me

from Lord Falkland's by supposed collection, picture Zuccaro, to represent the game of Primero. By the Hon. Daincs Barrington." In i the Archarologia, viii. Mr. Barringtonsays,'* According to traditionnthe vol.
a

Observationsn o

paintedby Zuccaro, and representedLord BurleigUplaying at dressappear to be of distinction, cards with three other persons,who from their having two rings on the same fingers both theirhands. The each of them of are marked as at present, dilTerrom thoseof more modern times only f cards and by beingnarrower longer." and

family, was it

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

121

when you mente too go too Barwyke. I towlde hyr that you determinde to begyn your jorney presentlyafter Whytsontyd. She grew yntoo a greterage,begynnynge with Gods wonds, that she wolde settyou by the feete, and for send anotherin your placeyf you dalyedwith hyr thus, she wolde not be thus dalyed withall."*
the laity of allranks and conditions except apprentices^ appear to have played at cards and dice without let or hinderance,notwithstanding any statute to

Though

"

"

the contrary, yet the clergyseem sharply looked after. In the

to have been rathermore

'

Injunctions geven
as

by the

Queues

as Majestic, well

to the Clergye

the Laity,'

printed by Richard Jugge and John Cawood, 1559, the " Also the sayde ecclesiastical clergyare thus admonished :

persons shallin no wyse, nor for any other cause then for haunt or resort to anye Tavernes theyr honeste necessities, Alehouses. And aftertheyr meates, they shall not geve themselves to any drynkyng or ryot, spendyng theyrtyme
or

by nyght, at dyse,cardes, tablesplaying, or In the 'Injunctions or anye other unlawfull game."^ by visitation, exhibited John, Bishop of Norwich, at hisfirst
or

idelly day by

Soveraign Ladie EUzabeth,'printed to are at London by John Daye, 1561, officials enjoined inquire,"Whether 'any parson, vicare, curate geve any or

in the thirdyear of our

parsones, ; evell example of lyfe whether they be incontinent dronkardes, haunters of tavernes, alehouses, or suspect
Original Letters Illustrative English History,with Notes by SirHenry of Ellis. Second Series, iii, 102. p. vol. ' introducedinto When the proliibition play at cards or dice was first to indenturesI have not been able to learn. It occurs, however, in apprentices* in for an apprentice 'A Book of Presidents,' the form of an indenture printed translator of about 1565, and said to have been compiled by Thos. Phacr,the 1558, his translation, the seven first ooks of the Jilneid. In the title-page b of rhaer describes t himselfas Solicitour o the King and Qucenes Majesties."^
"
"

Those

injunctions respect to tavern-hauntingand with

in the seventy-fifth canon

are embodied 1603. Ecclesiastical, aad Canons of the Constitutions

gammg

122

PLAYING

CAEDS.

or vehemcntlie swearers, c places;dyccrs,tablers, arders, suspectedthereof." A noticeof a dramatic of representation the game ofcards * in the accounts of Queen EHzabeth's Master of the occurs were com1 Revels,' 582.^ In that year he and his officers manded

Majesty

her St.Stephen'sday at night,before Morral devisedon a at Wyndesore, a Comodie or

"to show
on

be performed by the childrenofher game of the cardes,"to Chapel. From the following observationsof Sir Majesty's
John Harrington
seem

on
a

this

"

Comodie

or

to have been

severe

satire on

Morral," it would 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 itis showed how foure
knaves robbe the foure principallocations Parasiticalle of v ScoUers, the vocations of Souldiers, the Rcalme, videlicet, Of which comedie I cannot Marchants,and Husbandmen.

notablewise counscUer who is now dead (Su* FrauncisWalsinghame), sing who, when some (to Placebo) advised that it should be forbidden,because it is. was somewhat too plaine, and indeed,as the old saying
forget the sayingof
a

Sooth boord is no loord,yet he would have itallowed, adding ' that itwas fit that They which doe that they should not,

should heare that they would not.'

*

"^

Extractsfrom the Accounts of the Eevels at Court in the Reigns of Elizabethand James I. Edited by Peter Cunningham, p. 176. Publishedby the Shakspere Society. A comedy intended to displaythe evil consequences of dicing and cardplayingwas performedbeforethe Emperor Maximilian II at Vienna, on New Year'sDay, 1570." Sec the Collectanea Johannes a Munster, appended to of Justus,edit. Alca of Pascasius tlic 1017. " A Bricfe Apologie of Poctrie, 1591. Quoted by Mr. P. Cunningham, in from Accounts of the Revels, 223. In dramatic ills representations notes to Extracts p. the game of cards we seem to have preceded the Prench. lu of 1070, a comedy by Thomas Conieillc, *Lc Triomphc des Dames,* was called

PROGRESS

0"

CARD-PLAYING.

123

The mention of a comedy shown beforethe Queen at Chapel,naturally Windsor by the children her Majesty's of of suggests the recollection John Lyly's Court Comedies, as which were wont to be shown by the same children, well
childrenof Poules ;" and as in one of those and Campaspe, Lyly has committed comedies, ^Alexander is an an anachronism with respect to cards,^ opportunity the pleasantlyonceited thus affordedof here introducing c a song, which Elia would song that contains the error,
as

by the
"

"

"

"

have encored, and which even Mrs. Battle herselfwould have allowed to be sung at the card tableduring the inter" missionof the game at the end of a rubber,when cutting in for new partners.^
"

Cupid and my Campaspe play'd At cards forkisses Cupid paid: ; bow and arrows, He stakeshis quiver, His mother's doves,and team of sparrows ; Loses them too : then down he throws
The coralof hislip, the rose *s Growuig on none check (but

knows

; how)

on With thesethe chrystal dimpleof hischin: And then tlio

hisbrow,

All these did my Campaspe win. At lasthe set her both his eyes :
She

and Cupid blinddoth rise. 0 Love, has she done thisto thee?
won,

become of me Wliat shall,las, a

!"

it Beforetaking leave of the reign of Elizabeth, seems

of theatre the Hotel de Guegenaud, and the ballet the actedat Paris,in -the of " Knaves first Game of Piquet was one of the interludes. The four made their the way. The Kings came in i appearance with theirhalberts, n order to clear borne up bysuccession,iving theirhands to the Queens,whose trainswere g the four Slaves, the first whom representedTennis,the second Billiards, third of Essaysupon Paris. Translated Dice,and the fourthBackgammon."" Historical from tlic Prench of Mons. dc Saintfoix, i,p. 229. Edit.17C6. vol. by Tenicrs, ' denying Christ, In an engravingof St. Peter aftera painting two soldiers seen playing cards in the haU of the high priest;and,from arc at the chalkson the table, game appears to be PuL the ' Lamb). Sec Mr. IJattle's Opinionson Whist, in Essaysby Elia(Charles

124

PLAYING

CARDS.

here what PhilipStubbes says about Cards, proper to insert Tennis,and othergames, in his Anatomie of Dice, Tables, Abuses/* "As forCardes, Dice, Tables,Boules,Tennisse,
*

speaking in the says the moral dissector, and such like," a certaine person of Philoponus, thei are Furta
"

qfficiosa,

thefte, kind of smothe, deceiptfuU, and sleightie whereby many a one is spoiledof allthat ever he hath, sometimes of his life yea, of bodie and soule for ever : and yet withall, these be the only exercises (moreisthe pitie) used in every house, al the yere through. But especially in mans

Christmas time thereis nothyng elsused but Cardes,Dice, Bowling, and such hke Tables, Maskyng, Mummyng, fooleries. And the reason is,thei think thei have a commission thattyme to doe what theilist, alid and prerogative
doe thinke to foUowe what vanitie they will.But (alas) thei ? thattheiare privileged thattime to doe evill the holier at
one the time is (if

holier as then another, itisnot) to the holier ought theirexercises. bee." He, however, thinks that at some games, under certain
time
were

circumstances.Christianmen may play for the sake of " in to the question of Spudeus, Is ; recreation for, answer itnot lawfuU for one Christian to plaiewith an other man
at any kinde of game,
or

to winne his money, if he can?"

"

Dice, To plaieat Tables, Cardes, Bowles, or the like, a (though good Christianman will not so idelyand one vainelyspende his golden daies), Chiistian
The Anatomic of Abuses,containing Discoverie,r brcife A o summarie of countrcycs such notable vicesand corruptionsas now raigne in many Christian in England.] of the world; but especially the countrey of Ailgna: [Anglia, Together with the most fearefull executed upon examples of God's judgements
the wicked for the same,
" "

Philoponus thus replies :

Made

as well in Ailgna of late, in other placeselsewhere. Dialogue-wise by Philip Stubs," p. 112. Edit, printed by Kichard as
"

that a thunder-storm was evidenceof the ^TheJew's supposition divinedispleasure his being about to indulgein a rasher of bacon, is nothing at
Jones, 1583.

compared with Master Stubbes'sannouncement of the wrath of heaven against breeches. indulgein starched those fine collars, linenshirts,nd velvet a -who

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

125

for theirprivaterecreations, aftersome opwith an other, pressio to drive awaie fantasies, of studie, and suche like, I doubt not but thei may, using it moderately,with intermission, and in the feareof God. But for to plaieforlucre
for desire onely of his brothers substance, of gaine, and or ratherthen for any other cause, it is at no hande lawful!, to to be suffered. Por as itis not lawfull robbe, steale,nd a by deceiteor sleight, is it not lawfullto get thy so purloine brothers goodes from hym by Cardyng, Dicyng, Tablyng,

f Boulyng, or any other kind of theft, or thesegames are no f better, than open theft, oropen theft everyman nay worser theft, can beware of; but thisbeying a craftieolliticke p and
fewe,or none commonly doen under pretence of freendship, beware of it. The commaundement Thou can at all, saieth. not covet nor desire any thing that belongeth to thy shall that those that plaie for neighbour. Now, it is manifest, money, not onely covet theirbrothers money, but also use There are falshood, craft, and deceiteto winne the same." doubtless many card-players,ho, conscious of theirwant w
"

safelydeny the truth of Stubbes's sweeping ; conclusion but itis to be feared that most craftyplayers will not lose if they can avoid it, either by hook or by
can of craft,

crook. In the reign of James I, the game His son, Henry, Prince of Wales, who

*'

went

bonnily on."

nineteen, used occasionallyto amuse but so nobly and like himself, showed that he played as only for recreation,nd not for the sake of gain.^ James a himselfwas a ; game was Maw, card-player and hisfavorite which appears to have been the fashionable game in his in the reign of EUzabeth. His reign, as Primero was
^

died in 1612, aged himself at cards,

A Discourse of the most illustrious Prince,Henry, latePrince of Wales. cellany. Written in 1626 by Sir Charles Comwallis. Reprinted in the Harleian Mis-

120

PLAYING

CARDS.

as Majesty appearsto have played at cards just

"

an indolentmanner, of with affairs State ^in if both cases some one to hold his cards, not to prompt him what to play. Weldon, speaking of the poisoning of Sir

he played requiring in

Overbury, in his Court and Character of King on The next that came the stage,was Sb James,' says : Thomas Monson ; but the night before he was to come to
Thomas
'

"

his tryal,the King being at the game of Maw, said, Thomas Monson to his tiyal/ *Yea;' to-morrow comes said the King's card-holder, where if he do not play his
'
'

master's prize, your

ran

Majesty never shall

trust me.'

This so

in the King's mind, that at the next game he saidhe was and would play out that set next night." From the sleepy,

following passagein a pamphlet, entitled Tom Tell-troath,' supposed to have been printed about 1622,^ it would seem
'

thatthe writerwas

well acquaintedboth with his majesty's in which he mode of playingat cards,and with the manner was : trickedin his dawdling with state affairs "In your owne Majestie's tavemes, for one healthe that is begun to thereare ten drunke to the Princes your forraygn your-selfe, children. And, when the wine isin theirheads.Lord have

mercie

on

where men time to censure

theirtonges ! Ever,in the very gaming ordinaries, have scarce leisure say grace,yet they take a to

your

Majestie's and actions,

oulde schoole terms. game at Maw that ever

that in their They say,you have lost the fairest King had, for want of making the

best advantage of the five finger,and playing the other helpesin time. That your owne play bootic, card-holders hand. That hee you and give the signe out of your owne

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 children" her family. mentioned in this pamphlet are his daughter Elizabeth and
the married to Frederick,Elector Palatine of the RJiine, Emperor Ferdinand 11 for the cro\m pctitor tlie of of Bohemia.

Elizabeth was

com-

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

127

cheater in Christendome.' In fine,there is noe way to recover and vindicateyour honour, but with your losses, fighting with him that hath cozened you. At which honest downe righteplay,you willbe hard enough forhim with all his trickes/'

which might have been written by h form partof an inscriptioneneath Tom Tell-troathimself, b
the caricature engraving of the same period,representing Kings of England, Denmark, and Sweden, with Bethlem Gabor, engaged in playing at cards,dice,and tables with the Pope and his Monks.2
a

The followingverses,

"Denmarke,

farr, not sitting and seeingwhat hand Great Brittaynehad, and how Rome's lossdid stand,

Hopes,to win something too : Maw is the game At which he playcs, at and ehallcngeth the same
A Muncke, who stakes a ehaliee. Denmarke sets gold. And shuffles the Muneke cuts : Denmarke being bold, ;

Deales freely card he showes round ; and the first Is the fivefinger, which, bemg tum'd up, goes Cold to the Muncke*s heartj 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 but the Knave." could shew him notliing

the allusionsto the five fingersand the ace of hearts, in the preceding extracts, it would appear that the

From

game of Maw was the same as that which was subsequently Five-Cards,for,in both games, the five of trumpscalled calledthe fivefingers was the best card,and next to that
"

was
*

the ace of hearts.3

"The Kong of Spain,or Gondemar, his ambassador." "c., Ballads, This engraving is preservedin a collectionf Proclamations, o formed by the lateJoseph Ames, and now in the library the Royal Society of of
'

Antiquaries. For the part played by Bethlem Gabor in the affairs Europe, of History of the between 1618 and 1628, the reader is referredto Schiller*8 Thirty-Years' War. ' " Five-Cardsisan Irishgame, and isas much playedinthatkingdom, and that in Kent, but there is for considerablesums of money, as All-Fours is played dealt little analogy between them. There are but two can play at it; and therearc

128

PLAYING

CARDS.

From the frequent mention of cards by writersof the time of James I, it would appear that the game was as
common
a

diversion peaceable subjects, with his Majesty's as itwas the banner of with the fightingmen who followed Y Wallensteinor Tillyin the Thirty- ears' War. Inordinate

gaming in one country, according to certain authorities, was the resultof long-continued peace and too much ease ; it accordingto others, was the natural consequence of war ; idle, findingmen in England, the devil, gave them employ, ment at cards and dice ; and in Germany, where they were

he encouraged them to busy in the work of destruction, from their regular labours. Prodigals, play as a relaxation
in each country,lightedtheircandle at both ends : English gallants used to divert themselves with cards at the playhouse before the performance began ;^ and desperate

hazardcrs the imperial camp staked,on a cast at dice, in into theirpossession. theirplunder, ere ithad well come In the reign of James I, a controversy arose respecting
in the nature of lots, which the lawfulness '* inforotheohgorum''"-oi deciding matters by lot,and of playing at cussed. games of chance, such as cards and dice,was amply dis"

maintained by one party,that as lotswere tant of divine ordinance, for the purpose of determining impormatters,^ and of
.

It was

so

as ascertaining, it were,

the divine

fivecards a piece. is The five-fingers f {aliasiveof trumps) the best card in the pack ; the ace of heartsis next to that, and the next is the ace of trumps."" The Compleat Gamester, p. 90. Edit. 1709. Pirstprinted 1674. in
. .

Malone's Supplemental Observations on Shakspeare, cited by Barrington. Dr. Moore, in hisViews of Societyand Manners in Italy, mentions the cardthe opera at Tlorcnce. " I was never more surprised,"ays he,"than at playing s when it was proposed to me to make one of a whist party,in a box which tablein the middle. I seemed to have been made for the purpose,with a little
"

hintedthat itwould be fullas convenient to have the party somewhere else ; that but I was told, good musicaddcd greatlyto the pleasureof a wliist party;
the itincreased joy good fortune, of of and soothedthe aflllction bad." * Numbers, xxvi,55, 66 ; Proverbs, 33 ; Acts, i,24-26. xvi,

PROGRESS

OF

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129

their employment forthe pmpose of amusement, was will, a sinful and perversion theirinstitution, a disparaging of of thus made the arbiter idle of immoral games.^ In oppositionto this opinion, the and learned Thomas Gataker published his treatise, historical
was
* Of in and theological, the Nature and Use of Lots,' 1619. In this work he treats of casualevents in general, and of kinds of lots, he thusclasses different the under three which

Divine Providence, which

heads: 1, Lots which are commonly employed in serious ; 2, afiFairs Lots which enter into games of chance ; 3, Lots
or are extraordinary divinatory. The first generallyadmitted to be innocent; but the third are absolutely condemned by Gataker,exceptwhen they are expressly required

to be used by a revelation a divine command.^ With or regard to lotsof the second kind,he contends that they are

in nor evilof themselves ; neitherprohibited the Scriptures though,likethose of the first, they are Uable to greatabuse. The abuse he earnestly condemns ; but at the same time
shows that itis not a necessaryconsequence of the employment He alsorefutes the of lotsin games of amusement. arguments of James Balmford, who, in a small tract which
tained appears to have been first publishedabout 1 593, had mainthat all games of chance were absolutely unlawful. between An account of the controversy on this subject, Gisbert Voet Gataker on one side, and WiUiam Ames and
This appears to have been one of the chief againstcards grounds of objection "the Scottish dice-play Scotland,about a century later. Adam Pefrie, in and is an ordinancewhereby Chesterfield," adopts Balmford's conclusion: "Lott God often made known his mind, and therefore ought not to be turned into a they ought not to be turned play; but Cards and Dice are Lott; therefore Breeding,printed into a play."^RuIes at of Good Deportment, or of Good Edinburgh, 1710 ; reprinted1835. " was John Wesley, who sometimes " sought an answer** by lots thiskind, of charged by the Rev. Augustus Toplady with "tossing up for his creed,as Letterto the Rev. John Wesley, or porters chairmen toss up fora halfpenny."" p. 7. Edit.1770.
'

130
on

PLAYING

CARDS.

the other, will be found in the preface to the second editionof Barbeyrac's 'Traitedu Jeu/^ In the reign of James I, and in the earlypart of that of his successor, ere the discussion politicalrievances had g of able on produced a decided effect the public mind, the fashion-

in apparel, gaming, drinking,and fertile themes of declamationwith a both lay and clerical.Their certain classof reformers, denunciations the vanityand wickedness of wearing fine of
vices of excess were smoking tobacco,
to Stubbes's 'Anatomy of clothes are merely variations Abuses ;' while theirfulminations tobacco are geneagainst rally pitched in the somewhat loud key of King James's

Counterblast. Their common-places against drunkenness " indeed,'' as and gaming, are, in general, very common
"

lawyer, who, common certain to since his elevation the peerage,has been convictedof a petty larceny on the literary property of Miss Agnes Sir FrancisBurdett saidof
a

Strickland, and who seems though no card-player.

to be

an

adept at Cribbage,

In

woodcut

a sermon

the title-page ' Woe to Drunkards,' of preachedby Samuel Ward, of Ipswich,1627, the
on

of vicesof that age are typically contrasted with the virtues In the upper compartment we are shown a former one. were what men of old by the open Bible,the foot in the stirrup, and the hand grasping the lance; while in the by lower, the degeneracy of their descendants is typified decoratedwith a broad silkgarterand a the leg and foot, largerosette; by cards and dice, and a hand holding at the
same

lightedpipe and a drinking cup with a cockatrice in it. Twenty years afterwards, these types would
time
a

Traitddu Jeo, oh Ton examine lesprincipalcs de et questions Droit naturel do Morale qui ont du rapport a cette matiere. Par Jean Barbeyrac, Profcsseur
en

'

Droit a Groningue. Seconde Edition, revue

tomes, et augmentde. En trois

12mo.

Amsterdam, 1737.

PROGRESS

OP

CARD-PLATING.

181

strictlypplicable,ith the inscriptions a w merely transposed.

more

have been

At what time the manufactm*e of cardswas established in thiscountry,has not been ascertained; though from being includedin an Act of Parliament 1465, protheir hibiting of
as the importation sundry articles, beinginjurious of to nativemanufacturersand tradesmen,it would seem that

at that early card-makers in England even * to o period. Barrington, referring a proclamation fElizabeth,
a Towards the closeof Elizabeth's Edward Darcy obtained patent for reign, the manufacture of cards; and in the reignof James I the importation cards of was 20th July,1615, as the art of making them was then prohibited, after for to perfection thiscountry. As a duty or tax of fiveshillings in ;brougIit every twelve dozen packs was leviedabout that time by the authorityof the Lord Treasurer, leviedin 1031, in the that such a tax was first the
*

there were

statement comTliistax was one of the impositions plained reign of CharlesI, is erroneous.. illegal, I, by tlie in the reignof Charles "as arbitrary Commons, and of beinglevied Parliament." I am informed thatthe first act without consent of in the reign of of parliamentimposing a tax on cards was passed in 1711, by incorporated letters Queen Anne. The company of card-makers was first Researches,pp. 223, 224, 226,365. patent of CharlesI in 1629." See Singer's

182

PLATING

CARDS.

and anotherof James I, says, It appears thatwe did not then make many cards in England." In his paper in the * he gives a fac-simile the cover of an old Archaeologia/ of as proof that cards were originally pack of cards, a decisive
a cover was printed wood engraving made in Spain. On this and Leon, togetherwith a Club, a of the arms of Castile Sword, a Cup, and a pieceof Money, the marks of the four

"

that purporting suits Spanish cards. To an inscription of "Cartas they were finecards,made by Jehan Volay faictes finnas par Jehan Volay" therewas alsoadded,in
"
"

different or character, eitherby a stencil, by means a of inserting new piece of wood in the original block, the name "Edward Warman," probablythatof the

letters of

English vendor ofthe cards. The maker's name, Barrington Jean or John) Hauvola," and the final y reads, Je (for
"

The he mistakes for the Spanish "and." conjunction h whole of the inscription,e says, being rendered into English, runs Superfine cards made by John thus :
"

being Hauvola, and (Edward Warman)," the last name for substituted that of a former partner of John Hauvola.^

Mr. Barrington's reading themaker'sname, Je.Hauvola, of instead Jehan Volay, and histhen introducing Edward of
y, of the final construed as a copulative are fair conjunction, specimensof the proofs and illustrations which he adduces in favourof his theory about Spanish cards. Jean Volay,as I learnfrom Leber,^was one of the most French card-makersof the sixteenth ; celebrated century at
means

Warman intothe firm,by

lived,whose name what time "Edward Warman" also appearson the cover, is not known ; but Mr. Barrington
Observations the Antiquityof Card-playing, on Arcliseologia, vol.viii. Etudes Historiqucs sur IcsCartes a jouer, 30. Mons. Leber had in his p. in some collection cards of Jean Volay's manufacture,which were discovered boardsof a book. Those cardsare described the Catalogue hisbooks, the in of torn, p. 241, Article i, Tl"crearc alsocardsmanufactui'cd Jean Volay by xvii. in tlic du Bibliothcquc Roi, at Paris. preserved
'
*

PROGRESS

OP

CARD-PLATING.

133

kept a stationer's says that a person of that name shop yearsbefore somewhere about Norton Folgate,about fifty
the date of his paper, that is about 1737. Any vogue that Spanish cardsmight have had in the more northerly countries of Europe, during the times of Elizabethand James I, was

probably owing rather to the circumstance of so many in Spaniardsbeing then i^esident the Low Countriesthan to of any superiority the cards manufactured in Spain. Until

largequantities cardsused recent period, of comparatively to be sent from Antwerp to Spain.^

a

From the followingverses, in The Knave of Harts his SuppUcation to the Card Makers," in Samuel Rowlands'
"

to have been famed at an earlyperiodfor the manufacture he kept duringhis visit which of cards. Albert Durer, in the journal : to those parts in 1521, notes that he bought half dozen packs for seven stivers a " Stiiber."" Karten gebcn 7 Item hab umb ein halb dutzetNiederlandischer Journal zur Kunstgeschichte, Albrecht Durers Eeisejournal, in Von Murr's 1515, quoted by 7terTheil,s. 96. From a passage in Ascham's Toxophilos, Singer, would appear thatthe priceof cardswas then about twopence a pack ; it
"

The Netherlandsseem

"

He sayd a payre of cards cost not past ii.d."

134

PLAYING

CARD8.

* 1 entitledThe Knave of Harts/^612, itwould appear satire that cards were then commonly manufactured in England, foritcannot be fairly supposed thatthe Knave's suppUcation was cut, card-makers. The foregoing addressedto foreign

to of of which is a fac-simile thatprefixed the edition 1613, shows the Knaves of Hearts and Clubs in the costume

complained of.
"

abused in a great degree. For there'so Knaves so wronged as are we n By thosethat chiefly hould be our part-takers : s And thus itis, my maisters, you card-makers. free-will. All other Knaves are at their own fashion To braveitout, and follow still
We
are

In any cut,according the time, to But we poore Knaves (Iknow not for what
Are kept in pie-bald uites,hich s w
we

crime),

have

wome

Hundred of years; thishardlycan be borne. The idle-headedrenche devis'd first. F us

Who

i fashion-mongerssthe worst; ofall For he doth change farre oftncrthan the moone;

his Dislikes morning suitein th' after-noone. The Englishis hisimitating ape, In every toy the tailors-shcares shape. can
_^

Comes droppingafteras the divell entices. And puttethon the French-man's cast devices ; Ye
"

wee

(withhom w
"

thus long they both have

we
"

plaid),.
made.

Must How

weare

in the suites which

"

firstere w
"

can

we

Kept in one

choose but have the itching gift, kinde of deaths,and never sliift ?

Or to be scurvy how can we forbcare. That never yet had shirt band to weare P or How bad I and my fellow Diamond goes. We
yet had garter to our hose. Nor any shooe to put upoD our feete.
never

With such base deaths,'tis e'en a shame to see't ; My sleeves fellow, are likesome morris-dauncing My stockings idiot-like, greone, and yellow: red,
: a Tractsby Samuel Rowlands. Edited, of series Satirical Introduction Notes, by E. F. Eimbault,Esq. Reprintedfor the and Percy Society, 1843. For the loan of the cuts of the Four Knaves the publisher is indebted the Percy Society. to

The Four Knaves

with an

PROGRESS

OP

CARD-PLAYING.

]S5

Mj breeches b'ke paire lute-pins a be, of Scarcebuttock-roome, as every man may see. Like three-penie watchmen threeof us doe stand. Each with a rustic browne-bill hishand : in
And Clubshe holdsan arrow, likea clowne, The head-end d upward, and the feathersowne.
wrong'd,and thus we are agriev*d. And thus long time we have becncunrelieved. But, card-makers,f you Harts reason craves. o
we
are

Thus

Why we shouldbe restrained, Knaves, above all To weare such patchedand disguis'd P attire Answer but this, kindnesse, require. we of
" "
" *

"

Good card-makers therebe goodnessin (if you), Apparellus with more respected care. Put us in hats, our caps are wome thread-bare ; Let us have standing in collers, the fashion, are (All become a stiif-necke ;

generation)

Hose hat-bands with the shagged-ragged uffe. r Great cabbage-shoostrings you bigge (pray enough), French dublet, and the Spanishhose to breechit, Short cloakes,ldmandilions* webeseech it); ( o Exchange our swords,and take away our bils, lovefight Let us have rapiers, Knaves thatkils) ; ( legs : Put us in bootes, and make us leather begs." This Harts,most humbly, and hisfellows

In Rowlands' 'More Knaves Yet? The Knaves of Spades and Diamonds/published after his 'Knave of Harts/the Knaves of Spades and Diamonds are represented in a modernised costume, bestowed on them by the

printer, the favouristhus acknowledged. and

"

frame. Our fellow Hartes did latepetition To cardmakerssome better sutes to clayme. did speake of allour wronges : And forus all, hereinbelongs Yet they,to whom redresse

On the word mandilions, Mr. Eimbault has the following note: "Mandiglione,jacket, a New World ofWords^ ed.1611. Stubbes a Mandilion?" Plorio's ii, {apudStrutt, dressand habits, says that it coveredthe whole vol. p. 267) hanging loose body down to the thighs; i and Randle Holme describest as a but or o garment, much liketo our jacket jumps, without sleeves, nly having but holesto put the arms through ; yet some were made with sleeves, for no " otheruse than to hang on the back.*
"
*

136

PLAYING

CAllDS.

hope appcarcs. Amend itnot, and little I thinkebefore the conquest many yeares. We wore the fashion : we still retaine wliich But seeingthat our sute isspent in vaine, in time doth grow. Wecle mend our selves mcanes as bcstowe. Accepting wliatsome other friends

As

now

the honestprinterhath bin kinde,

Bootes and stockins our legsdoth finde, to Garters, heeles polonia and rose shooe-strings.

brings Which, somewhat, us two knaves in fashion ; From the knee dowiicward, legs are well amended. And we acknowledge that we arc befrendcd.
And willrequitehim foritas we can : A knave some time may serve an honest man. To do him pleasuresuch a chaunce may fall. Although indeedno trustin knaves at all.

He that must use them, take thisrulefrom Still trusta knave no further than you see.

'

mee^

PROGRESS

OP

CARD-PLATING.

137

beseech shall For the great largeabhominablebreech. Like brewers hop-sackes yet sincenew they be, ;
wee

Well, other friends hope I

Each knave willhave them, and why shouldnot wee P Some laundresse alsowillintrcato. we
For bandes and ruffes,hich kindnes to be great w We willconfesse, it yea and requite too. In any servicethat poore knaves can doe :

do want, to hange our weapons by. If any punck willdcaloso courteously As in the way of favour to bestow them, Rare cheating trickswe willprotest to owe them.
Or any pander with a ring in'scare. That is a gentleman (as doth he

Scarffcs we

sweare).

And willaffordus hats of newest blocke, A payre of cardes be shall his tradeand stocke. To get his lyvingby, for lackof lands.
Because he scomes to overworke his handes. And thus ere long we trust we shall fitted, be Those knaves that cannot shift are shallowwitted."

proclamation CharlesI,June, 1 638, itwas ordered of that afterthe Michaelmas next all foreign cards should be sealedat London, and packed in new bindings, covers. or
a

By

A few yearslater, would appear that the importation it of foreign in ; cards was absolutelyrohibited for, July,1643, p upon the complaint of several poor card-makers, setting forth that they were likelyto perish by reason of divers
into the kingdom, contrary merchants bringing playing-cards to the laws and statutes,order was mittee given, by a comappointedby parliament for the navy and customs, that the oflScersf the customs should seize such cards, all o the parties and proceed against offending.^
In 164-1, pamphlet, in verse, againstmonopolizers a and patentees, appeared the followingtitle: *A Pack of Patentees, opened, shuffled,ut, dealt, c with and played.* The articles onopolized,or for which patents had been obtained, m were hops, gold wire,and horns. leather, salt, coals, soap, starch,
'
"

We'll shuffle p the pack ; those that before u Did play at post and pair, must play no more."

138

PLAYING

CARDS.

war the civil commenced, and the peoplebecame in interested a sterner game, card-playing appears to have haunts declined. The card-playing gallantwhose favorite

When

had been the play-house formed and the tavern, now became transinto a cavalier, and displayedhis bravery in the field the head of a troop of horse ; whilsthis old oppoat nent, by a higher spirit f incited the puritanical minister, o forthon sportsand pastimes insteadof holding indignation,
the drum ecclesiastic" ; nationaloppressors urged his congregation against to stand up for theirrightsas men againstthe pretensions
now and householdvices,

thundered on

"

and to try the of absolutemonarchy and rampant prelacy, dancing rapier. againstthe courtier's crab-tree staff Among the numerous pamphlets which appeared during few whose titles show that the game was of cards,though not so much in vogue as formerly, not forgotten.^ The followingare the titles three of still
the contest there are
a

the usualform of the Uterary of such pamphlets,allquartos, light infantry the period. Chartae Scriptse, a New or of
"

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, dealtat York, and played
at
"

Game

in in the open field." Shuffling, cutting, and dealing, a being acted from the year 1653 to 1653, game at pickquet,
"
"

to periodthe game of cards seems to have furnishedtitles is political pamphlets in other countriesas well as in England. The following the title a Dutch pamphlet, without date,but apparentlypublished of about the * Vertime that the treaty of Westphalia was concluded, 1648 : Het herstelde keer-bertverbetert een Lanterluy-spel.* in From a passage in thispamphlet
"

About the same

jtappears that the game of Lanter-loowas the same

"

as

Labate^i)it that called

French La Bete,called Beast,"in Cotton'sComplcat 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. 0 Brcdder ! het is dat speldat genoemt werdt Labate,ofteom

beterte.seggen, Lanterluy"

veeltijts

PROGRESS

OP

CARD-PLAYING.

139

by 0. p. and others, 1659/'^ In a 'Lenten litany/ backa ward prayer for the Rump, writtenin the time of the Long Parliament, the appointment of three keepers to the great sealisthus commemorated :
in "From Villanydressed a doubletof Zeal, From three Kingdoms baked in one Commonweal, Prom a Gleek of Lord Keepers of one poor seal Libera nos Domine."*

probably as much owing to the circumstanceof regularplaying-cardsbeing in small request,as to any desireto promote learning, hat we have the "Scientiall t Cards" mentioned in the following title a work, in which of
cards are made subservientto the purposes of instruction, and which appears to have been one of the earliest the kind of in England.^ " The Scientiall pubhshed cards; or a new
The two following date but in the same strain. * A Mumival of are of later Knaves : or "Whiggism plainly displayed, ifnot grown shameless, burlesqu'd and l out of countenance, a Poem. 1683.* 'Win at first,oseat last;or the Game Cards which were shuffled President by Bradshaw, cut by Col. Hewson the of
*

It was

Coblcr,and played by Oliver Cromwell and Lreton till the Restoration of CharlesII. 1707*" A Mumival, at the game of Gleek,was all the four aces, kings,queens, or knaves.
"Tricon is, cards, at Knaves, "c., viz.three of we now calla gleek of Kings, Queens, hand together.'* Edition of Cotgrave's Trench and ^Howell's EnglishDictionary, 673. The term Gleek isprobably derivedfrom the German 1 Gleieh, like; thus the Qleek was a certain signifying number of cards of a like kind. See further D illustrations the word Gleek in Halliwell'sictionaryof of Archaic "Words.
on
*

Poems

State Affairs, p. vol. iii, 25.

"

Edit. 1704.

that which them in one

William Maxwell, in a catalogueof his works prefixedto his 'Admirable as Propheciesconcerning the Church of Eome,* 4to, 1615, inserts the following
" Jamesanna, or a Pythagoricalplay at cards, representing abeady pubhshed : Union and Concord, with the incommodities the excellency o and utilityf Prince Charles.** He of Divisionand Discorde,dedicatedto the most hopefull kind,unpublished, written in alsomentions another work of his,of the same imitationof 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 Mary Queen of ChristianKing, and had the honour to serve the mother of " Scots,and Lairds of Kirkconnel,** alsoMary herself. The Maxwells are still in Dumfries-shire. "Fair Kirkconnel Lea,** mentioned in the old ballad, "I is spots in Britain. wish I were where Helen lies,** one of the. most beautiful

one

140

PLATING

CARDS.

k both for epitomised, and ingeniousnowledge grammatically to the pleasureand profitof schoUers,and such as delight the recoUect(without labour) rudiments of so necessary any an art as grammer is,without hindering them from their
necessary and graver studies,ofieringthem as a unto you. Which, in allpoints and suits, second course do representyour vulgar or common cards; so that the may hereby be easily of perfection the grammer principles
more

gether attained unto, both with much delight and profit. Towith a key showing the ready use of them. Written by a loverof ingenuity and learning. And are to be sold
St. Dunstan's by Baptist Pendleton at his house, near Church in the east, or by John Holden, at the Anchor in

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 ispreservedamongst Bagford's collections, Harleian MSS.
the New

Exchange. 1651."

No. 5947, in the BritishMuseum. I, however, greatly " suspect that the lover of learning and ingenuity" who speciaUyemployed for the purpose by the maker, Mr. Baptist Pendleton, who, sensibleof the decline his regularbusiness, of and noting the signs of the
was

devisedthem,

times, might think it both for his interest and creditto for manufacture cards,which might serve indifierently the but equally as well for play as purposes of instruction, "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 objectio
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 means by of cards how to spell, write,cypher,

a and cast accounts ; together with many other excellent nd

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYINO.

141

rules of calcidation, without either ahnanack or necessary I am persuaded," says the author in his ephemeris.
"

now "that the cards, preface,

in common

to such

way of use as may but may also remove ledge and good learning, the scandall and abuse, which every tinker that can but tellhis peeps To that end I have framed, for exposeth them unto. [pips]
a

may be reduced not only contributeto knowuse,

the recreation f soberand understandingpeople, thatwhich o in in (although form they represent common cards) the
that be made of them, affords profitable learning and honest recreation and herein there is much : difference the common fiction, hke the ; cards being meer to any morall,or anything foolish romances, not applicable
use

inside,s to the a

to be learnedby them that islaudable." His method, hke

from its kind, may be interesting, complicated absurdity, to those who already understand what he proposes to teach; but must have formed an almost

all others of the

same

unsurmountable
were

obstacle to the unlettered,unless they previously well grounded in Gleek, Ruff, Post and
"

the games to which he and Noddy, refersin his instructions. chiefly during William Sheppard, sergeant-at-law, a great stickler, the ascendency of the Rump, for the reformationof the law Pair, Saunt,! Lodam,

thus sets forth certain and the correction of manners, grievances, and, like a good Samaritan,propounds a remedy for them in his work, entitled Englands Bahne.'^
'

a Spanish was Sau7ithe properlyexplainsby centum^ a hundred. Cientoi 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 Benefitof the good People of the Nation. By William Sheppard, Esq. 12mo, ings 1657. The disregardof such good men as Mr. Sergeant Sheppard for the feelbad^ and who and opinions of those whom they were pleased to consider for the restoration formed a great of of the nation,paved the way
"

majority

Chai-lcsII.

142

PLAYING

CARDS.

"It 18
"

law to punish That there is no certainand clear profidling, fortuneryming, piping, juggling, phane jesting,
balladtelling,umbling, dancing upon the rope,vaulting, t
or ape-carrying, singing,sword-playing, playing of prizes, horse-racing, puppet-playing,bear-baiting,bull-baiting,

objected,

c cock-fighting,arding, dicing,or other gaming ; especially the spending of much time, and the adventuring of great sums of money herein.

It is offered consideration, to " That to the laws alreadymade : 1. That it be in the of the power of any two justices peace to binde to the goode
"

herein. 2. That they be, behaivour such as are offensive it, in so long as they use uncapable of bearing any office 3. That allpayments to the comthe commonwealth. monwealth
be doubled on such persons." His saintly delicacy, not his Christiancharity, disif is played
"

in the following grievance"and remedy:^' There are some other cases wherein the law alsois said
" " "

to be somewhat defective as :

That thereis no law againstlascivious wanton gestures, d and filthy alliance whorish and familiarity,
; attire,trangefashions such as are naked breasts, s bare shoulders, powdering, spotting, paintingthe face, curlingand shearingthe hair; excess of apparel

"
.

in servants and mean people. It is offered consideration, to 1. That the justices sions of the peace at theirQuarterSes"

"

may binde any such to the good behaivour. 2. That for a whorish attire, something of note be grace, written upon the door of her house to her disthereto continue till wear she sober attire."

The character thispmitanical reformer'sliberality of may be estimatedby his proposed remedies for the abuses of the

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

143

press. As his partywere in power, therewas no longer any occasionfor free discussion. Milton was opposed to such canting reformers as Sheppard, and maintained the
hberty of unlicensedprinting. It is
"

objected,
are

"

disordersin printing books, for of which there is no remedy. for It is oflFered this to considerof thesethings: be 1. That printing-houses reduced to a number.
"

That there

"

'^ "

books be printedbut be first perused. 3. That no dangerous books be printedhere,carried beyond sea, and brought in hither.
2. That
no

"

4. That the rightof everymans

5. That every man

"

copy be preserved. licence own book and be his shall

answerable for it." On the accessionof CharlesII,a reaction took place; and themselvescoercedin their amusements peoplewho had felt by the puritanical arty,seem now to have gloriedin their p
pleasurethatthey much from any positive might feelin their vicious courses, but as evincing their triumph over those who formerlykept them in restraint.
excesses,

not

so

From the example of the king himself,a sensual,selfish profligate,ice became fashionableat court, where gross v

depravity manners to have been admitted dL'" seems prima of personal fade evidenceof loyalprinciples. His majesty's favorites,rom the wealthy noble who had a seat at the f
to council-table, the poor gentlemen who servedas a private to divert in the horse-guards, seem allto have been eager The the merry monarch" by theirshameless profligacy.
"

a a of ton of the period, was professionally rake and intrigue gamester, and oftena liar and cheat ; boastingof an 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

man

"

"

"

144

PLAYING

CATIDS.

he had merely " rooked" a gay city'prentice five of pounds at a shilling ordinary in Shire Lane. The morals and
manners

a generally,t that period,are not, of the country, however,to be estimatedby those of the court and the soand influential world." A numerous called "fashionable

by their example; and class remained uncontaminated to labouredzealously stem the torrentof vicewhich,issuing from the court, threatened to deluge the whole country.
the the saints"no longer enjoyed fatness the of influenceover the minds land, they still great exercised and fosteredin them a deep religious of the middle classes,

Though

"

feeling, observance of decency, which and a strict in directoppositionto the principles were and practice tory, of the sovereignand his court. At no period of our his-

do the profligacy one class and th piety of of contrast. On looking striking another appear in more
however, itwould closer,
"

is, that thiseffect in a great degree,produced by the approximation of the extremes of each, of sinnerswho painted themselves blackerthan they were, really and of saintswho heightened theirhghts and in truth but as a exalted their purity, while they were
seem
"

whitened wall." A slightglance at the literature the of time of CharlesII, willshow that mankind do not become worse as the world grows older: the depravity which existed
in his reign, is generally dwelt on by historiansand though but few take the trouble of informing moralists, in the shape of good for theirreaders that correctives it, of period more abundant. For a picture the manners to plays of the time, we are referred licentious and obscene poems, as if they formed the staple literature frequented the playhouse and of the day, as if allmen
at
no
"

books,were

conventicle, moral and religious works which then issued from the press. In the time of Charles II, the

read Rochester,but nor read thenumerous

never

went

to church

or

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

145

of confinedto representation plays was almost exclusively London ; and itmay be questionedifeven one"ofthe licentious on comedies of the period was represented a provincial stage. The obscene books which were writtenin his reign for the entertainmentof the fashionable world have simk intodisrepute, and are only to be fonnd in the hbrariesof '* Facetiae while those of ;*' of collectors what are termed higherpurpose are in constant demand, and are known to
Progress' milhons. More ^;opiesof Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's have been soldthai! all the bad books thatever were wTitten of through the encouragement of Charles II and his courtiers.
But to

hand.

to from thisdigression the game we have in Barrington, who is singularly unfortunate in his
come

speculations about cards, and who seems to have been prone from special to draw general conclusions premises, says,
that
'

probably introduced by Catherineof Portugal, the queen of CharlesII, as Waller hath a poem The game, On a card torn at Ombre by the Queen/
"

Ombre

was

"

introducedbefore the arrival the queen ; of fora work entitled the Royal game of Ombre' was pubUshed at London in 1060,^ and Catherinedid not arrive at
was
'

however,

Portsmouth till14th May, 1662. Charles,on hearing of a to have intrusted rightreverend the queen'sarrival, seems
to according prelate commission : hismajesty, with a delicate Aurehan Cook, Gent., "having sent the Bishop of London

the sacred rightsof thitherbefore him to consummate marriage, which was to be done in private."
it Though thispamphlet does not treatof the game, but is wholly political, its the time of camiot be doubted that Ombre was well known in England at
'

publication. * Royal,in the Lifeand Reign of his TitusBritannicus An Essay of History : late Sacred Majesty, Charles II, of ever blessedand immortal memory. By AurelianCook, Gent. p. 296. Edit.1G85. Aurelian is loud in his praisesof hisTitus forhispiety and religion. According to his account, it would seem Rowley." to tliat these in the "Martyr Charles" was notliing "Old
respects

10

146

PLATING

CARDS.

From the following passage in Pcpys'sDiary, under the date 17th Feb. 1667, itwould appear that her was majesty accustomed to play at cards on a Sunday, a crime of the
"

greatestmagnitude in the eyes of certainpersons,who insist that the ChristianSunday should be observed like a Jewish Sabbath,and who yet have no to roast pig.^

objection

"

This evening,"says Mr. Pepys,

side to see full of York, and another or two, at cards,with the room of ladies and great men ; which I was amazed at to see on flatly a Sunday, having not believed it,but, contrarily,

going to the Queene's I the ladies, did finde the Qucene, the Duchesse

"

little while since to my coscn Roger Pepys." The Duchess of York here mentioned, was Amie Hyde, first James II. wifeof James, Duke of York, afterwards
same
a

denied the

Her daughter, Mary, afterwardsQueen of England, used alsoto play at cards on a Sunday, as we learn from the

followingpassage in the diary of her spiritual director. i, Dr. Edward Lake, printed the Camden Miscellany, in vol. 1847: "Jan. 9. 1677-8. I was very sorry to understand
thatthe Princess Orange, since her being in Holland, of did sometimes play at cards upon the Sundays, which would doubtless give offenceto that people. I remember that about two years sincebeing with her highnessin her closett,
not say shee requiredmy opinionof it. I told her I could, 'twas a sin to do so, but 'twas not expedient; and, forfear I of giving offence, advised her highness not to do it,nor in did shee play upon Sundays while shee continued here England." Card-playingon Sundays would appear to have

been equallycommon with the selectcirclewho had the honour of partakingof his Evelyn, amusements. majesty's
In Heath's Clironiclcs, loyal a right it publication, issaidthatDr. Dorislaus, the Parliamentary envoy, who was assassinated the Hague in ^lay,1C49, at was accustomed to play at cards on Sundays at Sir Henry Mildmay's, in Essex. nicle The Democracy, or pretendedfreeState,being the 2d part of the BriefChrolateintestinear, p. 435. Edit.1G62. W of tlic
"

'

"

"

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

147

in hisMemoirs, writingon 6th Feb. 1685, the day when James II was proclaimed,says, I never can forgetthe
"

luxury and profaneness,gaming inexpressible solutene and all disand as it were totalforgetfulness God (it of being Sunday evening), which this day se nnight I was a witnessof,the king sitting nd toyingwith his concubines,

Portsmouth, Cleaveland, and Mazarine, "c., a French boy singing love songs in that gloriousgallery, whilst about twenty of the great courtiers and other dissolute persons Basset* bank of at least were a large "2000 table a at ; round in gold beforethem, upon which two gentlemen who were

made reflexions with astonishment.Sixdays after, in the dust !" was all In the sixteenthyear of the reign of CharlesII an act
with me
be "An Act to passed which might justly entitled legaliseaming ; to prevent wealthyPigeons being plucked G
was

Rooks, and to discourage by artful Betting or Playingfor largeSums upon Tick." An act of the same kind,passed in the reign of Queen Anne, was repealed in 1844, in being likely fall to heavy on consequence of its penalties some creet eminent sportingcharacteri who had been so indisin payment of bets lost them upon credit. Its enactment and itsrepealai*e to indications the state of the sportingworld at significant of to have been framed the two respective eriods. It seems p
as

to receivesundry large sums

Basset would

seem

to have been
"

common

game at the court of France

X about the same period. The King (LouisIV) no\y seldom or never plays, but contents himself sometimes with looking on ; but formerlyhe hath been Mons. S. rookt him of near a million of engaged,and has lost great sums. livres Basset by falsecards upon him, but was imprisoned and at putting banishedfor it some years." Dr. Martin Lister, Journey to Paris in the year Faro, Basset, 1C98. Li 1091, Louis XIV issuedan ordonnance prohibiting
"

at of and other similar games. Whoever should be convicted playing any of those games was ta be fineda thousand livres and the person who allowed ; Basset them to be playedin hishouse incurred penalty a ofsix thousand livres. fifteenth cenFrusso" appear to have been known in Italyin the tury. and Flush" il

Carnascialeschi, C mentioned by Lorenzo dc Medici in liis anti Bescarches, 26. quoted by Singer, p. They
arc

148
on a

PLAYING

CARDS.

presumption that, in gaming, noble and wealthy to ; sportsmen would be most likely lose and to have been repealedbecause certainnoble and wealthysportsmen had in bets. The parties whose favour their won, and received to ties were the act was repealed, saidto have been liable penalto the amount of "500,000 : the law did not anticipate
that lordsand squires woidd be winners,nor intend that expense. The should be enrichedat their needy prosecutors

preambleand some are here given as

"

"

of the provisions the act of CharlesII of Curiosities Gambling Legislation." of

Whereas alllawful Games and Exercisesshould not be otherwiseused than as innocent and moderate recreations,

arid not

as

to or constant tradesor callings, gain a living,

make unlawful advantage thereby; and whereas by the immoderate use of them many mischiefs and inconveniences do arise, couraging and are dayly found to the maintaining and en-

loose, of sundry idle, and disorderly persons in lewd, and dissolute course theirdishonest, and to of life, the circumventing, deceiving, cousening,and debauching

both of the nobility and gentry, of many of the younger sort, to time,and the utter and others, the lossof their precious ruin of theirestates and fortunes, and withdrawing them from noble and laudable employments and exercises. Be itthereforeenacted, that if any person or persons, of any degree or quaUty whatsoever, shallby any fraud,
"

deceit, "c. in playing at Cards, cousenage,circumvention, Dice, Tables,Tennis,Bowls, Kittles,hovel-board, in or or S by Cock-fightings, Horse-races, Dog-matches, or Foot-races
"c. or by bettingon the sidesor hands of such as play, win, obtain,or acquireany sum or sums of money or any other valuable thing ; that then every person so offendingshall ipsofacto forfeitreble the sum or value of money, or other t

thing,so won, gained,or acquired. *' And forthe betteravoidingand preventingof allexcessive and immoderate playingand gaming for the time to

PROGRESS

OP

CARD-PLAYING.

149

come,

be itfurther thatif any person shall enacted, play at any of the said games, or any other pastime whatsoever than or (otherwise with and for ready money), shallbet on
lose any sum of money play,and shall other thing played for, exceedingthe sum of one hundred
as one

the sidesof such

or

or meeting,upon ticketor credit, a otherwise,nd shall not pay down the same at the time when he shallso lose the same, the party who loseththe

pounds, at

time

or

said moneys,
sum
or

of one

other things so played for, above the said hundred pounds, shall not, in thatcase, be bound
or

compelled to pay or make good the same ; and that all Recognizances,Mortgages, Judgments, Statutes, Contracts,

"c. made, given,acknowledged, or entered for security and voidand of none effect. shallbe utterly payment of the same it And, lastly, is enacted,that the person, or persons,so

forfeit and winning the saidmoneys, or other things,shall lose treblethe value of allsuch sum and sums of money, or the said sum of other thing which he shallso win (above hundred one the one moiety to the King, and the

pounds),

other to the Prosecutor/' The passionfor gaming at that are thus period,and its consequences to wealthy flats, described Dryden : by
"

What age so largea crop of vicesbore, Or when was avarice extended more P When were the dicewith more profusionthrown ?
fob Tliewell-filled not emptied now alone. But gamesters for whole patrimoniesplay: The steward bringsthe deeds which must convey The lostestate. What more than madness reigns, When one short sittingany hundreds drains, m him to supply And not enough isleft ?" Board wages, or a footman's livery

During the reign of Charles II, the businessof cardin increased England : and the game appears making greatly induce many to have been so generally understood as to of ingenious persons to employ cards not only as a means knowledge, but also of diffusing useful and entertaining

150

PLATING

CARDS.

The same their wares. mode of instruction advertising was period in France; but in adopted about the same England it appears to have embraced a wider range of ; in France,scientific cards appear to have been

subjects

use devisedforthe exclusive of the nobilitynd gentry, a and instruction the conundrums in to to have been confined their

of heraldryand the elements of historyand geography;i "adapted to the meanest while in England they were ;'* capacity and in additionto the uses for which they were
to employed in France,were made subservient the purposes politics, of communicating knowledge in grammar, history, m morality,athematics,and the art of carving. i A Mons. De Brainvillenventedat Lyons, about 16G0, a.

pack of Heraldiccards,in which the Aces and Knaves, "les As et Valets," were representedby the arms of certain a and nobles. Now as thiswas evidently breach princes
of etiquette and a derogationof heraldicnobility Mons. like De Brainville, Mr. Anstis, does not seem to have rightly
"

foolishbusiness"^ the plateswere understood his own seized by the magistrates. As it appeared,however, that he had given offencethrough pure inadvertence, and not
"
"

intention,he plates t were with any satirical

'

to restored him

before lying now cards, pack of geographical II. " The me, which appear to liavebeen engraved in the reign of Charles in 52 Countiesof England and Wales, geographically described a pack of Cards, breadth, whcrcunto isadded the length, o and circuitf each county,the latitude, distance T Cities,owns, and llivcrs, from Loudon of the principal scituation, and with other Remarks ; as plaine and ready for the playing of all our English
The followings the title i of
a

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 cester, Woreestersliire and of the Knaves at the top of the maps of Anglesey,Glou; Leicester, and Rutland. If the deviserhad any particulareaning in m his assignment of the coat cards,it is not easy to be discovered though it j may be "shrewdly guessed at" as respectsMonmouth and York.
was the latter

Lord Chesterfield reportedto have saidto Anstis on is to him about heraldry, You silly talking man, foolish ushicss." b own standyour
"

one

when occasion, do not underyou

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

151
"

the odious names conditionof his altering of As" and "Valets" into Princes and Chevaliers. In 1678 Antome kind of cards to Naples, where Bulifon carried the same
on

Don Annibal Aquaviva established society play at Blazon, a to " of Armeristi," with the map of Europe under the name Pulchra sub imagine Ludi."^ for a device, and the motto,
"

About the

same

time thatHeraldiccardswere

introduced

intoNaples, 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 suitsare thus represented. Each of a the cards representing Knave, is marked P, for Prince; and a stamp appears on the Ace of Spades.
Clubs.
Queen
PuiNCE
Ace
"

King, by the

arms
"

of the Pope. King of Naples.

Duke of Savoy. Republics of Venice, Genoa, and Lucca.

(Knave)
"

Spades.
King
"

Queen
Prince
Ace

"

Duke of Orleans. King of France. [and Sons of France, the Dauphin, Duke of Anjou, Aienpon. [and
Princesof the Blood" Bourbon, Berry,Vcndome, Peers Rheims, Langrcs,and Laon. Ecclesiastical
"

"

"

Diamonds.
King
"

Queen
Peince Ace

"

King of Spain. Kmg of Portugal.

Castile and Leon. Arragon.

"

"

Hearts.
King
"

Queen
Prince
Ace

"

"

King of England. Emperor of Germany. Bohemia and Hungary. Poland.

"

In the annexed specimens, which are of the same sizeas are the King of Clubs, the originals, honours represented the
'

tom. ii, 180. p. Bibliotheque Menestrier, curieuseet instructive,

152

PLAYING

CARDS.

the Queen of Hearts, the King of Diamonds, and the Ace the King of Spades. The arms of the Pope, representing 20th of Clubs,arc those of Clement IX, who was elected June, 1G67, and died 9th December, 1669. In another pack of Heraldic cards, relatingentirely to England, probably engraved about the same period,the were thus armorialensigns of the King and the nobility The King and distributed amongst the Tetes and Pips} Queen of Hearts were respectively represented by the arras of England and of the Duke of York ; of Diamonds, by the
arms
arms

and of Prince Rupert ; of Spades, by the of Ireland, of France, and of the Archbishops of Canterbury and
;

of Scotland,and of the and of Clubs, by the arms In this Dukes of Norfolk, Somerset, and Buckingham.

York

The arms of the Earlswere pack therewere no Knaves. distributed nines,and tens ; the amongst the sevens, eights, Viscountsfurnishedthe sixes; the Bishops were quartered
the fives and the Barons' coats armorial clothed the ; from the foursto the aces, nakedness of the lower orders,
on
"

in the Heraldic game being low. From a kind or of title-page, perhaps wrapper, preserved in Bagford's in collection, the BritishMuseum, it would appear that the

the

aces

publicationof those cards was licensed by the Duke of Norfolk,as Earl Marshal of England, and as such entitled to take cognizance of allmatters relating heraldry. to
armorialwith 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 explaining terms of blazon,and thus servingas an introduction the
By card-makersthe coat cards" Kiug, Queen, and Knave" termed teies, the otherspips. and
"

In playing the game

are

teelinically

The Pope
T^ke CMPiROUH
I

WMS^
\W^

Castiile H Leon

"cleslasticks

Dukes and Pcirs

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

153

The Heraldic game, however, never was popular ; and does not even appear to have been in for whose instruction much esteem with the higher orders, it devised. It would seem and entertainment was specially
to the grand game.^ to have declinedin France with the gloryof Louis XIV, in the Revolution England. and not to have survived
conpublisheda pack of cards, taining, accordingto the advertisement, An History of all the Popish Plotsthat have been in England, beginning with time, and ending with the last thosein Queen Elizabeth's
**

About 1679, therewas

Charles II, with the damnable plot against his Majesty manner of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey's murder, "c. All
engraved on copper-plates, ith very large w excellently descriptions under each card. The Hke not extant. Sold by Randal Taylor,near Stationers Hall,and by most booksellers, each pack." In a priceOne Shilling pufFcollusive,''^ formhig a kind of postscript thisannouncement, to made a test of approbation these cardsis thus indirectly of
"

" staunchProtestantism. Some personswho care not what have as they say, and to whom lyingis as necessary eating, endeavoured to asperse this pack by a mahtious Ubel,

intimating that it did not answer what is proposed. The show contraryis evident. Aspersers of this pack plainly

themselvespopishlyaffected."^ Such a pack of cards as that announced in the advertisement

to of referred containingan history allthe popish plotsthat have been in England, beginning with those in
"
"

Jeu d'Armoires, tous lestermes du Blazon sont expliquds rangdspar et ou de Bourgogne. Se vend a Paris,cbez ordre. Dedid a Monseigneur le Due to Vallct, dcssinateur graveur du Roy." The privilege the author,Sieur et Gauthicr, isdated 15th December, 1C8G. * is the newest of any; for itaets in the disguise of "The PUFF COLLUSIVE determinedhostility. is mucli used by bold bookspllers It and enterprising was i. The "puff collusive" of The Critic, not.an invention poets."" act Sheridan's time, but merely the revival an old trick. of * c thosecardsispreserved Tiic amongst Bagford'sollections, of advertisement
^

* "

Harleian MSS. No. 5947.

154

PLAYING
"

CARDS.

time" Queen Elizabeth's

"

which objection was

"

itdid not

answer
was

think that it

I have never seen ; and from the made to it at the time, namely, that to what was proposed,"I am inclined the same pack as that which relates
'

to entii'cly the pretended Popish plot of 1678, and the murder of SirEdmundbury Godfrey. A pack of the latter

appearsto have been pubHshed about 1680, subsequentto the 18th of July, 1679; as on and certainly the Four of Clubs is representedthe trial Sir George of Benedictinemonks, who on thatday Wakeman and three
now

beforeme

at arraigned the Old Baileyon an indictmentof high treason for conspiringto poison the king. The complete o cards; and each containsa subpack consists f fifty-two
were

ject,

neatlyengraved, eitherrelatingto the plot

trial nd punishment of the conspirators, a with a 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,

the brief explanatio

or

Diamonds, and Clubs consist chieflyof illustrations of in ihc pretended plot,as detailed the evidence of Titus
Dates and Captain Bedloe; while the suitof Clubs relates to entirely the murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey. An

ideaof the whole pack may be formed from the following description a few of the cards of each suit. Hearts : of King : the King and privy councillors seatedat the counciltable TitusGates standingbeforethem : inscription the at ; foot, **Dr. Oates discover / Plot to f King and Couneth
Coleman writeing a declaration and letterso la Chess,'' Pere la Chaise. The Ace : the Pope t with threecardinals nd a bishop at a table, and the devil a
"
"

cell! The Eight :

" The Plot first hatcht at Borne hy the Pope underneath: Sfd' Diamonds:. Knave: Pickerin attempts and Cardinalls,
''

to Mil
"

/ K. in S' James Park."

The

Four:

'* The consult IFIdtehread made ProvintialC The Ace : " Cap*Bedlow C at the whitehorseTaverneJ\lubs : King :

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

155

examind by f secret Comitee of the Home of Commons ^ Father Comyers preaching The Nine : againstjf oathes " ofalegiance8f supremacy y The Six : Cap^ Berry and d Alderman Brooks are offer500" to cast the plot on the Protestants'' Spades : Queen : The Club at if Blow Ale house for the nfurther T of S. E. B. Godfree."he " S'' B. Godfreetrangled, B. Nine : Girald going to stab s
" *'

himr

The Five :
a

"

The body

of S'

B, G, carry d to

Frimrose hill on

horse J*

Another pack of historical cards, apparently publishedin the same reign, but of inferior execution to the former, appears to have relatedto the Rye-house plot. As these
to than those relating the cards are of even greater rarity Popish plot, description four of them the following of all is here given as a stimulusto colthat I have ever seen lectors.
"
"

Tliompson one of if conof Hearts : spiratorstaken at Hammersmith.''* Knave of Diamonds: Rumhold the malstcr;' on a labelproceeding from his

Queen

"

''

mouth is the inscription, They shall dye'* Ace of Clubs: ''Keeling troubled in mind:** on a label proceedingfrom his mouth, " King killing damnable.** Ace of Spades : is
"

Ho7ie taken prisoner at Cambridge!* Shortly afterthe Revolutionof IG88, one or two packs of cards appeared James II, to with subjects relating the misgovernmcnt of and the birthof his son the Princeof Wales. In the reign CharlesII or James II was publisheda pack of of cither.
'*

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 representvarious kinds of mathematical ^ in instruments, together with the trades and professions
as an which they are used. They were evidently got up" Moxon, also a advertisement. A few years afterwards, followedsuit. mathematicalinstrument-maker, " an It would be difficult,'* Mons. Leber, to name says
*'

"

156

PLAYING

CARDS.

or elementarybook of science art,which had not a pack of Grammar, Rhetoric, Fable,Geography, cardsas an auxiliary.

History, Heraldry,the principlesf Morals and Politics, o were to be learnt and many othersbesides, allthesethings, through the medium of play. The game of cards had
"

servedfor the amusement

games
one

were

of our of sharein the dissemination such treasures of knowledge, England showed herself not less diligentin working the
"

; of a royal lunatic and similar comprehended in the plan for the educationof ^ greatestkings. Though France had a large

mine ; if to us she owes from her own proper resources

same

art with a game of a culinary to in interesting considered itsrelation the play of the jaws, the most ancientand highly esteemed of allplay. It was in December, 1C92, thatthe London papers first announced

the game of Piquet, it is that she has endowed the k differentind, yet highly

to the world the invention the game of Carving at Table. of

in is conceive^d the following Tliis announcement precious terms: 'The Genteel Housekeeper's Pastime; or the mode of Carving at the table,represented in a pack of book by which any ordinarycapacity may learnhow to cut up, or carve in mode, all the most
a

Playing Cards, with

history, metamorphoses,engravedby "Principally games of geography, and DeliaBella, from plansfurnished the poet Desmarets, faeilitate studies by the to
"

dinal of Louis XIV when a child. Tlie ideaissaidto have been suggested by Car]\Iazarine." pack of military f cards,Avith instructionsor playingthe ^A to Son AltesseleDue game, devisedby the Sicur Des Martins, and dedicated de Maine, Colonel-gcn6ral Suisscs," des in 1676. His Highness the appeared
"

"

Colonel-general, was the son of Louis XIV and Madame Montespan, was who then sixyears old. By the favour of P. IX.Atkinson, Esq., of Manchester, an assiduousand intelligent collector curiousbooks, I have had an opportunity examining of of two sets of French HistoricCards,without date,but about probablypublished 1G90. One of them is entitled Cartes des Rois de Prance. A Paris,chez
"

St. Jaqucs, an Chifrc du Roi." The title the other is, of A Paris, au chez Henri le Gras,Librairie, 3* de la grande Salle Palais." Both sets du to have been designed pilier appeared for exclusively the purpose of instruction, not for play. and P. Le Comte,
"

rue

Jeu des Rcyncs Renommces.

PROGRESS

OP

CARD-PLAYCNG.

157

fowl, and baked meats, with the fish, usual dishesof flesh, sawces and garnishes proper to each dish of meat. several 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 The King of Hearts presides over a sirloin f beef; meats. o of Diamonds over a turkey ; of Clubs over a pickledherring;
and of Spades over a venison pasty. A red stamp on the Ace of Spades belonging to a pack which I have had an " of opportunity examining, containsthe words Six pence." If this was the duty on each pack, it was certainly reat g

for the period.

In the reign of Queen Anne and thatof George I,several and cards were published. A pack packs of satirical fanciful

description,ow in the possession Thomas n of the latter of Manchester, relates Heywood, Esq., of Pendleton, near
to entirely the subject of love. Each card isneatlyengraved 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 of thiscard is a Cupid

subject

" plucking with the inscription In love no pleasure without pain/' and the followingverses at the foot:

a rose,

"As when wo reach to crop y' blooming rose From offitsby*r, thornswillinterpose ; y" So when we strive the beauteousnym})h to gain, Y" pleasureswe pursue arc mixed with pain."
from earth from heaven to earth, periodMoxon, "glancing to heaven," published a pack of Astronomical Cards. In the lifeof Beau Hewitt, in Lucas's Memoirs of the Lives, Litrigues, and Comical Adventures in the reigns of of the most Famous Gamesters and Celebrated Sharpers Charles H, James n, WiUiam III, and Queen Anne, 1714, the Beau is represented the use of the geometrical having "most assiduously playingas studied the famous French philosopher forth by Monsieur Des Cartes, and cards,set to be that great man mathematician ; but that findingthe demonstrations of he founded on no certainty, resolvedto try his luck at dice." It is saidthat to d Pascal'sattentionwas first irected the calculationf chances in consequence o de Mere, a great gamester. of some questionsproposed to him by the Chevalier
"

About the

same

"

158

PLATING

CARDS.

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 is engraved above the each, King, Queen, or Knave
"
"

All the other cardshave,in the same

manner,

mark of the suit. This pack has been in the possession of Mr. licywood'sfamilyfor upwards of a century. A pack of satirical cards,belonging to W. H. Diamond,

Soho square, Esq.,Frithstreet, appear to have been executed has time. Each subject an explanatory about the same couplet at the bottom, and the value of each in the game
isindicated by 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 are coarselyengraved, though
a

subjects

some

of them display pointsof charactervery much in the In the Tln-ee of Spades there is a style of Hogarth.

billiard-table, at which a gentleman isplayingwith a curved The inscription : is cue.

"

Think not a losing gamester willbe fair, Who at y" bestne*re playd upon the square."
^

In the Ten of Spades, a Moorfields quack is seen pointing to his sign,with the inscription :
"To famed MoorfieldsI daylydo repair; Killworms, fair.*' cure itch, and make y" ladies

In the Ace of Diamonds, a ladyis seen showing her palm to a fortune-teller, the inscription : with
V

"How can yon hope thisGipscy drabb shouldknow The Fates decrees, and who was made foryou."

In the Four of Diamonds, a lady is seen of her clothes for china ware, with an

exchanging some itinerant dealer.

The inscriptions: i
"

Your pockets,madam, surelyare wondrous bare. To sell for china ware." your very clothes

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

159

In the Ten of Diamonds, the interior a shop is shown, of on the shelves. A woman is standing of with articles plate
behind the counter, on which are front are a lady and gentleman who
i The inscription s:
I have seen. "At Epsom oft these raflflings But assignation's they chiefly eacan." what

box and dice,and in seem to have just thrown.

a

In England, books containinginstructionsorplaying f at cards appear to have been firstpublished in the reign of
CharlesII, to the great benefit, most assuredly,f all o adepts ; who had acquired theirknowledge by practice for in cardthe experienced manipuplaying,as well as in chemistry, lators book-learned have a great advantage over the merely when matters are brought to the test. The realscienceof play isnot to be acquired by the study of books, but by frequent encounters across the table, with men, whose
But, attentionto the rules of the game. even will with the knowledge thus acquired,the proficient in gain but little, unless he alsobe skilled the discrimination

keenness

ensures

of flats and sharps. ' In 1670, an edition a book entitled Wits Interpreter,' of " Games f was enlargedwith directionsorplayingthe Courtly of L'Hombre, Piquit,Gleek, and Cribbage;" and in 1674
" Instructions appeared Cotton's Compleat Gamester ; or, Gentile how to play at all manner of usual and most Trucks, Bowls, or games, eitheron Cards, Dice, Billiards, Chess." This book was several times reprinted and in an ; as are edition publishedin 1709, the following enumerated Glcek ; L'Ombre, a the principal games at cards: Piquet ; Spanish game ; Cribbage ; All-Pours; EngUsh Ruff and Honours, aliasSlam ; Whist ; French Ruff; Kve Cards ; a Put, and the High game calledCostly Colours ; Bone- Ace; Game ; Wit and Reason, a game so called a Pastime called ; the Art of Memory ; a game calledPlain-Dealing;a game

160

PLATING

CARDS.

Penneecli; Queen Nazareen; Lanterloo;a game called called Bankafalet; Beast ;* and Basset.^ to have been The game of Whist, or Whisk, as it seems

English origin,and apis pears usuallycalled, unquestionablyof to have been popularlong beforeitbecame fashionable.
"Let India vaunt her children's vast address, the warlike sport of Chess ; Who first contrived Let nice Piquette the boast of France remain. And studiousOmbre be the pride of Spain ; England yieldto none, Invention's praiseshall Whist her own. delightful While she can call
we But to what name Is not so easy for us

owe, thisdistinction to know : now

here. The British annals allare silent hint our doubts to clear : Nor deign one friendly himself, Ev'n Hume mind whose philosophic
: Could not but love a pastime so refin'd h UngratefulHume, who, till is dying day.

hisfav'rite Continued still game to play;' Tho* many a curiousfacthis page supplies.

To thisimportantpoint a place denies."*

Barrington's on of observations the introduction the game into respectablecompany, are as follows: Quadrille(a species Ombre) obtained a vogue upon the disuseof the of latter, W which it maintained tillhisk was introduced, which
"

now

[1787]revailsnot p

only in England, but in most of

In the text.Beast issaidto be called the French " La Bett" [La by Bete], * to have been the principalames at cards playedin The following appear g England beforethe reign of Charles11 : the game of Trumps, in the time of
"

Edward VI

Lodam, Noddy, La Volta, and Bankerout, mentioned by Sir John Harrington ; and Glcek, Crimp, Mount-Saint, Knave out of Doors, Post and Pair, of and RuiF, mentioned in Dodsley's Collection Old Plays." See Barrington Bowie on Card-playing,n the Archxologia,ol. i v viii. and * " Upon his return to Edinburgh, though he found himselfweaker, yet liis never himself, usual, with as cheerfulness abated; and he continued to divert liiswn works for a new edition,ith readingbooks of amusement, o correcting w
;

Prunero, Maw,

with the conversation hisfriends; of with a party and sometimes,in the evening, Dr. Adam Smith, Letter to Wm. Strahan. at his favorite game of whist."-" * Whist, a poem in twelve Cantos. By Alexander Thomson, Esq., p. 21. Second Edition, 1792.

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

161

be the civilizedarts of Europe.* If it may not possibly p I supposed that the game of Trumps (which have before taken noticeof, as alluded to in one of the old playscontained
is Whisk, I ratherconceive in Dodsley's Collection) that the firstmention 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

so with what were calledSwahhers^hich were possibly w termed, because they who had certaincards in theirhand to were entitled take up a share of the stake,independent

therefore, of the generalevent of the game. 'The fortunate, clearing the board of this extraordinarystake,might be to the Swabbers (orcleaners compared by seamen of the i deck),n which sense the term is still used. Be thisas it
principles till about fifty years ago, when itwas much studiedby a set in of gentlemen who frequented the Crown coffee-house
to before that time it was confinedchiefly the servants'hallwith All-Foursand Put."
row
:
'

may. Whisk

seems

never

to have been played on

Bedford

Mr. Barrington

successionof Whist

too; which observationI have made were the games in vogue, we certainly has come in fashion, were you under French influence. Whereas sinceWhist matic Whist. A DraThe Humours of see our improved upon us."" are politics Satire, as acted every day at White's, and other Coffee-housesand Assemblies. 8vo, 1743. ' 1, scene From the followingpassage in the 'Beaux Stratagem,* act ii, fit as if itwere T^Tiisk mentioned by Mrs. Sullen in a disparagingmanner, is : only for rustics

acknowledge, namely, "Egad, you remind me, Sir John, of an is, that as long as Quadrille and Ombre

to have obtained his information respecting the from an authoritywhom he did not like to to Quadrille Sir Calculation Puzzle, in the Humours of Whist.
seems

that the country affords. Dorinda. You share in allthe pleasures Mrs. Sullen. Country pleasures! racks and torments ! Dost think,child, that my limbs are made for leapingof ditches, and clamberingover styles?or had in happiness countrypleasures, thatmy parents,wiselyforeseeing future my fatale, me playingat earlyinstructed in the ruralaccomplishmentsof drinking whisk, and smoking tobacco v/ith my husband ?" " " * The clergymen used to play at Whisk and Swabbers*" ^vf'iii."

11

1G2

PLAYING

CARDS.

it own From Mr. Barrington's references would appear to have been a favorite game vrithcountry squires about 1707, the date of the Beaux Stratagem; and occasionally
indulged in by clergymen about 1728, the date of Swift's Essay on theFates of Clergymen. Their example, however,
seems

it to have been unable to retrieve from the character

until it was of vulgarity,

taken up by " a set of seriously gentlemen,"who appear to have commenced their studies in justbout the at the Crown coffee-house, Bedford row, a

" on time thatthe Treatise Whist, by Edmond Hoyle, Gent.,'' first was published by Thomas Osborne, at Gray's Inn. The studies such gentlemen, and the celebrity f their o of

instructor, thus commemorated in the prologue are scientific to the Humours of Whist,' a dramaticsatire quoted in the
*

precedingpage.
"

that man could e*er exist willbelieve Who spent near halfan age in studying"Whist ; Labour hard ! Grow grey with Calculation, Who
"

"

business in As ifLife's centred a cardP That such there is, me to those appeal, let Wlio with such liberal hands reward his zeal.
Lo 1 Whist lie ; makes a science and our Peers Deign to turn school-boys their iii years; riper Kings too, and Vice-roys, proud to play the game, Devour his learned in quest of Fame : page While lordly sharpersdupe away at White's,

And

scarce

leaveone poor cull forcommon

bites."

Though Mr. Barringtonhas not assignedany grounds forsupposingthat Whist was the same game as thatwhich
formerlycalledTrumps, or Trump, it is not unhkely being that he was induced to suggestthe possibility their of the same from hishaving read,in The Compleat Gamester,'
was
*

English b f thatWhist differedut littlerom the game called Ruff and Honours, and in consequence of hishaving learnt, Dictionary, from Cotgrave's that RufF and Trump were

PROGRESS

OY

CARD-PLAYING.

163

in He says, a note, that" In 1664, a book was pubKshed, entitled The Corapleat Gamester,'which takes Though it be true that Whisk" no notice of Whisk." is not named in the firsteditionof the book printed in 1674, not 1664 the following assertpassage,distinctly ing ^yet that Whist was then a common game in all parts of England, appears in the second editionpublishedin 1680. Ruff and Honours (bysome calledSlam), and Whist,
the same.^
'
"
"
"

"

in England, in allpartsthereof, that ledge every childalmost, of eightyears,hath a competent knoware

games

so

common

in that recreation and therefore am more unwilling I ; to speak anything more that theremay of them than this, be a great deal of art used in dealingand playing at these
from the other." In the one games, which differ very little 'Memoirs of the most Famous Gamesters, from the reign of CharlesII, to that of Queen Anne,' 1714, a sharper named Johnson, who was hanged in 1690, ismentioned as having
excelled in the art of securing honours for himself and partnerwhen dealingat Whist ; and in the works of Taylor the Water-poet, printedin 1630, Whisk ismentioned among

the games at which the prodigalsquanders his money

"

The prodigalls estate liketo a flux, The Mercer, Draper, and the Silkman sucks : Dogs, Drabs, and Dice, Millainer, The Taylor, Trey-trip, Passage, or the Most-at-thricc. or or At Irish, D Tick-tacke, oublets,Drauglits, Chesse,
: h lie flings is money freewitli carclcssucsso At Novum, Mumchance, Mischance (chuso yo

whicli),

At Onc-and-thirty, at Poor-and-rich, or RuiTc,Slami Ti-ump,Noddy, Whisk, Hole, Sant,New-cut. Unto the keeping of four Knaves he'll put Iliswhole estate ; at Loadura or at Glceke, he'sa merry Greek ; At Tickle-mc quickly,
"

Ruff nours]." f is a game not much differing rom this"[English and Hothe card-game Compleat Gamester, p. 86. Edit. 1709. "Triomphe, English Dictionary.Edit. calledRuffe, or Tinimp."" Cotgrave'sFrench and "Whist

1611.

164

PLAYING

CARDS.

Post-andpayre,Primero, At Primifisto,
he's Maw, Wliip-her-ginnv, a liberal hero ;
'

: At My-sow pigg'd but (reader, doubt ye) never in lie's games, except Looke about ye. skill'd all Shove-groat, Tennis,no game comes amiss. Bowles,

His purse a nurse for anybody is; Coaches,and Tobacconists, Carochcs, from hisfiscs All sorts of people freely His vaineexpenses dailysuckc and soake. And he himselfsuckcs only drinkeand smoake. h And thus the Prodigall,imselfe alone.

Gives sucke to thousands, none.**' and himselfsuekis

In an edition of The Compleat Gamester' of 1709, itis from the silence saidthatthe game of Wliistis so called
'

thatis to be observed in the play; and Dr. Johnson, from in which he explainsthe term, seems to have the manner Whist, a game at cards, requiring a closeattentionnd silence."^The name, however,appears likely have been a corruptionof the olderone of to more
"

favouredthisopinion :

As the game of Whisk and Swabbers was nearly the same as that of the stilllderone of Ruff and Honours, o it would seem that the two former terms were merely the ludicrous synonyms of the latter, introduced perhaps
Whisk.
"

were going out of fashion, about the time that Rufifs and by when the Honours represented the coat cards were at a discount. The fact that a game, so interesting itself, in

from as should be so slighted, it was, by the higher orders, the reign of Charles II to that of George II, would seem to
Et habeo,et careo, et euro. " The Review, No. on writerof an article Whist, in the Foreign Quarterly " 48, discussinghe etymologyof the name, says: Whisht t The Irishinjunction, " be thought to requireconsideration.It is the exact form of be quiet,' may the word, barring o only the pure * ; but thisis not the Sibboleth,r touchstone,
"

Taylor's Motto

"

isbut a dialectical here. At the utmost, the difficulty elegantuscausa, variety, for the sake of elegance just shoup, for soup." Nares, in his Glossary, as ; tinderthe word Whist, an exclamation says of the game, silence,
"

enjoining

That the name isknown, I presume, to allwho of Whist isderivedfrom this, play,or do not play."
**

PROGRESS

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CARD-PLAYING.

165

intimatethat they were well aware of the ridiculentended i to be conveyed by itspopularname of Whisk and Swabbers. Looking at the of these terms, and considering conjunction
be theirprimary meaning,^ there can scarcely a doubt that the former was the original Whist, the name of under which to able the game subsequentlyobtained an introduction fashion-

the Swabbers having been deposed and the society, Honours restored. In playing the game. Swabbers seem to have signified eitherthe Honours, or the points gained through holding them. At the older game of Ruif and Honours, Ruff

It would appear that when the Ruff the signified Trump. was of called a Whisk, in ridicule the Ruff proper,the in concateHonours, or pointsgained through them were, nation designatedSwabbers." In the present accordingly,
"

day, a Parisian tailor facetiously, shirt-ruffle a the of calls,

shopmatc a damping clout; and Philip Stubbcs, in his * Anatomic of Abuses,' 1583, thus speaksof the ruffs the of ** Thei have great and monsterous gallants his time : of

either of cambricke, hoUand, lawne, or els cloth that can be.got for money, of some other the finest yea some more, whereof some be a quarter of a yarde deepe, : quarter of a yarde very few lesse so that theistande a full
ruffes,made

(andmore)from their necks, hanging

over

their shoulder

his blasts, or pointsinsteadof a vaile. But ifiEolus with Neptune with his stormes, chaunce to hit upon the crasie
in then they goeth flip-flap barke of thek bruised ruffes, the winde, likeragges that flew abroode, lying upon their of shoulderslikethe dishcloute a slut." to have seems In the reign of Queen Anne, card-playing tide in every part of civihzedEurope. In attaineditsfull fashionable and it England, in particular, was at once
"

A Whisk,

small kind of besom

swab

or

swabber,a kind of mop.

166

PLAYING

CARDS.

game of the ladies and ; popular; Ombre was the favorite Piquet of the gentlemen, par excellence; clergymen and rubbed on at Whist ; and the lower orders country squires
away at All-Fours,Put, Cribbage, and Lanterloo. shuffled Subsequently some of the games may have been more diligently nicelycalculated and the chances more studied,
"

on

but principles," at

no

beforeor since, othertime,either

prevalent amongst people of all card-playingmore best to discourage classes.The more pious indeed did their the general passion for play ; but their dissuasions appear
was

to have produced but little effect;

expectedat a period when one time piqued himselfrather on

indeed might be statesmen of the of the first his skill in gaming than on
as

his political of reputation, and when kind landlords, the SirRoger dc Covcrlcyschool, of used to send a string hog's to puddings and a pack of cards as a Christmas gift every
poor family in the parish.^ The characterof the statesman alluded to Lord Godolphin, who died 1712,^ is thus
"

"

Moral Epistle: sketchedby Pope in his first

"

Wlio would not praisePatricio*sigh desert. h His hand unstained, bis uncorruptcd heart,

His eomprehcnsivc head ! allinterests weighed. All Europe saved,yet Britainnot betrayedP He thanks you not ; his pride is in piquette, Newmarket fame, and judgement a bet." in

The following particularselatingto the manufactureof r side cards in the reign of Queen Anne, are derivedfrom a broadin to entitled Considerations relation the Imposition
"

on
"

Cards, humbly

submitted

to

the Hon.

House

of

"Whist; by an Amateur: its History and Practice," p. 28, 1843." A beautifulittle l book, with appropriateillustrations, designedby 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, the Earl of Sunderland with having a library, that i and very Iionestlynsinuating former made an iJl tlie use of the one, tlie no other."" and the latter use atidlof The Censor censured; or Cato turned Cataline, a publishedin 1722.

pamphlet,

PROGRESS

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CARD-PLAYING.

167

certainlyrinted p in the reign of Queen Anne, for the purpose of being circulated the members of the House of Commons on among
the occasionof a proposalto lay a tax of sixpence per pack " Nine partsin ten of the cards now made," itis on cards. "are sold from 6^. to 24^.per gross; and even these stated,
at Gs. willby thisduty be

Gommons."

It iswithout date,but

was

to "3 subjected

12^. tax. This,

with submission, will destroy nine parts in ten of the manufacture ; for those cards which are now bought for Sd. affordedunder lOd. or Is. If any of your honours hope by thistax to suppressexpensivecardsort who play for playing,itis enswered that the common innocent diversion will only be hindered ; the sharp
can't then be [per pack]

gamesters who play for money willnot be discouraged; for dered those who play for many pounds a game will not be hinby 12"^.a pack." There were then 40,000 reams of
for Genoa white paper annuallyimported,chiefly the purpose of making cards. The business was in the hands of small
masters, mostly poor, of whom

there were

no

lessthan

Their price to retailers, h one sort of cards with another, was tlu^eedfpence a pack, and their profitnot above a halfpenny. Though cards were at that period much smaller than they are at present, itisdifficult conceivehow they could be manufactured at to

hundred, in and about London.

so

of

price. As Pope's description the game of Ombre in the Rape of to the Lock has been so frequently referred by writersof

low

likeRichard Seymour, Esq., all kinds," whether treating, tentments, Court Games, or, like Miss Mitford,on Coimtry Conon to the omission of a reference ithere might be
"

description the maimer of playingthisgame."" "Mr.. Pope's beautiful of Seymour's Court Gamester, 1722." "It isBelinda'sgame in the Rape of the that when Ombre in Lock, where every incident the whole deal is so described, from it is forgotten (and itis almost so already)may be revivedwith posterity that admirablepoem."" Barrington on the Antiquity of Card-playing. Pope's
*

168

PLAYING

CARDS.

to ; considereda gross oversight but as itisimpossible go a pitch beyond the encomiums which have been bestowed on it, duced the following remarks by an old author may be introMr. Pope, too, most certainly : as a variation has heed him little his merit ; yet the generality polite men of
"

pack-horseupon the road; they hear thejingle of hisbellsand pass on, without thinking of the treasurehe carries. I have frequentlythought it odd, that in allthe
more

than

good company I have kept, I never heard a linequoted from and then, an accidentalone, any part of him, unless,now from his beautiful of and accurate description the game of Ombre."^ Georgian Era" it During the greater portion of the classes would seem that cards were as much played at by all George I, In the earlypart of as in the reignof Queen Anne.
"
.

published his Court Gamester,' written, as the title-page states,for the use of the young Princesses.^ The only games ofwhich Mr. Seymour treats arc Ombre, Piquet,
Seymour
*

for and the Royal Game of Chess. His instructions 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, decent hand ;" but at Chess, it is evident, he was a a
"

" aut caprimulgus,aut fossor." Though, in novice, the title-page, work is said to have been written for the the use of the the author young princesses,et, in the preface, y

mere

"

Court, excitein the mind of Miss Mitford "vivid images fair Belinda and of the inimitable fourth Our Village, of the game at Ombre."
"

Grotto, and Hampton

series. ' SeriousReflections on the dangerous tendency of practice of the common Card-playing; especially the game of All-Fours,as it hath been publickly played at Oxford in thispresent 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, seekinghealthat the pump, and amusement at the card-table.

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

169

candidlyacknowledges that he had been induced to compile itfor 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 forconversation." In his explanation the Spanish terms of
"
'

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 the exclamation than the simple meaning of of the phrase,and to be emphatic even at the risk of appearing
''

profane. It is to be hoped that the princesses Spanish, and that they confined themselves to the original ignorant that it contained an oath, supposing the were
words to be merely added, elegantice by theirpoliteteacher. causa, About the time that Seymour's. Court Gamester' was
'

English objectionable

first a published, spirit gambling seems to have pervaded of allclasses. Skillin the games at cards most in vogue was
a or

test of gentility ;
a

for a or speculating stock-jobbing,

in fall the public funds, had become a and even pious ministers, high dissentingprinciples, who of looked on card-playing as sinful, scrambled as eagerlyas

rise regular trade ;

the most profane for shares of South Sea stock, and were blinded to the sense of Christian duty by the dazzlinghope of becoming suddenly rich. The South Sea bubble, however, at length burst,and itspromoters and theirdupes were caricaturedin a pack of cards.* The appropriately South Sea directors, insteadof having thousands of pounds presented to them by the shareholders,as a tribute to

their speculative genius,were

'

summoned

before

parlia-

bubble the About 1721, a pack of cards was published, idiculing principal r About the same the schemes of the day,but more especially South Sea project. time, a set of caricature the scheme, was published cards,ridiculing Mississippi in Holland.

170

PLAYING

CARDS.

to give an account of their estates. mcntary committee Parliamentary committees have of latebeen employed fora : purpose widely different
"

multi Committiint eadem diversecriminafato: h tulit,ie diadema.** Ille crucem pretium scelcris

on 'Treatise Whist' was first About 1737, Iloyle's lished. pubto have been admirably The work, which seems was most favorably a adaptedto the wants ofsocietyt thetime, ; received and in the course of the succeedingten or twelve

years it ran through Grammar, in the same

a

as

many editionsas Lindley Murray's in period, modern times. It proved

"lucky hit,"both for the author and the publisher, ho w to : took everyprecaution secure their copyright injunctions

held up in terrorem againstpirates and purchasers ; informed that no copies of the work were genuine were unless they bore the signaturesof
were

^m^r^ Jhy^
AND

^TAd-.O^ij
exercisedno of "Wits/' who had previously w o small influencen the world of fashion,as then on the decline the beau-monde had acquiredthe ascendency over ; Grub street and gentlemen of rank and fashion formed ;

The

race

themselves into clubs,for the purposes of gaming and intercourse, from which threadbare poets and hack social
were pamphleteers

scription, excluded by the very terms of subto 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 Poet-Laureate, and when Qum's brutality Gibber was 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 both at LeicesterHouse had the entree, by the back stairs, and St. James's. Even those who professedto correct the in some degree to have been infected vicesof the age seem ; with its spirit Richardson, the noveUst,writing with the
Rakes'' and retaining ostensible design of reforming in the paths of virtue, innocent young women seems often in Harlowe, to indulge,more especially Pamela and Clarissa
"

and suggesting circumstances which only could have been conceived by a prurientimagination ; and even John Wesley appears to have encouraged his poor pettyvices, hen speaking convertedsinnersto exaggeratetheir w their experience at a love-feast, and to dwell, with a
peculiarkind of complacency, on theirformer state of carnal of wickedness as compared with theirpresentstate, spiritual
as grace, just William Huntington, S.S., when in the dwelt on the memory of his former fulness of sanctity, backslidings, and told all the world, with ill-dissembled
"

in describing scenes

love-begottenson was an exact pride, that his first-born both in humoiu* and in person. copy of his father, brilliant" era The reign of Beau Nash at Bath forms a frivolity.Under his auspices in the annals of ostentatious the City of the Sick^became the favorite place of resort for the fashionable and the gay; and in the pools where formerly lepersalone washed to cleansethem of theirsores,
"

to the sound smooth-skinned ladies dabbled for pleasure,

the itAkeman-ceaster, which has been interpreted City The Saxons called of Valetudinarians." Bath Guide. It is worthy of remark that most wateringthe by placesmuch visited wealthy invalids, abroad as well as at home, are also
"
"
"

haunts of gamesters.

"

Where the carrionis,there are the vultures."

172

PLAYING

CARDS.

looked on.^ of soft music, while gentlemen, enraptured, from his mercurialtalents, The Beau was admirably fitted, duties of purveyor of pleasure to to dischargethe peculiar the fashionable societyof his age; he could administer
t flatteryo
a

duchess while he pretended to reprove her ; madams, of the Would-be and could persuade the little honoured by his patronisingconfamily, that they were descensio at the very time that he was endeavouring to for of real make them appear ridiculous, the amusement ladies. He displayed together great tact in bringingparties who wished to be better acquainted, and denounced

society. lie promoted scandalas the bane of fashionable for the politeof both sexes ; and encouraged play as a recreation
dancing, not only as but for the benefit the rooms, of
"

healthy exercise per

se,

and for the sake of aiding the salutary operationof the waters. In his dresshe was in conspicuously queer," as was requisite a Master of the Ceremonies : he wore a large white hat, cocked, be it
"

observed, the buckle of his stock before insteadof behind, and, even in the coldest weather, his waistcoat unbuttoned, displayingthe bosom of his shirt. He drove six
"

greys in his carriage,and when he went in state to the he was always attended by a numerous rooms escort and a band of instruments of which were music, the principal

French horns, "Sonorous metal,blowing martial sounds.'* On his decease, which took place in 1761, the corporation of Bath, gratefulfor the benefitsconferred on their city
"

At thisperioditwas the fashion before forthe ladies adorn their lieads, to they enteredthe bath, luresof dress. By these means their charms with allthe
were

"

set offto such advantage,that the husband of a lady,who, with Nash and

' was other spectators, admiring the female dabblers,told his wife she looked likean angel,and he wished to be with her.* Nash o seizedthe favorable ccasion his reputation as a man to establish of gallantryand spirit, and therefore taking the gentleman by the collar suddenly 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 and Pope; and his good-natured friend, i the Earl of Chesterfield,n an epigram,"thus did justice to his memory and the taste of the corporation ;
**

busts of Newton

The Statue,placedthese busts between, Gives Satire itsstrength j all

Wisdom

seen, and Wit are little But Pollyat full length."

The Earl of Chesterfield was a frequent a visitort Bath, where he found many admirersof hiswit, and many opporit. Bath, indeed,was the very place tunities exercising of for such a genius to shine in,for in no other cityin the kingdom were manners and morals, such as his lordship's,
fond of play too; and was partial to the company of Mr. Lookup, one of the most noted professional gamestersofthe day. Lookup, as well as Colonel Charteris, of notoriousmemory in the
more
"

highly appreciated. His lordshipwas

annals of gaming and debauchery, was from the north bom in the neighbourhood of He was of the Tweed.
"

Jedburgh, and

was

bred

an

apothecary. On the expiration

he of his apprenticeship, proceeded southward,and obtained a situation in the shop of an apothecaryat 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 himselfentirely play,an itch for which he is saidto have to brought with him from his native country. In Lookup's fondness youth, and, indeed, for many years afterwards,a in any forcard-playing more was prevalentin Jedburgh than other town on the Scottishborder. Lookup, having determined to make gaming his business,
his whole attentionto it: he devoted,like a sensible man, the odds coolly, and, consequently. calculated played steadily,

174
won

PLAYING

CARDS.

from those fashionable amateurs whose considerably was not according to knowledge. He was not confidence but also in only a proficient all the usual games at cards,
used sometimes played well at billiards.Lord Chesterfield himself at billiards to amuse with Lookup ; and on one him by a ruse of his occasionhad the laugh turned against who, afterwinning a game or two, asked his antagonist, how many he would give ifhe were to put a patch lordship one over eye. His lordshipagreed to give him five and

-^

Lookup having won ship threw down

his lordseveralgames in succession, declaring that he thought his mace,

Lookup played as well with one eye as with two. "I don'twonder at it,my lord,"repliedLookup, " for I have only seen out of one theseten years." The eye of which Lookup had lost the use appeared as perfectas the other, to a near even observer. With the money which he had
at of Lord Chesterfield, chiefly Piquet, houses at Bath, which he jocularly he built some called " Row.'' Chesterfield at various times
won

Lookup's gambling uniformly smooth

;

career,

and on one awkwardly entangledin the meshes of the law. A gentleman, who had lost between three and four hundred pounds to Lookup at Cribbage,being persuaded thattherehad been "a
An analogouscase, at cards, begging for a point in order to inspirethe of an erroneous with opinionof the beggar being weak, is thus related adversary by PaschasiusJustus of Pope Leo X. His holinessonce, when playing at a
for him to lose, game simikr to Primcro,held such cards as made itimpossible from the circumstanceof his being the last except player; but as his adversary, whose turn itwas to declarefirst, proposed a heavy stake,he concluded that he " held as good cards as liimsclf.Being reluctantto give me a yieldthe game, " see point," he cried, and I ^vill you." The other, not suspectingthat the Pope held such capital cards, readilyassented,and consequentlylost."The
*

was though successful, not occasionhe got himself very

if narrator says that he couldapplaud the trick, hisholinesshad returnedthe loser his stake." Pasc. Justi Alcae, lib.i, Edit. Neapoli Nemetum p. 50. in the [Neustadt, dioceseof Spires], 1617.

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

17o

Lookup fordouble upon him, brought an actionagainst puir* to damages, according the statute made and providedforthe protection the Tom-Noddy classof gamesters, of special
"

whimpering, greedy fools, who callupon the world pitiful, losses,hough occasioned t to commiserate their by solely their
attempts on the purses of people more knowing, though not knavish, than themselves. In the course a whit more of Lookup, through some out proceedingsarising of thisaction. it to the truth of swore the blunder of his attorney, is said, circumstancewhich was subsequently proved to be false. Lookup was hereupon prosecutedfor and imprisoned;
a

perjury,

in and only escaped the pillory consequenceof a flaw in the indictment: the blunder of his own attorneybrings him

intoperil, nd the blunder of his opponent's sets him free ; a John a-Nokes's broken arm isa set-off Tom a-Styles's against
broken leg ; each partyis left pay his own costs,and thus to the Law at leastis satisfied.The oysteris swallowed, and
the scales of
are justice

evenly balanced with

shellin
was

each. Lookup, likehiscontemporary, Elwes the miser,who also a great card-player,frequently lost large sums
which projects he
was

by

to allured engage in by the tempting baitof a largereturn for his capital; corrective a occasionally administeredby fortune to her spoiled childrenwhen they t leavetheirold successful trickery,o embark course of retail But as merchant adventurers on the sea of speculation. though fortunefrowned on him when he gave up gaming as

in a to regularprofession, become the principalpartner saltpetre anufactory at Chelsea,she yet looked favorably m in more on some of his other speculations which wxre he held accordance with his old vocation: the shares which 1758 to 1763, in several in privateers, the French war from in as paid well; and he was highly successful an adventurer " in harness," the slavetrade. He is said to have died
a
"

176

PLAYING

CARDS.

that is,with cards in his hand, when engaged in playing or two-handed Whist. game of Humbug, at his favorite Foote who is supposed to have represented him in the in the farceof the Minor is said to o characterf Loader, on have observed, learning the circumstancesof his death, that Lookup was humbugged out of the world at last."
" " "

"

aged about seventy. His Upon the whole, biographer thus sums up his character: Mr. Lookup was as extraordinarya person as we have met
"

He died in November,

1770,

years in the metropolis. He possessed a with for several by great share of good sense, cultivated a long acquaintance
smattering of learning,and a pretty fluent in words, and of a ready retentivememory ; was imagination. We cannot add, he was either generous,
with the world
;

had

or grateful, 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 livedin the railway era, he have been eithera king or a would, most assuredly, stag royal;
"The craven rook and pert jackdaw. Although no birdsof moral kind. Yet
when dead,and stuffed with straw, To show us which way points the wind."
serve,

"

reign of George II is a historicalpicture of great breadth,^' abounding in stronglymarked characters, The

; strikingly ontrasted but chiefly c and generally undignified, low. TlieCarnal man is a ruffianrioting in Gin Lane ;

by sonage, perwhilst the Spiritualis typified a sinister-looking with lank hair,cadaverous visage, and a cock-eye,
The LiteraryRegister, Weekly Miscellany, 296, Newcastle or p. 1771.
*

on

Tyne,

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

177

compreaching Free Grace from a tub to a miscellaneous pany Mile-end Green, the indifference the unreat of ground. generate being indicated by a prize fight in the back"

poor rogue is going, drunk, to Tybiu-u, for having robbed a thief-taker's journeyman a silver of a steelchain,and a tobacco-stopper, watch, worth altogether forty shillings the value required and threepence,
a
"

Here

by law to entitle to the thief-taker his priceof blood ; and there a wealthy soap-boiler, who has made a fortune by

is cheatingthe excise, going in state to Guildhallas Lord Mayor of London. Here a young rake is making violent loveto his mother's maid, who has been induced to encourage
his attentions from her reading Pamela; and there his b aunt, a maiden lady of fifty-two,ut having in her own
t year, iscomplacentlylisteningo the matrimonial proposals of a young New-Ught preacher. Here is Colley Gibber sippinghis wine at the tableof " my

rightthree thousand

and there sitsSamuel Johnson, behind the screen in Cave's back shop, eagerlydevouring the plateof meat bookseller has sent him from his own which the considerate table. Here are Johnny Cope and the dragoons riding a
the young ChevaUer, and there sits land unkempt and bare-legged, smoking a shortpipe in a Highhut. Here hangs the sign of the Duke of Cumberland's head ; and there,grinning down on itfrom the elevation of
race

lordy*

from Preston Pans

the heads of the decapitatedrebels. Here Ranelagh is seen shut up on account of the earthquake at Lisbon;^and therea batch of gambKng senators are hurrying

Temple Bar,

are

"Uninflammable as the times were, they carrieda great mixture of superstition. becausetherehad been an earthquake Masquerades had been abolished, was Lisbon ; and when the lastjubilee-masquerade at exhibited Rxinclagh, at drunken people, who the alehouses and roads to Chelsea were crowded with God on persons of fashion, whose of assembled to denounce the judgments reinconvenient A formation, dressingthemselves ridiculously. more greatest sin was one, was set on footby societies tradesmen, of and not a more sensible
"
"

12

178

PLAYING

CARDS.

down to the House from the club at White's, to give their to votes in favourof a bill repressgaming. The severalacts passed against gaming, in the reign of in George II, appear to have had but Uttleeffect restraining the practice, eitherat the time, or in any subsequent reign; a for though occasionally soUtary loose fish might become
the onward meshes, they never interrupted entangledin their course of the great shoal. The shameless inconsistency many of the noble lords of to and honorable gentlemen who were parties the enactment
shown up in an ironical pamphlet of those laws, is cleverly " entitled, A Letter to the Club at White's. In which are in set forththe great Expediency of repealingthe Laws now

forceagainst ExcessiveGaming, and the many Advantages that would ariseto this Nation from it. By Erasmus following passages appear both as showing the composimost worthy of transcription, tion of a celebrated club about a hundred years ago, and as
Mumford, Esq.," 1750. The containingthe pith of the writer's argument. " The pertinencyof my address to you, my Lords and Gentlemen, on thisoccasion,must be evidentto every one

that knows anything of your history as that you are a Club ; of about Five Hundred, much the greatest partof you Peers
and Members of Parhament, who meet every day at a celebratedChocolate House, near St. James's, with much than you meet in the Court of Requests ; greaterassiduity and there, all party quarrels being laid aside, all State questions dropped, Whigs and Tories, Placemen and Patriots, Courtiers and Country Gentlemen, you allagree
who denounced to the magistrate bakersthat baked or soldbread on Sundays. all Alum, and the varietyof spurious ingredients with which bread, and, indeed, wares, were all adulteratedllthe week round, gave not halfso much offenceas a the vent of the chief Memoirs, on necessaryof life a Sunday."~Earl of Orford*s ii, 283. vol. p.

PROGRESS

OP

CARD-PLAYING.

179

for the good of the Public, in the salutary measures of But then as thisis against laws gaming. excessive of your become old-fashioned, own making, though now musty
things,it would save to the world appearances a little methinks, that they should be repealed in the same solemn form in which they were enacted. And as you are, by yourselves a and your relations^great majority of the Legislature, so and have no party bias whatsoever on this article, it

be would certainly as easy for you, as it is,in my opinion, incumbent on you, to accompUsh such a repeal For, in our hearts,the forms of government whatever we mean should be carefullypreserved; and though gaming is of
the highest advantage to this nation, as I shallpresently itin defianceof allorder,in the make appear,yet to practise

very sight,as it were, of the Government, and against the is spirit and letterof the laws which you made yourselves, Nobles, inconsistent entirely with the characterof Patriots, Senators,Great Men,
or

whatever

name

of public honour

you would chuse to call yourselvesby. " Besides,we have some odd queer maxims in om* heads,

that the Law is the same for the King and the Cobler, "c., to my is there in any Act of Parliament that has come nor knowledge, any exceptionof thissame house calledWhite'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 verilythat, besides
in the kingdom who knows there is not a man yourselves, any thing of it. I have read the last Act over and over, I and I protest that I can't see any such thing; and yet don't know how to persuade myself that so many noble

Lords and so many of the House of Commons, of allparties and denominations, should every day meet togetherin open to such an Act, without a saving clause to contradiction
themselves under. shelter
"

180
"

PLAYING

CARDS.

But though itdoes 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 had the Royal assent. And whilstit a part,)nd which has does so continue,itnot only hindersthe rest of the kingdom, Acts of Parhament, from Gaming, as who are so silly to mind but it prevents a scheme, which I have had in my head for time, from taking place; which is, that you should some
his Majesty, he would that your utmost endeavours with in be pleased, consideration f the greatgood of his people, o to give neither place nor pension to any Peer, howsoever
use

in deserving all w otherrespects,ho isnot of your body ; and pable that a Billshould be brought in to render every one incamember in eitherHouse of Parliament, how sound soever his political principles may be, who is not likewise member of the Gaming Club at White's, This, a I apprehend, would be an effectual this way of introducing
as of sitting
a

into every house of Fashion wholesome innocent diversion in and Politeness the kingdom, and make your illustrious body more in vogue, ifthat can be, than itis at present.
"

But this scheme, which I apprehend to be of such be executed whilst these Acts of can never greatutility,

"

Parliament remain unrepealed ficulty There is one difindeed 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, gettingthe king and his chief ministers to consent. For as to the former, though he
allowsof the practicein his palace once a year,from mere antientcustom,^ 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 allowedof gaming at the groom porter's the Christmas at b holidays, ut 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 State, though they have this of diversion once a year or so at their houses,forthe entertainment the Foreign Ministers,yet they never play themselves, of
show any other countenance indirectly."*
nor

directly to it, nor

In the politicalamphlets which appeared in opposition p to the ministryin the latter part of the reignof George II, the club at White's is frequentlyalluded to; and in 'A Political History of the years 1756, 1757, and Satirical

1758, 1759, and 1760, in a seriesof one hundred and four Humourous the gaming and Entertaining Prints,'^ propensities Lord Anson, the circumnavigator, ho was of w
at the same
are
"

time a member of the club and of the government, keenly satirised.In Plate 7 he is represented

From an advertisementin the publicpapers,subsequently to referred by the author, would appear thatthiscompliment to the secretaries statewas it of ironical. is there statedthat a set of gentlemen characterand fortune It of had determinedto enforcethe acts of parliamentrespecting unlawful games of that play,whether with cardsor otherwise and thatthey were firmly j resolved the sanctuary at White's, nor the more sacredmansion of a secretary neither of state,should prevent their puttmg their design in execution. It is not
that cardsshould be a favorite seeingthat game with diplomatists, ^surprising that theirgrand theirregular vocation consists cutting and shufiling, in and is usually a capital by a trick. Talleyrand was won player both at cards game and protocols. Espartcro,when Tlcgcntof Spain,is said to have played at is the Portugueseminister, as cardswith the ministers he lay in bed. Cabral,

smallvolume of a square t form, likethat of a pocket dictionary.In the title,he work is saidto have Acorn in Ryder's Cour^, been "digested and publishedby M. Darly,at the Darly publishedanother Cranboum Alley,Leicester Fields." Subsequently, * displaying History, and Satirical volume, of the same size, entitled A Political the unhappy Influence ScotchPrcvalcncyin the years 1761,1762,and 1763 ; of humourous, transparent, being a regular seriesof ninety-six and entertauiing tain Key to every print.' These two volumes conWith an explanatory prints. that had the most numerous caricatures of series political and interesting in the Political liitherto w appeared in England. The caricatureshich appeared Register from 1767 to 1772 may be considered a continuationf the series as o publishedby Darly.
a

alsoa great card-player. ' in This collection f caricatures contained is o

182

PLAYING

CARDS.

Sea Lion, with the body of a man and the tafl a of fish in one hand he holds a dice-box,and in the other ;
as a
a

the one showing card ; and on the wall are two pictures, E.O. table, an and the other a table covered with money,

*^ In another with the inscription Blades and Whites/' scripti print he figuresas the Knave of Diamonds, with the in'^ at the top, Hie niger est;'' and at the bottom,

In the Key prefixedto the work the person "AcAPULCA." p pensity represented is thus denounced: "This caricatura'sroto gaming tells us at once how valuable he must be to
a shipwrecked state, and that he deserves (like to drunken pilotin a storm) be thrown overboard,to make for one of clearerbrains and more integrity." The room

threeotherKnaves are : Spades, inscribed" Monsr. Dupe/* seen and in the Key itis said that,by the flower-de-luces,
on
" was the ground, is expressed, how much thiscaricatura connected with our enemies, and was even a Dupe to them

Hearts, with a against the interests his country." of fox'shead, and inscribed"Monsr. Surecard:" in the Key " itis said that thischaracter infers,y the sliarpnessf the b o
that craftand subtilty which is natural to creatures kind, known by the name of a similar of Foxes, and is here Clubs, with a broken yoke in pointed out as a Knave."
nose,
^

his hand, and inscribed "Null Marriage;" the Key says, "this caricatura was esteemed the most atrociousKnave in

the pack, and the worst of the black sort." Another plate in the same displays series caricatures of the gamester's coat of arms. The shieldis charged with cards,dice,and dice-boxes, and is siurounded by a chain, from which hangs a labelinscribed"Claret." Supporters, two Knaves. Crest, a hand holding a dice-box. Motto,
In Plate 90, of which a copy is lieregiven, the principal performers figuring on the polinummi."
"

Co(jit Amor

v..

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

188

as tical stage in 1759 are represented coat cards.^ In the suitof Hearts, the King, Optimus, is George II ; Queen,

Britannia; Knave, Pitt. Diamonds, King, the King of Prussia;Queen, the City of London; Knave, PrinceFerdinand.
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 itis said that the labelsand charactershere
"

to represented are sufficient explain the meaning of the print, with the leastapplication." to work relating the authorshipof Junius's Letters,' the following account is given of the volume of caricatures in question. It is not, however, correct in every point;
a

In

for though it may be true that the earlierplateswere at first i privatelydistributed,t is certainthat subsequently they were of publicly sold. The firstcollection them, for publishedin a volume, consistedonly of the caricatures 1756-7 ; and appears to have been enlarged from time to time, by the addition of such plates as had been published separately in the preceding year. The edition of the firstvolume which I have consulted,containing the a from 1756 to 1760, is the fifth," proof that latterly plates distributed, those caricatures were whatever not privately Though Lord they might have been at the commencement. George Townshend sketches or
"

might have supplied the publisherwith have hints,^for some and of the subjects, even

In the same volume thereisanotherplateof the same kind, showing the coat cardsfor 1756. ' Author oftheLetters Junius, the proving of A Critical Enquiry regarding real Viscount Sackville. By George Coventry, them to have been written by Lord a Lord George Sackvillere on p. 34, 1825. Copies of two of the caricatures
given in this work. " At the foot of the title-page the second volume, forthe years 1761-2-3, of s there is a notice, that "sketches or liints,ent post-paid[tothe publisher],

willhave due honour shewn them."

184

PLAYING

CARDS.

it of suggested the publication the series, would be absurd to conclude that he was the designer of the whole. There to in the volume relating Lord George are only four

subjects

Sackville and they are among the most worthless of the ; to both with respect conceptionand design. series,

Soon after unfortunate isunderstandingat Minden, the m Lord George Townshend (whohad formerlybeen on friendly
"

terms with Lord George Sackville, at particularly the battle

joined the court party in publiclycensuring with of Dettingen) his conduct. He had an ingenioustiun for drawing,
Lord George and he even went so far as to caricature he flyingfrom Minden, which, with many others, privately circulatedamong his friends. This book of caricatures, bearing date from 1756 to 1762, is extremely curious. As
they were

distributed,hey are, of course, t seldom privately in to be met with. I never saw but one complete set, now E the possessionof W. Little,sq., of Richmond, who has

obligingly which is allowedme to copy the one in question, have Lord submitted to the reader's inspection. We

Orford's testimonyto prove thatthisbook was the production of Lord George Townshend. Lord Orford has described
the first the series, ol.ii, 68, 'A new speciesof this of v p. manufacture now first appeared,invented by Lord George
on caricatures 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, bothin thewrong! we are

Townshend

they

were

a paper was affixed,dvertising. Three Stone, -kingdoms to be let: inquire of Andrew broker,in Lincoln'sInn Fields.' The forms a whole series
'
"

On

the Royal Exchange

curiouscollection.Those

on

were Lord George Sackville

very severe." The example set by the club at White's appears to have been much more influential promoting in gaming than the

PROGRESS

OF

CARD-PLAYING.

186

denunciation an Act of Parliament to have been effective of in repressingit: the letter the act was, indeed,killing, of but the spiritof the legislators, displayed at White's, as
kept the game aHve. New clubs of the same kind," ^n principleof mutual insurance against informers,
"

the
were

in ; established the metropolis and even in the provinces, country gentlemen and tradesmen,becoming aware of the advantages of the socialcompact, formed themselvesinto
little clubs for the purpose of indulging in a quietgame at cards or dice. Card-playing about the same time, or a Uttle

later, was
rooms

greatly promoted by the establishment assemblyof

in country towns, where cock-fighting squires, fter a in attending the pitin the morning, might enjoy the evening the more refinedamusements of dancing and cards.^ The
followedby the lower ; was example set by the higher classes some and at a "merry night" in a Cumberland village, fifty as cards were as indispensable at an assize years since,

with the exceptionof the dressof the one the company and the arrangement of the rooms, to have seems at least, assembly, at the commencement displayedallthe essentials the other. of ballin the county town
:

"Ay, lad,sec

murry-neet we've had at Bleckell! The sound o* the fiddle yet ringsi*my ear; lasses, Aw reet clipt and heeledwere the lads and the
a

hussey was there: And momiie a cleverlish The bettermersort sat snug i'the parlour; sae soft ; r th* pantry the sweethearters cuttered i*the kitchen ; The dancersthey kicked up a stour i*the loft."" At lanter the caird-lakers sat
.

"

"Et decusobpatrium, etstudiosffi pubisin usus, fidibusque Construxeresacros chartis penates." 1 C. Anstey, ad C. W. Bampfylde, Epistola,777.

prepared doves. Stour, dust. Lanter, three-card Cuttered,cooed, like billing active.

by o Ballads the Cumberland Dialect, R. Anderson. An explanationf a in to the reader few terms in the above verses will render them more intelligible Cumberland dialect.Clipi who has the misfortuneto be unacquaintedwith the for the sport, like cocks for fightmg. Lishy sprightly, and heeled,
*
"

186

PLATING

CARDS.

The passionfor card-playing appears to have been extremely in part of the reign of George prevalent the earlier
In almost every town where there is an assemblyroom, traditionalnecdotes are handed down of certain a keen playen;keeping up the game fortwenty-four successive hours,till they were. up to theirknees in cards; and there
III.^

is scarcely county in England that has not a storyto tell a of two or three of itsold landed gentry being ruined at Even villageshave their cards by the Prince of Wales. farmers turning annals of gaming; of once substantial
horse-coursers and riding headlong to ruin
on a

leather

; quietlyoff at cards,staking plater of othersgoing more theircorn before it was housed ; and of certain desperate

losingtheirwhole substanceat a single match,, cock-fighters bam. hanging themselvesin their own and then straightway nately to The love of card-playing, the great horror of the inordito have infectedladies even pious,seems who were,
in other respects, irreproachable good wives, affectionate : mothers, teaching their children the Catechism, going regularly
"

Sundays, and taking the sacrament dearlyloving a snug privateparty every month; yet,alas! ; of four or fivetables, and immensely fond of Quadrille and by making but a poor atonement for their transgression
to church
on

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."^
never

loo. Caird-lakers, Lanter, or lant, common so card-players. Nortliumbcrland, to have been unknown to and appears

in Cumberland deservedlyhigh

" on The editor does not know the game of authority all sports and games : Ztf;/^."" cU's Life in London, 4th March, 1838. B * Some curiousparticulars somewhat exaggerated respecting great certain be found in * The Adventures Guinea.' card-players thisperiod of will of a * An Address to Persons to of Fashion relating Balls: with a few occasional Hints concerning Play-houses, Card-tablcs,c. By the Author of Pietas "
"
"

Oxonicnsis. Sixth edition,771. 1

PROGRESS

OP

CARD-PLATING.

187

A discourseagainst gaming, preached in 1793, by Dr. Thomas Rennell, Master of the Temple, seems to have made but no converts. The most much noise about the time,
,

passage in the work is the following, original wherein he asserts that the habit of card-playing renders the mind insensibleof Gospel evidence : in the present day, it may be observed in passing, that a similar effecthas been l The mind ascribed to the study of Oriel-collegeogic. of one immersed in cards soon becomes vacant, frivolous,
"

and captious. The habitsform a strangemixture of mock gravityand pert flippancy. The understanding,by a perpetual
attentionto a variety unmeaning combinations, of acquiresa kind of pride in thisbastard employment of the

faculty thought, which is so farfrom having any analogy of to the real exercise of reason, that we generallyfind a by t miserableeminence in it attainable the dullest,he most
ignorant,and most contemptible of mankind. The gamester, however, frequently mistakes this skill for general the acuteness, and from that conceit either totally rejects

Gospel evidence, ifpolitical professional or or considerations h temptible render thisindecentor inexpedient,e harbours allthatcona chicane,allthat petty sophistry, llthat creeping heart,and a contractedunderstanding, evasion, vsdthwhich a selfish heresy of the meets and embraces the prevailing individual of is likely no small reputationin his day, and whose memory to outlast Dr. Rennell's. " What is it that converts those
an

times in which we live."' The followingappears to be levelled at

designed by Providence to be the

into the
'

guardians

and

tors protec-

bane

and

curse

I will of their country ?

improved sagacityof are of infidelity varions. Before the Dr. Rennell had discovered that it owed its originto Popery, his wisdom had
"The
causes

lurking in the 'unmeaning combinations* a pack of artfully by the Rev. Controversy, of cards."" Reflectionson the Spiritof Religious 12mo, New York, 1808. Joseph Fletcher, Hexham, England,p. 192. of

detectedits source,

188
answer,

PLAYING

CARDS.

the

gaming

table.

The

reverses

here every moment

occurring unite beggared fortunes, mortified pride, directing their callous baseness, and inflamed appetites, mother joint operations to the destruction of that common
gave them birth. And here I wish to be rightly frugal, active, dignified poverty, understood that with a the discharge of public duty is perfectly compatible. which
"

highly reverenced in the best ages of Pagan antiquity,as the nurse of every great and useful is such a exertion; but as distant as Ught from darkness
Such
a

poverty

was

mendicity, poverty from that degraded, malevolent, abject the offspring vice,the organ of faction, and the parent of

and venality.'' of universalprostitution ing Dr. Parr, in his copy of this discourse,wrote the followto the present tail-piece hand, to have chapter: '*Dr. Rennell is said,with his own under the knocker of put a copy of this animated sermon note, which may
serve as
a

Mr. Fox's door in South street. I could wish the story But the eloquent preacher did not employ to be untrue.
his great talents in a sermon against Sabbath-breaking, though his illustrious patron, Mr. Pitt, had latelyfought
a

duel with Mr. Tiemev

on

Wimbledon

Common."

189

CHAPTER
OF

IV.
OP

THE

DIFFEItENT
MARKS

KINDS

CARDS

AND

THJE

OP

THE

SUITS.

in the preceding chaptersendeavoured to trace the origin of Playing Cards, and to show theirprogress from the time of their firstintroductioninto Europe, I

Having

now some account of the shall proceed to give collectively differentinds of cards,of the variousmarks that have been k

the suits, employed to distinguish and of the changes that they have undergone at different periods. Most authorswho have expressly writtenon the

subject,

in distinguishing two kinds of cards, namely, those agi'ee which they callTarocchi,or Tarots ; and those, consisting use throughout Europe. of four suits, which are in common

dispute,among the learned in these matters, which ofthosetwo kinds are ofthe greatest ntiquity; a Court de Gebehn considersthat Tarocchi cards were known
It is
a

of subject

to the ancient Egyptians ;^ and Mons. Duchesne is pleased to assume Tarocchi Cards, preserved that certain so-called

of the three packs painted for Charles VI, by Jacquemin Gringonneur, in 1393. Mons. Duchesne is also of opinion that these
one

in the Bibhotheque du Roi, belonged to

cardswere
'

the

same

as

those which

were

formerly called

it He says that the name is pure Egyptian, and tliat iscomposed of the word Tar, signifyingoad,way j and tho word Ro, Ros, Roo, which means r Royal Road. By such a road as have Tarog" Tarocchi-rtho : thus we royal thisMons. Court de Gebclinseems to have arrived much of his ''recondite at huitiemo livraison, Primitif, knowledge of tilings unknown."" See his Monde de son origme,oh.Ton Dissertations de oh melees : "Du jeu tarots, Ton traite explique ses alldgories", ou Ton faitvoir qu'ilest la isource de nos cartes et 1781. ^ jouer."" Tome i,pp. 365-94. 4to, Paris, modemes

190

PLATING

CARDS.

Naibi in Italy; and in support of it,he allegesseveral of which seem to him to be decisive the fact, authorities,
but which reallyprove nothing more than that Chartae and Naibi were synonymous.^ He produces no evidence
to show that the scriesof painted and engraved figures,

known either calledTarocchi,were originally usually or by that of cards; while from a by that name, passage Volaterranus, would it citedby Mons. Leber, from Raphael
now

were not appear that Tarocchi Cards, properlyso called, inventedtill owards the closeof the fifteenth t century; and from the same author we learn that a pack of such cards

cards,togetherwith of consisted the four suitsof common twenty-two symbolical figures, similar to those which are assumed by Mons. Duchesne to have been the original Tarocchi. Tarocchicards" calledTarots by the French are still used in severalparts of France, Germany, and Italy and an account of the manner ; of playing the game isto be found in the edition the 'Academie des Jeux,' of
"

by published Corbet,Paris,1814. Mons. Duchesne calls guishes thisgame Tarocchino,and distinitfrom that playedwith the old seriesof figures,
Tarocchi but ; which he supposesto have been the original so far from there being any evidence to show that these figuresere at their first ntroductionnown eitherby the i w k name of Tarocchior of Cards,there seems greaterreason to concludethattheyhave only obtained thisname in comparatively
recent times,in consequ"}ncef o
"

some

of them being

"Uno dcrniJjre do citation clicvra ddmontrcrquo Ics cartesct icsnaibi a bicnlamemo do sent ; clioso lo Traitddo Tb^ologic SaintAntoinc,dvcquo do Florence en 1457, porte : Et idem dans de chariis j ct encore videtur
vel naibis ouvrage: Defadoribus venditoribus et alearum et iaxillarumet chartarum et naiborum"~-Vr6ciaHistorique sur Explicatif les et Cartesh jouer, to the specimens of cards the title prefixed of
mcme
'

un

autre endroitdu

publishedunder Jeux de Cartes Tarotsct dc Cartes Numdralcs, du xiv"" au xvm"* by the Society Bibliophiles Franjais. Imperial4to, Paris,1844. of

Si^cle,*

DIPPERENT

KINDS.

191

cards,at a game called used in combination with common Tarocchi, wliichwas also the name given to the cardswith which it was played. The earliest writerswho mention

kind of cards,always speak of them as consisting four suits, Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money, of togetherwith a certain number of other cards,representing and emblematical figures. variouscharacters Tarocchi as
a
"

"

A pack of Tarots,^ at present used in France, correas sponds in every particular Tarocchiby with those called writersof the sixteenth century. It consistsf scvcnty-cight o is, four suitsof numeral cards, of cards; that and twentytwo emblematic cards, calledAtous.^ The marks

of the

usuallySwords, Cups, Batons, and Money ; and ten of which are "pips" of cards, each suitconsists fourteen or low cards and the other four are coat cards, namely.
suits are
"

King, Queen, Chevalier, and Valet. Of the Atous, twentyfrom 1 to 21 ; that which one are numbered consecutively is not numbered is calledthe Fou, the Clown or BujBFoon, " and in playing the game is usuallydesignated Mat." but augments that The Fou has of itself positive no value, The of any of the other Atous to which itmay be joined.
"

"

: otherAtous are numbered and named as follows or 1. The Bateleur, Juggler;called alsoPagad. 2. Juno.

The word Tarot has been supposed to be a corruption Taroiichi^Cards of are lozenge-wise, witfiIrttlc spots, on the back with lines and crossing marked to have been formerly CartesTarot^es; and inFrance card-makersappear called " thatitwas from these lignesfirett^es Tarcoticrs.Mcncstricrconceives called He en forme de rezeuil"cards were and Cartes Tarautees. named Tarcuits^ un a ^^d?^," signifies and dechct, properly hole, says that TarG.-^/aut, Tare he alsoderives Tariff, ho derives from the Greek npetv, to bore. From it dutieson goods. Mons. Duchesne says that a ruled book for enteringthe encore dont ik v"Jrit6 ignorons nous Tarot " vicnten effet Tltalien arrochio, t de la signification." Atous : "Ces " Mons. Duchesne thus accounts for those cards being called h toute autre, et n*ap^ a s cartessont dites tutti, tons, c'cst-^dire up6rieures the French Jtout has In other games at cards, a aucune
*

frou;

partenant the same meaning

as

coulcur." the English Trump,

192

PLAYING

CARDS.

8. The Empress.^ 4. The Emperor. 5. Jupiter.6. L'Amou. 9. 7.The Chariot. 8. Justice. The Capuchin,called reux. also

the Hermit. 10. The Wheel of Fortune. 11. Fortitude. 12. Lc Pcndu" a man suspended, head downwards, by leg. 13. Death. 14. Temperance. 15. The Devil. one

Maison-Dieu, or Hospital a tower struck by 19. The Sun. lightning. 17. The Stars. 18. The Moon.
16. The
"

20. The Last Judgment.

fiveare thesethe first distinguished grands atous. Seven cards are alsoespecially or Atous-tarotsthese are the End of the World, as Tarots, ; the Buflbon,the Bateleur, and the four Kings.^

21. The End of the World." Of petita atom, and the lastfive called

According to Cicognara,3the inventor of the game of Tarocchino, or Tarots, above described, was an Italian, as
"

"

who residedat Bologna, prior to the year 1419 ; and the There : account which he gives is to the following eflect
"

ispreservedin the Fibbia family, one of the most ancient of and illustrious that city,a portrait Francis Fibbia, of Princeof Pisa, who sought refuge at Bologna, about the commencement which he is of the fifteenth century, ^in
"
"

holding in his right hand represented

*

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 Tarocchi. In a similar L'Amoureux issupposed to have been manner, original for for substituted Apollo;theChariot Mars; the Capuchin or Hermit forSaturn; Wheel of Fortune forAstrology; and Le Pendu for Prudence. the " The figures represented. of two or three of the Atous are sometimes differently In a pack now before me, inscribed "Cartes des Suisses," manufactured in "Le 'Spagnol, at Brussels, No. 2, instead Juno, there is a figureinscribed of Capitano Eracasse;** in No. 5, Bacchus suppliesthe place of Jupiter; and i stead No. 16, which is inscribed"La Eoudre," shows a tree struck by lightning, ntower. In this set,the Pou is numbered 22. Tarots are generally fourthlonger, little about and a and are usually wider than English cards, coarsely coloured. * Memorie spcttantiUa storia deUa Calcografia, dalconteLeopold Cicognara. a 8vo, Prata, 1831." Cited m Duchesne's Precis Historique sur les Cartes ^ to jouer, prefixed the specimensof playing cards publishedby the Soci^t^des F Bibliophilesranpais.

of
a

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

193

whileothersappear lyingon 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 infonns us that inscriptiont the bottom of the pictiu'c a Francis Fibbia,who died in 1419, had obtained, the as from the Beformers the city, inventor Tarocchino, the of of of of privilege placinghis own shield arms on the Queen of

Batons, and that of his wife,who on family, the Queen of Money ;

"

was
"

of the Bentivoglio distinction," observes

does not excludethe Mons. Duchesne, which nevertheless that FrancisFibbia,Commander-in-chief the of supposition had rendered more importantservices Bolognese forces, to

hiscountrymen than teaching them to play at Tarocchino." it Supposing Cicognara's account to be correct, yet proves
of nothing with respect to the comparative antiquity the kinds of cardswhich compose the pack forthe game of two Tarocchino, Tarots. Mons. Duchesne,however,having or

called of assumed that the old series emblematic figures difficulty the in no sees Tarocchicards were the oldest, concurs matter, but unhesitatingly with Cicognara in
the invention of Tarocchino to FrancisFibbia, ascribing without inquiring whether Fibbia had merely combined into one pack two kinds of cards abeady well known, or deviser the foursuits which conof whether he was the ftrst

the most importantportionof the pack, and which stitute give to the game all its spirit. Seeing that Fibbia w^as honoured for his invention by the Reforming magistracy
a where both card-playing nd the manufacture on c of cards appear to have been prettyextensivelyarried would be, that about 1423, the most probableconclusion he had deserved well in theiropinion, not from having innocentand converted by new combinationsa previously one, but in amusing game into a hazardous and exciting Tarocchi consequence of his having shuffleda few moral

of Bologna,
"

"

13

194

PLAYING

CARDS.

into the old pack of numeral cards of four suits, whether Hearts, of Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money, or of Bells, it Leaves, and Acorns. In support of thisconclusion, may furtherbe observed,that though the manufacture of cards was carried on both in Italy and Germany, extensively Tarocchi cards of that beforethe year 1450, no so-called b which can fairly e supposed period have been discovered
to have been intended, eitherfrom theirsize or execution,
on of purposes playj while, the contrary, therearc in existenceeveral s specimensof numeral cards or c of four suits, itherstencilled engraved on wood, and

for the common

evidently f a cheap manufacture,for common o than 1450. not later

use,

of a date

The kind of game for which the emblematic figures covered. usuallycalledTarocchi cards were used, remains to be dishazarded a Mons. Duchesne has,indeed,

conjecture

or which subject, is equallyincapableof refutation to he of proof. "The number of players," says, "necessary on

the

form

be party, would scarcely limitedto two, and probably to might vary from three to twelve, or rather from tlu*ee in eiglit; and the manner of playing might simply consist
a

layingdown of such of the figures as, acthe appropriate cording to an order agreed upon, might belong to the suit of the card first played. The holder of certainprivileged cards would have doubtless some advantage; additional
and we may furthersuppose that each player being obliged, in turn, to lay down a card draAvn at random, striking contrasts
a

from unexpected combinations would afford resulting to This suppositionwould seem of subjectamusement.

' agi'ce with the subjecta book entitled Les Cartes Parof lantes,'^ printed at Venice, in 1545; each card there has

was Pietro Aretine. A second edition written by the notorious in 1589, and a thirdin 1651. The title the lastis *Le Carte published of Parlanti Dialogo di Partenio Etiro; [the ; nel anagriim of Pietro Aretine] quale sitrattadel Giuoco con morahtn piaccvolc.*

"

This book

was

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

195

or more or less conferredon it an interpretation allusion, to ingenious,applicable the figurewhich it represents:thus in in the Pope represents fidelity the game and sincerity the player;the Emperor, the laws of the game; the Valets,

the service attached to the game; the Swords, the death of despairinggamesters; the Batons, the punishment of those who cheat ; Money, the sustenance of play ; and the Cups, the drink over which the playerssettle disputes." theu*

Mons. Duchesne'sconjecture be saidto be supcan scarcely ported by the conceitsof Aretine; who, moreover, in the whole course of hisbook, speaks of cards as a hazardous,
game, at which both money and creditmight be exciting lost while Mons. Duchesne asserts that the game played ;

merely one of amusement, with Tarocchi was originally devisedto instruct children under the semblance of play. known specimens of what are called Tarocchi The earliest
cards are those preserved in the Bibliothequedu Roi, at Paris,and which are supposed by Mons. Duchesne to have

portion of one of the three packs painted for the amusement of CharlesVI, in 1393.* They formerlybelonged to Mons. de Gaignieres, children who had been governor to the grandformed
a

of Louis XIV, and who bequeathed them, together with his entire collection f prints and drawings, to the o king,in 1 7 1 1 Those cardsappear to have been seen in the
.

possession Mons.de Gaignieresby the Abbe de Longuerue;' of

Though Mons. Duchesne generallyspeaks of those cards as if it had been painted by Jacquemin Gringoimeur, we positively ascertainedthat they were " Mais le fait de leur in followingsalvo, the Precis Historique: yet findIhe incertaines ; haute destination I'usaged'un roi, repose que sur des conjectures ne a iin heurcux hasard aura favorisd peutpar esp^rons qu'un jour quelque antiquaire
"

doutcs en certitude." " Tlie ; Abbe's notice of those cards is by no means precise and when he itis evidentthat he speaks of the four monarchies contending with each other, had either an imperfect recollection them, or that he supposed some old of J'ai vu to four suits, have belonged to the same series."-" numeral cards,of telles ^toitcomplet) ne de qu*elles chez M. de Ganieres un jeu cartes (je saiss'il
etre le bonheur de changer
nos

196

PLAYING

CARDS.

who thus mentions them in his and alsoby Dr. Martin Lister, '* I waited upon to accomit of his journey Paris,in 1C98 :

Mons. Guanieres [de the Abbot Droine to visit Gaignicres] at his lodgings in the Hostel de Guise. One toy I took
of noticeof,which was a collection playing cards for 300 three times bigger than what are years. The oldestwere used, extremely well limned and illuminatedwith gilt borders,and the pasteboard thick and firm ; but therewas
now

not

complete set of them." The follomng particulars respecting those cards arc derivedfrom Mons. Duchesne's descriptionof them chiefly
a

in his 'Observations sur lesCartes a be of them, and there can scarcely formed part of a set of what are

jouer," publishedin the

are

f 'AnnuaireHistorique'orthe year 1837. There

a

seventeen

doubt of theirhaving called Tarocchi cards,

which, when complete,consisted fifty. They are painted of i on paper,in the manner of illuminationsn old manuscripts,

gold ground, which is in other parts marked with f ornamental lines,ormed by means of pointsshghtlypricked intothe composition upon which the gildingislaid. They
on
a
are

surrounded by
an

is also seen
means

border of silver gilding,in which there by manner, ornament, formed in the same
a

of points,representing a kind of scrollor twisted riband. Some parts of the embroidery on the vestments of figures are heightened with gold, while the the different are weapons and armour which, like covered with silver, that on the borders,has for the most part become oxydizcd tlu-oughtime. There is no inscription, etter,or number, l n to indicate in which they were to be arranged. the manner Mons. Leber agreeswith Mons. Duchesne in ascribing them
^toicnt dans Icuroriglnc. H y narchies, avoitun papc, dcs cmpcrcurs, Icsquatre moqui combattoicnt Icsuns centre lesautres : ce qui a donnd naissance a nos quatre coulcurs. Elles6toientlongucs de 7 a 8 pouces. C'cst en Italic a dans Ic XIV* sicele." Longueruana, que ccttc bcUc invention prisnaissance i torn.',page 107.
"

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

197

French artist the time of CharlesVI, and even seems of inchned to conclude that they might have been intended for the amusement of that lunaticking. Looking at those
to
a

cards,however, as they appear in the fac-similes pubUshed by the Societyof Bibhophiles Fran^ais,I should rather take
them to be the work of an ItaUan artist,nd be inclined a to conclude, as well from the general styleof the dra\\ing as from the costume, that they were not of an earher date
than 1425.

Duchesne's enumeration of the seventeen cards which he supposes to have been executed by Gringonneur : the names in capitals are those which ItalianTarocchi cards,with series of so-called which he considers them to correspond. 1. Le Fou the Buffoon. This figure is found in the
occur

The following is Mons.

in

"

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 inscribedMisero the Squire.

"

i. vi. viiii.

2. LEcuyer

"

Chevalier

3. L'Empereur

the Emperor. Pope.

"

Imperator
x.

4. Le Fape'-the 5. Zes Amour

eux

Papa

the Lovers. Young

subject

courting,while two winged Cupids are Mons. Duchesne gravely queries whether this at them. the does not represent Apollo and Diana killing

and women discharging arrows

men

childrenof Niobe, and whether itought not to be considered It has, however, as as corresponding with Apollo xx. little to the story of Niobe as it has to Apollo, as relation

figuredin the engraving referred to. 0. La Fortune Fortune. This figure,standing on a circlewhich represents the world, holds a globe in one hand, and in the other a sceptre. Mons. Duchesne considers that it corresponds with that named Astrologia, in the series of ItaUan engravings, and there erroneously
"

198

PLATING

CARDS.

Bartsch,itseems numbered xxxviiii, insteadof xxviiii. had not observed thiserror. 7. La Temperance Temperance. Temperancia xxxiiii.
"
"

8. La i"brc^" Fortitude. Fortbzza xxxvi. Justicia xxxvii. 9. La Jttstice ^Justice. Luna xxxxi. 10. La Lime the Moon.
"

"

11. Z^ /Sbto7"the Sun. Sol xxxxiiii. 12. Le Char the Chariot. The
"

here subject is a

figure

standingon a kind of triumphalcar, and having in his righthand a battle-axe. Mons. Duchesne says that thissubject c certainly orresponds with Marte xxxxv. 13. L'Ermite the Hermit. This figure is supposed to

in armour,

"

correspondwith that named Saturno xxxxvii. figures have The four following subjects no corresponding in the scries old Italianengravings, of supposed by Mons, ever, Duchesne and othersto be Tarocchi cards : they are, howto be found among

the

*'

Atous*'of the modern game

one

of Tarots. 14. Le Pendu downwards.

"

man

hanging from

leg, head

Court de Gebelin,speaking of this figure as itis seen in a modem pack of Tarots, with his conjectures, thatthe cardusual absurdity, sented repremaker had erroneously

turning it the contrary way, he Eces in it an emblem standing of Prudence," to witj a man upon one foot,and sagelydeliberating where he has to
placethe other. The figure of Le Pendu, even when thus likea capering opera-dancer, than a viewed,is much more prudent philosopher cautiouslyickinghissteps; and bears p the slightestesemblance to the figureof Prudence, in not r the series old engravings,calledTarocchi cards. of 15. Za Mort Death.
"
"

it upside down.

On

IG. La

Maison-Dieu

"

^The
"

Hospital. A tower struck

by lightning.
17. Le Jugement dernier The lastJudgment.

Old Painted

Cards

La Ju3tico/ ascribed to Qringonneur.-'

Ip. 108.)

sX^^"-^^-^^^0::XX"CXXX!"::

Old Painted

Cards

ascribed

to

Gringonneur"
2

'

La

Lune.'

(p. 191)

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

199

in lithography, and by hand after drawings,are the original c carefullyoloured given in the Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de CartesNumcrales,'
engraved subjects,
'

These seventeen

Fran9ais, 1844. published by the Society of Bibliophiles The two annexed cuts willafford some idea of the style of in which the ornaments are the drawing, and of the manner prickedinto the gold ground. They are of the same sizeas

the originals the one isthat named Justice, No. 9, and the ; other that named La Lune, No. 10, in the precedingenumeration.

It may be here observedthat the latter totally is from that named Luna xxxxi, in the series old different of Italianengravings, with which it is supposed by Mons.
Duchesne to correspond: the only figure common to both is that of a crescent moon. to The drawing indeed seems be an emblem of Astrology, engravings, which, in the Italian
is represented by
head
a crown

winged female figure,having hand of stars,and holding in her left

a

on
a

her

book,

and in her right a diviningrod. The complete seriesof old Italian engravings,known to of Tarocchi cards,consists collectorsf prints by the name o by divided into fiveclassesdistinguished the of fifty pieces,

first iveletters the alphabet, B, C, D, E, but numbered A, f of from 1 to 50, commencing with the class consecutively is engraved its marked E. At the foot of each

subject

name and itsnumber, of itsclass, ; together with the letter Arabic numerals, the which is given both in Roman and Roman being placed immediately after the name, and the letter the Arabic on the extreme right. The distinctive of letters that classis on the left. Zani^ has conjectured the Atutto, might have been intended for abbreviations of Battoni, Coppe, Denari, and Espadone, Atous, Batons,
"

"

"

rame

i dell* ncisionen i e dell* Matcriali origine de'progrcssi aliastoria per servirc da Pictro Zani. 8vo, Parma, 1802. Tlieauthor'sobservations e in Icgno,col. 78-84,and pp. 149-93. to relating cards arc to be found at pp.

200

PLAYING

CARDS.

and Swords. Spadone, however, and not for swords ; but as Espadone, is the proper Italianname Mons. Duchesne in the Venetian dialect, are the names appears inclinedto allow that the form Espadone might

Cups, Money,

have been admitted intoit at that period. That the letters, however, had no such meaning, and that they were merely
to be proved seems used to mark the order of each class, exeby the factthat in another set of the same cuted subjects, period,the numeral 5 is substituted about the same Even if Zani*s suppositionwere correct, for the letter e.

only strengthen the conclusion that calledTarocchi cards originatedin an attempt bine,under new of emblems, the principles an character. which had acquired a disreputable

it would

those
to

so-

recom-

old game Whatever

the game might have been, it has long become obsolete ; for supposing it to have been cognate and the only reason with that of cards,is grounded on the fact that a certain number of the characters those so-calledTarocchi cards of
Atous in the pack of Tarocchi or Tarots, previously described.
occur
as

those old Italian engravings there are two series known to amateurs, agreeing in the i but differing n

Of

subjects,

theirstyleof 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

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,thereis no date ; and the figure which there represents Arithmetic,
a

inscribedon

appears to be counting money.

'

Mons. Duchesne This series

engraved subjects in the sixteenth

There

was

also a scriesof the

same

century. '"' Baitsch, Pcintrc-Gravcur, Svo, Vienna, 1812." His noticesof old cards are to be found in vol.x, pp. 70-120; and vol.xiii,p. 120-38. p

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

201

executed about 1470; and some writershave were supposed that the subjects engraved by Tomaso Finiguerra. Zani, however, is inclined believe to that they
thinks
was

them to a engraved at Padua ; while Otley ascribes Florentineartist. Seeing, however, that the names are in
were

the Venetian dialect, on and that authorities the subject of Italianengraving disagree with respectto them, I am old inclined to suppose, without any regard to their style of execution, that they were either engraved by a Venetian or artist, for the Venetian market. It has also been supposed,

but erroneously, designed by Andrea that they were Mantegna, to whom a number of other thingsof a similar kind have, with equal probability, been ascribed; and
amongst the dealersin old engravings, at Paris, they are commonly known as Cartes de Baldini. Both the originals ; and the copiesare of great rarity and though several single are to be found in the possession of amateurs, it is in than four collections Europe, national,that have either the one series
more

subjects

if questionable therebe

In the BritishMuseum thereis a of and also forty-five the complete seriesof the originals, j, are : Misero copies; the fivepieceswanting in the latter
Fameio
II,

whether privateor or the other complete.

Imperador
'

villi,

Primo

Mobile

xxxxviiii,

There is alsoa complete series and Prima Causa xxxxx. in of the originals, 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-similesof two, Papa x and Rhetorica xxiii, are alsogiven by Singer in his Researches into the
"

"

their size about nine inches and three quartershigh,by about fourincheswide," Mr. Singer considers as well as from other circumstances, that they were not intended for any game analogous to that
"

History of Playing Cards.' From

of cards,properly so called. Mons. Leber considers them Cartes de Fantaisic," to have been merely and observes
*'

202

PLAYING

CARDS.

so that engraved on copper,when the subjectsdelicately invention of the art was still recent, could scarcelyhave been intended to receivethe colouring requiredforthe completion of a pack of cards.^ It,however, may be observed

to that colour is not essential a pack of playing cards; and intended that several evidently packs of cards of four suits, delicately for play,without being coloured, were engraved
on

century. copper,beforethe end of the fifteenth Even Mons. Duchesne, while contending that those fifty

Tarocchicards,admits that they old engravingswere really bear no relation any games played with numeral cards, to and the regulations which, accordingto the number of players, of each game, always consistof a number which is divisible four; for instance, by 20 for Bouillotte 28 for ;

Brclan; 32 for Piquet, and severalother games ; 36 for Trappola; 40 forOmbre; 48 for Reversis; 52 for Lans-. quenet,and several other games; 96 for Comet; 104 for
Lottery; 312 forTrente-et-un and 78 for Tarots. " The ; ancient Tarocchi cards," he says, "have not then been

intendedforgames of calculation but [jeux mathematiques], for solely an instructive of game. In thisgame, consisting the planets, representing the celestialystem ; the seven virtues s which constitute basis of all morality; the sciences, which man alone is capableof acquuing, and the knowledge of which raises him above allother animals; the Muses, whose cultivation
seven so yields many charms to life finally, ; ditions severalof the conin from misery, of life which man may be placed, the most painfulof all, that of the most elevated, to the
" "

five classes, we

find the

fait Singer de rcmarqucr,avcc raison, qu*on n'a pas d'cxcmple cartesi jouer dimensions, d'aussi grundcs sans n*y qu'il a icidcs flgurcs piecesnumerales,et les d'ailleurs, ue sout pas ceux dcs tarots ordinaires.U aurait que, pu snjcts tant dc wins, que les avcc que dcs gravurcs c\6cni6c3 ajouter ciiefs-d'ccuvr d'un art nouveau dont lepremiermdrite s'appr^ciait labeautede Tempreinte, par a reiiluniinurc eutrc essentieliement dans la n*ont pu ctrc destines reccvoir qui du de Historiques sur lesCartes a jouer,18. confection jcu cartes.""lltudcs p.

DIFifERENT

KINDS.

203

complete seriesof those old engravings consistsof fifty pieces,as has been previously observed,named and numbered as follows:
E. [Class
"

Sovereign Pontificate."^A

The Conditions

^ ofLife

Observationssur leaCartes a jouer. in the Boman characters nd in a iserroneously This numbered, both subject observed. the cyphers,as has been previously
"

"

204

PLAYING

CARDS.

B. [Class

"

The

Virtues^
I -SI-

"B.| "B'l "B-l "B-l "B-l "B-l "B| "B-l "B| "B|

"Iliaco XXXI"CiiRONico'XXXir "CosMico -xxxiii"Temperancia XXXIIII"Prvdencia -XXXV-

"FoiiTEZA'XXXVI"jusTiciA-xxxvn"CiiAKiTA -xxxYm"speranza xxxvim"Eede -XXXX-

....4'32I-sa|-S^I-asI'SGI-srI-38I-soI"40-

A. [Class

"

The Celestial System^

Having

now

given such

an

account of the so-called

Tarocchi as cards, may enable the reader to determine for b himself, oth Avithrespect to theiroriginaluse, and their
to proceed to relation playing cards proper, I shallnow notice some of of the principal varieties numeral cards; that is, cards consisting four suits, taining of of and each suitcon-

certain immber of coat cards,togetherwith eight having their numeral value designated or ten lower cards, by the marks of the suitto which they belong. The oldest specimens of undoubted playing cards are
a
or stencilled, engraved on wood ; and of a date which, either lookingat the style their the of execution, drawing, and the

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

205

cards in the print-room of the BritishMuseum, preserved and describedat page 89. In these the coat cards previously appear to have been a King, a Chevalier, and a Fante,
The marks of without any Queen. three of the suitsare Hearts, Bells, and Acorns ; the mark as the specimens of the fourth suit does not occur, preserved are far short of a complete pack, but itishighly
or

b cannot fairly e supposed to be later costume of the figures, Amongst the earliest the stencilled are than 1440.

Footman,

Knave

"

"

probable that it was Leaves, calledGriin 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. Stukeleywere given found in to him by Thomas RawUnson, Esq.^ They were of an old book, supposed to be an editionof Claudian, printed before the year 1500, and one or two leavesof an editionof the Adagia of Erasmus were interspersed the
cover
"

"

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, The numeral value of the lower Chevalier,and Knave.
by a repetition cards,from the Deuce to the Ten, is indicated As as of the marks of the suits, in modern cards. there is no Ace, this pack, supposing it to be complete, cards. These cards are rudely would consist forty-eight of coloured, and of smaller size than those in the British displaying Museum. On the Deuce of every suitis a shield,
a what is supposed to be the card-maker's arms, namely, likea hammer, kind of pick-axe, with one of the ends blunt

in by AntiquarianSoeiety Dr. Stukeley, Tlicsecardswere exhibited tlic to decease,they 1703. They were purchasedin 1770, by Mr. Tutet,and on liis were bouglitby Mr. Gough. In 1810 they were in the possessionof Mr.
'

Triphook, tlie bookseller.

206
a

riiAYlNO

CARDS.

Dr. Stukeley's mallet,in saltire.Fac-similes of Researches. cards are given in Singer's

and

As the distinctive marks of the suitson the oldestcards Leaves, and Acorns, it may in existenceare Hearts,Bells,
reasonablybe supposed that these marks earlya period as any of the others which
were

used at
on

as

cards of a later date, but yet executed before the close of the fifteenth century. Next to these in point of antiquity, arc Swords, Cups, Batons, and perhaps of as earlya date, and Money, which would appear to have been the most
occur
common

earlyItalian cards,and to have been almost exclusively adopted in Spain. For the sake of distinction,n future, cards with these marks will be i to referred as Spanish cards,as in Spain the suits are still

marks

on

distinguished Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money ; while by cards having Hearts, Bells,Leaves, and Acorns, will be to referred as German cards, as such appear to have been
the kind most generally used in Germany.
on
"

more what were particularly called in the sixteenth P century, Cccur,Trefle,ique, and Carreau,
"

Of the marks French cards,"

or

as

we

"two

callthem, Hearts, Clubs,Spades, and Diamonds, t of them at least, he Cocur and the Pique, arc evidently derivedfrom the Heart and the Leaf of the earlier

pack, while there is good reason to believethat the form of ^ the Trefle was copied from that of the Acorn. The mark now called in the Ttejle,France, was formerly

Mons. Duchesne expresses liimsclf this on as follows: "Les enseignes subject, Icscouleursont 6prouvd beaucoup de employees pour : variationscceur, carreau, treflect pique sont les plus rdpanducs ; mais, en Italic ct en Espagne, ellcs designeespar cmjieSy deniers,batons, sont encore En Allemagne on dit
epces. rougcygreloUy glands et vert. Quclquefois, conservant les coeurs, les deniers en ont etc remplacespar dcs grclots puis des glands tiennentlieudes treflcs, des ; et

feuillese Hcrre rcmplaccnt les d piques,dont clles ont la forme."" Observations

sur

lesCartesu

joucr.

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

207

to the Fleur. Peignot, referring a poem entitled "La Magdaleine auDesert de la Sainte-Baume en Provence," printed at Lyons, in 1668, says : "We learn from this

known

as

was poem that,in 1668, the word Trefie not yet in use, as the designation of one of the suitsof cards; that suit
was

then calledFleura, 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 suitsof French cards
of Cori, appear to have been known in Italyby the names Quadri, Fiori,and Cappari,* as we learn from his Carte
'

f Parlanti,'irst printed in 1545, in which a Paduan cardwith moral and entertaining, maker holds a long dialogue, his cards :

I me, Paduan, As French cardsare used in Italy, tell pray, what, amongst that people,may be the signification of Capers ? [Cappari.]
**

Cards, Their piquancy whets the appetiteof tavemhauiiters. Paduan, And the Diamonds ?

[Quadri.]

The firmness of the player. (7"rd". Pflj^ij^^;?. the Hearts ? [Cori.] And Cards, Inclinationo cheat in play. t
And the Flowers ? [Fiori.] Cards. The pleasureof saying a good thing."' The inventionof cards with these marks, and having a as Queen for the second coat card,insteadof a male figure, in the Spanish and German cards,has been claimed by the
Paduan.

Pique was called Mons. Duchesne says that the mark which the Erench call Capprel in Italy, from itsresemblance to the fruitof the Caper." PrecisHisNumcrales, p. 11. torique, to prefixed Jeux de Cartes Tarots ct * 1651. Carte Parlauti, 57, edit. p.
"

208

PLAYING

CARDS.

has been consideredby some and thissubstitution French writersas peculiarly haracteristic the gallantry of c to have been the of theirnation. The French also appear names first of historical who gave to their coat cards the and the marks of the suits, personages. From those names, Pcre Daniel has been enabled to discover the origin and

French

he supposes to have meaning of the game of Piquet, which been devised about 1430, in the reign of Charles VII; kind admitting, however, that Playing Cards of another date,but yet consideringeven these were of a much earlier
to have been of French invention.

In the time of Pere Daniel, the coat cards were follows :

named

as

These

names,

which appear to have been given to the

French coat cards,at an earlyperiod,were not unifonnly retained; in the time of Henry IV, the Kings were Solomon, Augustus, Clovis, and Constantino; and the

Queens,Ehzabcth,Dido, Clotilde, ''Pantalisea;" while and

theValetshad no proper names, from their office, and all the
costume of the period.
"

merely designated charactersappeared in the

but
were

In the reign of Louis XIV, how-

name in of Lancelotdid not reallyappear on the Valet of Trcfle, the time of Pere Daniel; but from a passage in Daneau's 'Liber de AJea, ou Breve de remontrance sur Icsjeux Cartes ct de Dez/ printed in 1579, he concluded, in this instance, correctly," that Lancelot was the old name. By a "and, 1G19, the card-makers royalordinanceof of France were required to put their devicesupon the Valet of Trcfle; names and and, from this circumstance,he

The

thatthe name considers

of Lancelot was

omitted.

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

209
were

ever,

the former

names

and

an

antique costume

restored. According to Pere Daniel'sreading of the cards, which isof the same ingeniouscharacter that of the as soldierho w is saidto have used his pack as a Manual of Devotions,^ the Ace is the Latin As, a piece of money, which also si"y. w nifiesealth; and as money is the sinews of war, the Ace has for this reason the precedence at Piquet. The Trefle,
clover plant,which abounds in the meadows of France, denotesthat a generalought always to encamp his army in a placewhere he may obtainforage forhiscavahy. Piques
or

and Carreaux signify magazinesof 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

from theirheads being squared [carre]. Ca3m^, called Hearts, signified courage of the commanders and the the
"
"

^7

soldiers. David, Alexander, Caesar,and Charlemagne are at the head of the four suits at Piquet,because troops,hovvever
brave and yet require prudent and experienced The Queens are, Argine, for Trefle;Rachel, for
numerous,

""^"

^
T
*

.leaders. Carreau;Pallas, orPique; and Judith, Coeur.In Argine, for f

V J

Pere Daniel findsthe anagram of Regina, and having made discovery, is enabled to determine that this he thiscapital

; Queen

Mary of Anjou, wife of CharlesVII. Rachel representsthe fairAgnes Sorel, mistressof CharlesVII; is Pallas but an emblem ofJoan and the chasteand warlike
was

the of Arc. Judith is not the Jewish heroinewho cut ofi* head of Holofemes, but the Empress Judith,wife of Louis

le Debonnaire; but

this Judith is merely a representative VI. In David wife of Charles of Isabelof Bavaria,
even

P The Perpetual Almanac, or a Gentleman Soldier*srayer-book, shewing how one Kichard Middleton was taken before the Mayor of the cityhe was in for using cardsin church,duringDivine Service.*
"
*

14

210

PLAYING

CARDS.

typification Charles VII, in consequence of u of having been loiif.: conformityin theirdestinies David, after by at length obtained thr persecuted Saul,hisfather-in-law, was troubled crown ; but, in the midst of his prosperity, Charles VII, afte] with the revoltof his son Absalom : and
he
sees
a

disinheritedand proscribed by his fathei Charles VI, or rather by Isabel of Bavaria, glorious!} years of his hT( reconquered his kingdom ; but the latter
having been
"
"

spirit and wickec) rendered unhappy by the restless characterof his son, Louis XL
were

In his accoimt of the Valets, native Pere Daniel is not so imagiin the explicationof the double and triple as

characterswhich he sees represented by the Kings anc: Queens. La Hire is the famous Stephen de Vignoles La Hire, a devoted adherent of Charles VII sumamed wliileHector 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 theirown ^ as characters, heroes of romance. propei

It would appear to be the opinion of Mons. DuchesnC; covered, that the oldestFrench Piquet cards that have been dis-

Mons. Ilenin.. who found them in the cover of an old book. Mons. Heuin having disposed of them to Messrs. Colnaghi, the wellare

those formerly belonging to

knowTi printsellers, London, they were of purchased of the latter the Bibliothequedu Roi. for They are engraved on wood, and coloured; and in the table of contents prefixed
d" Daniel,* Mc^moirc snr rOriginedu jeu Piquet,trouv6 dans I'histoire dc France, sous le rbgne de Charles VII/. for printedin the Journalde Trdvoux, 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 that the French gratuitous conceits. It would seem the inventionof Piquet as a point consider the of national honour, and that to native author who should callitin question,would render himself liable fc "suspicion of incivism."
"
.

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

211

i to the * Jeux de Tarots et de Cartes Numerales/t is as-! they were executed about 1425.^ But whatever may serted

be their date,they are not, in my opinion,of so early a* period as eitherthe old uncoloured cards,preserved in the] British Museum, previouslydescribedat page 88 ; or as
those formerly belonging to Dr. Stukeley.

I indeed ques-'

if they be reallyolder than the coloured Frenchi in the British Museum, and cards, the four Valets, now account willbe found in a subsequent page. ; of which some tion much 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
two
rows,

piece of paper ; and they are of fiveeach, in the following order :

one

placed in ;
;
\

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 n Gothic letters. On the Valet of Trefle i
"

j while the King is named Faut-sou, Penniless and the Queen, Tromperie, Deceit. The King ' ; Coursube, which in old romances \ of Carreau bearsthe name is the name given to a Saracen King ; and on the Queen of i
Rolan,
"

is the name

"

Carreau is the inscription n toi te Jie, Trust to thyself; E te fie qu'en toi, ne that is,"says Mons. Duchesne,
"

*'

"

"

trustto thyself only. The Valet of Pique bears an

inscription

he says which Mons. Duchesne reads ctardcyand of which Pique is an he can make nothing. On the Queen of to be te aut inscription which appears to Mons. Duchesne diet,but the meaning of which he cannot divine. Mons.

homage ; and Leber, however, reads it Leaute rf/^^," -leal this in so gives it,in unmistakable characters, the copy of The King of Pique bears card, in his 'Etudes Historiques.'
*

sur

de faisaicnt "Ces cartes rarissimcs partied'un jeu cartesnumerales grayees boissous notre roi CharlesVII, vers 1425."

212

TLAYING

CARDS.

the name ofApollin, which is the name given to a Saracen on The inscription the Queen of idolin old romances. la foiest perdue, faithis lost. Cceur is la foyet pdu on It is supposed that there was also an inscription the as King of Coeur,but that it has been cut off, this card is in deficient itsdue 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 Fran^ais.

the Society of Bibliophiles

Coursube and Mons. Leber considersthat the names his opinion Apollin, corroborate which occur on these cards, that cards were of Eastern origin,and introduced into
Europe by the Saracens, Arabs.^ Though agreeingwith or
Duchesne,* Observationsnr lesCartesIk intheAnnuaire Historique, s jouer,* 1837 ; and Leber, 'EtudesHistoriques lesCartes sur pp.204-7, pp. 6-8,
"

ajouer,'

of confirmthe testimony Covclluzzo "previously quoted at page 23" that the game of cards was brought into Vitcrbo, 1379, and thatitcame from the country of the Saracens. Mons. m Leber even calls the figures " Gallo-Sarrazines," wishing it to be evidently that they had been copied from a Saracen or Arabic type. ^The supposed followingsa summary of hisnotionsof the changes made in the characters, i
"

and p. 72,1842. * Mons. Leber insists thosenames that

introduced : when cardswere first amongst Clu-istian nations "Le roi de Carreau de notre jeu CharlesVII porte lenom de Couesube, dc hcrossarrazin pretendu les dont parlcnt vieux romanciers et le nom d' inscrit cote du roide Apollin, a ; Fique,est celui d'une idole imaginairegalement attribuee ^ Sarrazins. aux ". On a du d'abord,a quelquesexceptions pres, remplacerlesidoles des figures avee lesdogmes par compatibles et la morale du christianisme.Le un a pape, chef dc VEglisechr6tieune, pu etre substitu^ Vichnou ; Vermite h. a dervis lamaisonLieu a une pagode ; et, ; que lo quant aux symbolesg6n^raux,tels ou hmorl,\eju^ement, le houffon soleilt \q auxquelssont associ^s bdteleuret il d'y un fout a 8ufl5 attacher nouveau sens mystiquesans rienchanger aux images. Les memes dans les portraits princes et des h^ros, des substitutions s'op^rent figures d'un autre ordre qui sont a passdes exelusivement,vec leur suite,dans du r"$conon)ic jeu Franfais."" Etudes Historiques lesCartes a jouer, 72. sur p. Mons. Leber appears here to narrate a dream he had after rocking which himself ou asleep his Arabian hobby-horse.
.
.
"

\_

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

213

are of Eastern origin, \ Mons. Leber, in the opinionthatcards is confirmed by two ; I cannot yet see how this opinion Maho: designatinga Moorish king, and a names, which, as have been merely the invention of a ; appear to metan idol, have been capriciously! writer, and to French romance Diamonds and a King of Hearts \ bestowed upon a King of The supposition,ndeed, | i by an old French card-maker. to be found on old were names that figures with these there is not a shadow j Arabic cards is most preposterous; whether real or ; to show that any characters, evidence of known by these names, ever popularly imaginary, were if there were even peopleof Arabic origin; and amongst have been considered i the paintingthem upon cards would all such | law of Mahomet, by whom as a violation f the o With equal pro- ; were prohibited. strictly representations a Jewish Leber might assert that cards were bability.Mons. Judith I because the names of David, Rachel,and invention, invented m j was be found on them ; or that Piquet
. :

are

to

in consequence of one of the , the time of Charlemagne, Valetsbeing named ; Kings bearinghis name, and two of the Roland. The long two of his Paladins,-Hogier and after Historique sur les Cartes a jouer pp. note in the Precis Apollin, and Mons. 13-17, on the subjectCoursube and of have much of the, lengthycomment on it, Leber's more by which was compared that kind of discussion of character holdmg he-goat, and another Demonax to one man mUking a to catch the milk. a sieve the four cards,representing The originalsf the annexed o known m England as Valets,or Knaves, of the four suits Spades,are m my opmion o^ Hearts,Diamonds, Clubs,and the as least, earlya date as the cards contammg at Duchesne and Mons. Leber Coursube and Apollin. Mons. last-namedcards "greem from judging the costume of the they were assertmg,that or, rather, confidently
'

| | |

nam^

suppoing,

214

PLAYING

CARDS.

clusions executed about 1425, in the reign of Charles VII. Conhowever, 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 mine, with the of costume have not been able to deter-

subject

from that alone, the date of any old drawing, even withinfifty years. To whatever period the costume of the ''Coursube*' cards may belong, that of the four Knaves a may be fairly presumed to be of as early period; but yet,

lookingat the costume of the latter, and the styleof theii date I execution, should not take them to be of an earlier than 1480. Supposing them to be of that date, I think
itwill be generally admitted,by allacquainted with the that, of subject, in point of drawing, as expressive action they may fairly mens rank with the best speciand character,
of wood-engraving executed previously to that
period. Those four Knaves, which are now in the print-room of Museum, were discoveredby the writer,in the the British covers of an old book, vvhich he bought of Mr. Robert

Crozicr, bookseller,7, Bow 2

of December, 1841. had formerly belonged to the CathedralLibrary of Peterborough,^ is the Sermons of St. Vincent de and itssubject Ferrer, Spanish friar, greatrepute in his day, a of who died in 1419: itwanted both the title-page and the last leaf, had no date ; but, looking at the chaand, consequently, racter of the type, old Gothic and the rude execution of l the initial etters, should conclude that it was printed in I
"
"

Street,about the latterend The book, which is a; small quarto,

France,within the last ten years of the fifteenth century.

togetherwith others from the Cathedral Library of sold, Peterborough,by Mr. Hodgson, 192 Elect 1841. In street,Dec. 13"18, Jiis No. 1492, itisthus described " Sermoues M. Vincentii(wants ; catalogue.
was
"

Tliis book

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,
are of a date somewhat older than the apparently, volume. Seeing that old cards have so often been found in the covers that certain of old books, it might be

conjectured

pious persons had made it a point of conscience to thus is,ever, employ them, for usefulpurposes ; this supposition howrendered untenable by the fact of those cards being intermixedwith the pious lucubrations Nicholas de Lyra. of Besidesthe two squaresof paper containingthe fourKnaves,
also two other squares,consistingof pips" of Diamonds and Hearts, which were so arranged that each square of paper might be cut into four cards : the low cards
there
were
"

square were, the Nine, Four, Five, and Seven of Diamonds; and those on the other, the Ten, Four, Five, pips" on those low cardswere and Eight of Hearts. The
on one
"

of a stencil. were the Valets of Clubs and Spades, Lancelot and Hogier; and on another, the Valets of Diamonds that of Diamonds and Hearts,
"

impressed by means evidently On one square of paper

"

being named Rolant, and that of Hearts containing the inscription, "Valery: f." Though each piece of paper diflFerent containedfour cards, it yet displayed only two the Valet of each suit occurring on it being characters," repeated in the alternate compartments. The outlinesof been engraved on have evidently the figiu-es and the names
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 these of stencils. The names Valets, f,"Lancelot,and Hogier," compared -Rolant, "Valery: French cards of an with those occurring on other the French coat to prove that, originally, early date, seem the cards received their names merely at the capriceof

216

PLAYING

CARDS-

card-maker.

Any

originof cards,or the names of the coat cards, must foundation.

argument, therefore,respectingthe the invention Piquet, as founded on of

be

utterlywithout

With respectto the names to of those Valets,it seems be generallyagreed that Roland, spelled Rolant on the the nephew of Charlemagne, so famed in cards, was
romance,

and that Hogier, or Ogier, was the renowned According to a modern author, this Hogier of Denmark. hero was a grandson of Pepin of Heristal,the greatgrandfathe and the appellation,"of Denmark," was conferred on him, not from his being of that kingdom, but from his being a nativeof Dane-marche,
now that is, of the district calledArdennes. The same author also informs us, that Hogier was a descendant of

of Charlemagne;

St. Hubert of Ardennes; fact, refers to the dog

and, for in an seen

confirmationof the old Valet of Spades,

of which he gives a copy in his work : in the irregular line of the more distantground, in the same card, he sees indicationof the uneven an of surface of the district Ardennes.* An inspection the four Valets in question of
willenable any person to decide on the value of his speculations: threeof thoseValets, Rolant,Hogier, and Lancelot,
"

"are

accompanied by dogs; and the line of the more distantground in two of the is nearly level while ; subjects cates the sUght eminence in the third" Rolant" evidentlyindia

rabbit-burrow. If such stuff as Mons.

Barrois

LMmage du valet de pique porte aveo une preuve de la nationality elle Ogier,comme tons lesdescendants SaintHubert d' Ardennes,avait de ardennoise; le privilege gu6rirFhydrophobieet d'en preserver de L'action
: et est r^clproque le chien ne suit pas, il s'clancepour implorer protection le neveu de Saint Hubert son intervention et assistance,

'

"

aecorde II est a remarquer que le corps du cliicn est en partic cache par rescarperaent du terrain, du caractcristiquc pays dcs Ardennes."" Elcmcus Carlovingiens linguistiqucs litt^raires J. Barrois), et (par p. 265, Ito, Paris,1846.

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

217

forthon the drivels of subject cards pass for antiquarian knowledge in France, it would seem that an ass-loadof useless book-learning constituted the grand qualification
of a French antiquary. With respectto Lancelot, the reader is leftto determine intended for one of the Paladins of were whether the name

the court of Charlemagne, or Lancelot du Lac, one of the Knights of King Arthur's Round Table. The appearance on the Valet of Clubs proves that Daniel was of thisname
as has been previously right in his conjecture, observed ; to argue that he either though Mons. Leber seems was, or

the Knave of Hearts, has not been found on any one of the other old cards hithertodiscovered; and from the circumstanceof its having the letter after it,which might be intended to signify /
on

ought to have been, wrong.^ The name Valery, which occurs

it might "fecit,'*
name.

be supposed that it was the card-maker's It is,however, to be observed that the word "fecit"
occurrence, name

is of ver}' rare

artist whose

the work of the signifying for whatever precedes it,on engravings,

as

purpose executed,of the fifteenth century. It may even be that / as an asserted, ith small hazard of contradiction, w in abbreviation appHcation, is not of "fecit," its artistic
"Le P. Daniel pose en faitque *le nom du quatri^me valet (le valet de de de trefle) inconuu, parce qu*iln*y a pas longtemps que les faiseurs jeux est la place de celuide ce valet.' D croit I'oniaboli,en mettant leur nom tl cartes I'avoir rouv6 dans le traitsde Daneau, d'ou il resulterait, t pourtant selon lui,
Si Daniel avaitpu consulterlespiecesdu XVI" siecle, iln'aurait ce ; il aurait craint que sa conjecpas liasard"$ jugement ture conjectural fut pas exacte, parce que les noms des cartes ayant beaucoup vari^, ne Lancelot pouvait n'etre point celuidu valet de trefledu temps de I'auteur Lancelot. que c'etait
'

dont ils'appuie. H de cartes ont aboli ce n*auraitpas dit que les faiseurs a la place du sien, parce qu'ilaurait apprisque valet' pour mettre leur nom de cette substitution 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,32. p.

218
to be found
on a

PLAYING

CARDS.

singleengraving, whether copper,executedpreviousto the year 1500.

on

wood

or

For whatever person the name of Valery may have beeii it intended, seems certainthat itis not to be found as that character in any of the old French of a distinguished
romances.

this subject, his friend,Thomas

numerous

Mons. Paulin Paris,having been consultedon to thus giveshis opinion,in a letteraddressed

Wright, Esq., well known for his Middle-Age Literature The ;
so
"

extremelycurious, for it ought necessarily bring to mind the name to of Erart de Valeriy the famous companion of Charles of Anjou,
King of Sicily,o whom his contemporarieschiefly t ascribed the gain of the battle of Tagliacozza,in which Manfred
was [the opponent of Charles] killed.* It might, therefore, be supposed that the pack [to which the four Valetsin tion; was question belonged] eitherof SiciUan or Italianfabrica-

name

on publications of the Valet of Hearts

seems

to

me

Lancelot,Roland, Ogier, and Valeri were equally familiarto the Siciliansof the fourteenth century. I have said a few words about this Erard de
names

for the

Valery in the article Charles of Anjou, my Romancero on in

Frangois."^
agreeingwith Mons. Paulin Paris, that thesecardswere either of Italian devising, manuor facture, I am yet inclined think that his to about
no means

Though by

conjecture

the name
'

of Valery is correct,and that a corroboration f it o

Charlesof Anjou, brotherof St. Louis,received dom the investiture the kingof in of Naples and Sicily, 1265. " Lc nom du valetde caur me paroitextremcment curieux; car il doit

d'Erartde Valeri,le fameux compagnon de n^cessairement rappelerle nom Cliarles ' d Anjou, de Sicile, en roi celui auquel les contemporains attribuoient le gain dc hi bataille Tagliacozza, Manfred. de dans laquclle grandc partie pi^rit Nous pouvons done croirc le jcu car ^tc faiten Sicileou en Italic; aura que lesquatre noms Lancelot,Roland, Ogier, Valeri dtoicnt familiers et egalcmcnt aux dcs Sicilicns XIV " du souvenirs siccle.J'ai dit un mot de cet Erard de Valerya Tarticlc Charlesd'Anjou, raon Romancero Franjois." dc dans

DIPFBRBNT

KINDS.

219

IS

to be found in the inscription on

the Valet de Pique, in

the "Coursube" cards, previously noticedat page 21 L This is inscription read darde, by Mons. Duchesne; but, to my as eye,the letters, they appear in the fac-simile given in the specimens of cards published by the Societyof Bibliophiles
erarde; and if, it should be a careful examination of the original, on ascertainedthat thiswas the word intended, I should then
more

Frangois,appear much

Uke the

name

c unhesitatinglyonclude that the person representedby this The that card was Erard de Valery. objection 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 in by no means were of consistent the practice alwaysgiving to the same name the same card. From the red rose which appears on the shieldheld by Valery, an Englishman might

be

in supposing that those cards,if not justified

manufacture, were more for the English market, at a period shortlyafterthe accession Henry VII,^ when the Red Rose of Lancaster of

of EngUsh if cated fabriespecially, not exclusively,

had obtained the ascendency. By assuming, indeed,a small it might even be portionof French hcense on this

subject,

asserted that those cards were of English manufacture; discovered in the covers seeing that they were of a book which had formerlybelonged to an EngUsh monastery, and thatthe features, of and bodily proportions the expression, Valets are rathercharacteristic Englishmen than Frenchmen. of
it In support of this speculation, may further be observed that,in former times, monks were accustomed to bookbinders, and thatthere is reason to act as their own
that, Henry VII ascended the tlirone 1485. Mons. Duchesne observes in of allthe old cards preservedin the Bibliothequedu Roi, only one displaysa in rose, namely, a king. There is an old coat card, engraved on copper, the by Mons. print-room of the British Museum, which, like that aUudcd to Duchesne, has a rose as the mark of the suit.
"
"

220

PLAYING

CARDS.

believe that playingcardswere manufactured in England as earlyas 1403.* In the latter century, severalacks, p quarterof the fifteenth
engraved on copper, having the suits b distinguishedy figuresevidentlyintroduced according to the fancy of the artist, and bearing no resemblance to those
or

sets,of cards were

date. As the art of cards of an earlier engraving on copper was then of recent invention,and its it scarce and high priced, may be productions comparatively which
occur on

chieflyintended for the concluded that those cards were amusement of the wealthierclasses. 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 number of of employed ; seeingthat they consist the same and have alsoin suitsas the common cards of the period,
likethe latter,certain a each suit, number of coat cards, and a certain number of others which have their value determined by the number of marks impressedon them. One of Mons.

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 the colouringwhich, in his opinion,was meant to receive to essential a pack of cards.^ It may, however, be observed play very well with uncoloured cards, more distinguished are so strikingly especially when the suits as in the to. cards alluded
Sec tho prohibition againstthe importation playingcards,in 1403 ; of by Parliament, consequence of the complaintsof the manufacturers in enacted and tradesmenof London and other partsof England, against the importation own of foreign their manufactured wares, which greatlyobstructed employment, to previouslyeferred at page 96. r " Mons. Leber, after having noticed Bulger's to objection the so-called " Tarocchi from their : thus proceeds II cards, size and want of numeral cards, avec tant de soins, pu aurait ajouter dcs gravurcscx"3cut6cs que quo Icschcfsd'ccuvrc 'un art nouveau, dont Ic d premiermdritcs*appr6ciait la beauts de par
*

Leber's reasons

that people may

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

221

Perhaps the earliestpecimens of the cards in question s Pinks, and Columbines are those which have Hares, Parroquets,
as

pack, or du Roi.^ They

came

the marks of the suits, and of which a complete set, of fifty-two pieces,is now in the Bibliotheque
are

not cut up, but appear

as just

they

from the hands of the printer,nd each separate a pieceof paper containseitherfour or six cards. The fourAces form
one
on

the numeral cardsfrom Four to Nine are contained plate; four plates and the Twos and Threes appear promis; cuously mixed with the coat cards on fiveplatesmore.

Tiie form of these cards is circular, in each suitthere and are four coat cards,namely, a King, a Queen, a Squire, and between the two latteris not The distinction indeed very clearly expressedin the costume ; though there is in cannot be a doubt thatthe lowestcharacter that wliich
a

Knave.^

renluminure qui entre essentielleh. rempreinte, n'ont pu etre destines recevoir a ment dans la confectiondu jeu de cartes; et cette observation s'applique d'estampesdu mcme dont quelques-unes genre et du meme plusieurs uites siecle, s

dans Ics collections Londres de royal. L^, commc sont conserv6csau cabinet toutcsen feuilles en noir.Non-seulementTetranget^ et etd'Alleinagne, sont elles
gravures, repousde h, du jeu carteseurop^en. Lcs Tidded'une destination serait semblable celle des le : unes arrondies medaillons, en rappellent champ circulaire cartesindiennes des carres longs; d'autres sont couvrent un carr^d'in-i";lesplus communes
on mais au lieudes couleurspropres aux cartesa jouer, n'y voitque des images d'oiseaux,e quadrupedes, de fleurs, e fruits ce sont des perroquetset des d d ; des roses, et d des lievres des ours, des singeset des lions,es grenades, paons, et tons autres dont quandil n*^tait objets le choix devaitetre puremcnt arbitraire, sur lcsCartesh jouer, Etudes Historiques d'unjeu nouveau."" pas Texpression

des signesdistinctifs couleurs, des mais la forme

meme

de

ccs

p. 18. * Those cardsformerlybelongedto a Mons. Volpato, of and wore purchased lum, for the Bibliotheque du Roi, in 1833. He receivedin exchange some drawingsof such cardsof the same pack ; and the set,completed with fac-simil^ Smith,of Lisle-street, in as were of wanting,were recently the possession Messrs. Leicester-square, to they were sent by Mons. Volpato for sale.
^

whom be a Tliethird character those coat cardscannot properly called Cavalier, in The Knaves to o Squire. and has indeedvery little pretensions the designationf are evidently foot-soldiers, as were known in Italyby the name common such
'

ofFanti.

223

PLATING

CARDS.

correspondi each suitis representedas running, and thus plainly with the ItalianFante. The highest of the being no Ten in thispack, numeral cards is the Nine, there ^rhe respective number of each is marked at the top in Arabic cyphers,and at the bottom in Roman numerals. arc At the bottom also, of within the outer circle the border, T. the letters W., probably intended for the initials the of

engraver.* Whoever

and only one other subject Bartsch. In the annexed specimens are shown the King, Queen, and Ace of Hares ; the Squire of Columbines ; the

is imknown ; he might be, his name of his engraving is noticedby

Deuce and Squire of Pinks ; and the Knave and Nine of Parroquets. On each of the Aces there is an inscription the on on a scroll, the Ace of Hares; on the latter, as language is low German
"
"

PiattDuitsch"

"

and the words

form a rhyming couplet :

Ave
mi

deint mot

me ic
en

vin,

Daerom

lepus

sin.

The precisemeaning of thisit is not easyto make out ; but taking the contracted word Ave to have been intended for Auwe, a meadow, the coupletmay be thus " done into

English;"
Me o*er fieldsen keen pursue, m Therefore I*m the Hare you view.

But supposingthe word Ave to have been meant forAugen, the eyes, and giving a shght turn to one or two other words, the meaning would be that the hare was called Lepus quasiLippus on account of itsblear eyes. Mons. Duchesne says that,on the plate containingthe Aces,thereisa date written an in oldhand, but he omits to
" "

From the difSculty givingin a with of wood-engraving those small letters they are omitted in the annexed specimens. The numerals sufBcient clearness, are alsoomitted, except in the Two of Pinks.
"

Circular

Cards.

XVth

Century,

(p.223.)

Circular Cards.

XVth

Century,

(p.222.)

Circular Cards.

XVth

Century,

(p. 222.)

Circular

Cards.

XVth

Century,

(p.222.)

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

223

' mention what it is. In the Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numerales/here allthe fifty-two w pieces are given, they are said to have been engraved about 1477. These

though of the same form, and having the same marks cards, of the suitsas those described by Bartsch, and noticedby Singer,are yet the work of a different engraver.
In the circular cards describedby Bartsch and Singer, on the Ace of Hares is in Latin, and the the inscription initials the engraver, T. W., are wanting. From a of i wrapper, of which a fac-similes given by Singer, itwould appear that those cards were has been supposed that they They
a

engraved at Cologne ; and it are of as earlya date as 1470.

a unquestionablythe work of either German or Flemish artist and some ; amateurs of engraving have

are

ascribedthem to Martin Schon, or Schongauer. erroneously Bartsch,in his description them, includes a fifth suit, of

namely, that of Roses; and says that each suitconsisted of thirteen cards,which would thus give sixty-five pieces for the complete pack. Mr. Singer, also,in his account of formerly in the collection f such of those cards as were o Mr. Douce, gives it as his opinion, that the complete pack ought to consistof fivesuitsof fourteencards each, in all,
"

seventy pieces.* Mons. Duchesne, however, thinks that those authorsare wrong, and that the complete pack consisted cards each, as displayed of only four suitsof thirteen by those preservedin the Bibliothequedu Roi. But as he
entirely of overlooksthe difficulty accountingfor a suit of he Roses, engraved in the same style, does not seem to be in pronouncing so decisively that Bartsch and justified

Singer

sisted wrong in supposing that a complete pack conunlikelythat a of fivesuits; for it is by no means
are

fifth with a suitmight have been introduced by the artist,

Bartsch,Peintre-graveur,orn, x, pp. 70-6." Singer,Researches into the t History of Playing Cards,p. 45-6, alsopp. 205-8.
"

224

PLATING

CARDS.

but which might have to view of givingvariety the game, discarded,as inconsistent been subsequently with the old o p establishedrinciplesf the game, and as only making it more without renderingitmore interesting. complicated, There is another pack, or set, of cards,also engraved on period as those last described, copper, and of the same

notice here, not only on but the account of the marks employed to distinguish suits, by which those marks were alsoon account of the means which
seems

to requu-esome

cards. The completepack appears repeatedon the dijQTerent to have consisted ; of fifty-two pieces each of the four suits
containingfour coat and nine numeral cards the place of theTen, as in the othertwo packs,being suppliedby a fourth figures are : 1, Human coat card. The marks of the suits ; 2, Bears and Lions ; 3, Deer ; and 4, Birds. These cards
"

being about fiveinches and seven eighths of largesize, high,by about three and a half wide. The name of the to engraveris unknown ; but they are believed be the work known to amateurs as ** The of the German artist usually
are

In the coat cardsthe mark of the suit is impressedfrom a different plate; and as it sometimes
surrounded by the work of the coat card, it has been ascertained that in such instances blank space had a been left itssubsequentimpression. The marks on the for
occurs

Master of 14C0."

numeral cards were alsoprinted in the same means from separateplates. of impressions

manner,

by

In the collection Thomas Wilson, Esq., there were of twenty-nineof those cards, togetherwith fourteendrawings of other cards of the same pack,and elevenanimals on separate forming the marks of the suits.^ Those cardswere plates, West purchased of Mr. Wilson by Mr. Tiffin, printseller,
In the 'Catalogue Raisonnd of the select Collection Engravings of an of Ainateur*[Mr. a i Wilson] fulldescription s given of those cards,pp. 87-91. 4to,1828.
*

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

225

again sold them to the Bibliothequedu Roi, pack are also preserved. Facwhere others of the same are given in the Jeux de Cartes simUes of thirty-seven Tarots et de Cartes Numerales/ published by the Society Francois. In the Table des Matieres preof Bibliophiles
'

Strand,who

fixedto thatwork, itisindeed saidthatthereare forty; but, No. 91, itwill perceivedthatthe on lookingat their be plate, three coat cardsthere given do not properlybelong to the pack in question; for the mark on two of them is a kind of
flowersomething like a sweet-pea, and on the other itis a Mons. Duchesne, who appears to have suppliedthe rose.i PrecisHistorique to prefixed the work above named, should

have distinctly mentioned that the three coat cards in questionwere not of the same pack or set, which has Human figures,ears and Lions, Deer, and Bu-ds, as the marks of B did belong to the the suits. If they really
same

pack, it

must then have consisted at least of sixsuits.

The annexed fourcards,engraved on copper,are copied from specimens given by Breitkopf, his 'Enquiry intothe in Origin of Playing Cards ;* who there describesthem as
''German Piquet cardsof the fifteenth centurywith Trappola characters."^The completepack appearsto have consisted
One of thesecards, Queen,isevidently a copiedfrom the Queen of Deer, but having a kind of floweras the mark of the suit, instead a Deer. Those of
*

two Queens, so precisely same in form,attitude, costume, most certainly the and did not belong to the same pack.

'Deutsche Piquet-Karten aus den XV lahrhunderte TrappolaBlattem.* mit use of the on of without word Trappolaby writers the history playingcards, the sense in which they employ it,leads to much confusion. clearly explaining It properlysignifies game; which may be played with any kind of numeral a The
cards consisting four suits, of whatever the marks may be. Breitkopfseems hero to apply the term "Trappola Blattem" to cards which have Swords,

Batons,Cups, and Money as the marks of the suits; the same manner as the in by on use in this cardsnow in common country are called writers the subject, French Piquet cards. It isnever, however, supposed thatthe game depends in the least the marks of the suits. on

15

226

PLAYING

CARDS.

contaminga King, cards; each of the four suits of fifty-two Queen, and Valet, or Knave, as we term the character; together with ten numeral cards. The marks of the suits C Swords; Clubs (proper,ot Trefles);ups; and were n
Pomegranates. and was the marriage of Philip the Fair, son of the Emperor Maximilian, with Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand
;

Money

for thatof The latter mark is substituted to memorate perhaps intended by the artist com-

K and Isabella,ing and Queen of Spain; who, on theirsubjugati kingdom of Grenada, in 1497, appear to of the have adopted the Granada^ or Pomegranate, as one of their badges.^ The cards unquestionablybelong to that period; it served and in supportof the speculation, may be further obvan Mecken; thatthey are generally ascribedto Israel of who, as a native of Bocholt, was a subject PhiUp, who inherited in the Netherlands, rightof his mother, Mary of

Burgundy.
Von Murr, in the second volume of his Journal,gives a description a nearlycomplete pack of those cards,which of

then in the possessionf a gentleman named Silberrad, o in the British at residing Nuremberg, but which are now
were

He calls them old Trappola cards,and saysthat they are certainly f an earUer date than the time of Israel o Mecken the younger ; or rather, that they were van
the elder. "The suits," he says, engraved by Israel " by Spade ; are distinguished, manner, after the Italian

Museum.^

CoppB

Danari

by (represented Pomegranates) and ;

From the time of the marriage of Joanna's sister, Catherineof Arragon, Arthur, Prince of "Wales, till with about the time of her separationfrom his brother, Henry "Viil,the pomegranate was frequently introducedas an ornament

'

in the royaldecorations and furniture the English court. of * Those cardswere purchased of Messrs.Smith, of Lisle street,who also suppliedthe Museum with the two sets of old Italian engravings,usually Tarocchicards. called

Swords

(p. 227.)

Cups.

(p.227.)

Batons,

(p. 227.)

'

""

"

Vi"ir

Money,

(p. S27.)

DIFFERENT

KINDS,

227

in The cards displayed the precedingspecimens are : the Deuce of Swords ; the Valet of Cups ; the Ten of Pomegranates; and the Ten of Clubs. In the latter,he Club t

Bastoni."*

artificially Baton, as is sometimes seen on old Italian cards: it has previouslybeen observed that the Bastoni being something were sometimes calledColonne, from their

seen

on

the banner is rough and knotty,and not

an

Uke slenderpillars. It would appear, from the testimony of contemporary authors,that the cards most commonly used in Italyin the latter those which had part of the fifteenth century,were Spade, Coppe, Bastoni,
Batons, and Money, as continued to be the common
"

Swords, Cups, and Danari the marks of the suits. These marks on ItaUan cards in the
"

much laterperiod; and such alsowould appear to have been the marks of the cards introduction used in Spain, from the period of their first intothat country,to the presentday. The annexed woodcuts, from a platein Breitkopf,^ the Sevens of each are copied
sixteenth century,and
even

to

in of thefoursuits a pack of Tarots. The marks are precisely lieve the same as in modern Tarots; and there is reason to bethat they are nearlythe same, with respectto form, as thoseof the earliest Italian Tarocchicards, so properly called. The relation which the marks of the suits bear to each other in the three varietiesf cards most generallyknown o in Europe, will perhaps be best understood from the following
given to summary, which shows, at one view, the names the suits each variety the country where such cards were in of

chiefly used.
Die Karte istnach Walsicher Art in Spade, Coppe, Danabi, (dieberliier a Granatapfel Von Murr, Journal Bastoni getheilet."" als vorgesteilt und sind,) zur Kunstgeschicht, iv Theil, 200. i s. ' Breitkopf improperly callsthose cards ** Traj)polier-Karie"'-TrapTpo]"
* "

betweenthe game in cards. Arctiuc, his ' Carte Parlanti/ makci a distinction Trappola, of and thatplayedwith Tarocchicaras.

JJ28

PLAYING

CARDS.

GERMAN
German Names

CARDS.

ofthe Suits.
Schbileit.

Eichbln. Hebzew, OderRoth. Geun. Acoens. or (Hearts, Rep, Geeen (Leaves).

Bells.)

SPANISH

AND

ITALIAN

CARDS.

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 superiorofficer, distinguished Ober," Upper, Superior; while the third, as

Inferior.^ corresponding with our Knave, was namedUNTER, the The Spaniards called the second coat card Caballo, Horseman or Knight ;" and the Knave they called Sota, a word which, in the Dictionary of the Spanish Academy,
"

"

n y a dans chaque cotJeurun roi, officier ou nn sup^rieur capitamenottim^ dans Ober,et un bas-oflOLcier, Unter. On appelle encore de nos jours appel^ Tempire,oliles mots franpais sont pas si en vogue, les officiers ne sup^rieurs ^ Les Eranpais ont substitu^ laplacede et oberleute, lesbas-oflficiers unterleute. PoflBicier dame, et a la placedes bas-officiers une comme des valets, des braves, ou Bulletlesnomme. Le bas-officier glands est nomm^ en Allemagne, der des de le nom de Fas groszementzel, celui vert, der kleine et
*

"

porte mentzel; enfin. d'Estampes, 239d'uneCollection p. (^w.'*" Heineken,Iddc g^n^rale compile

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

229

from the Italian issaidto be derived 'under/* soto,signifying theirsecond coat card Cavallo, and the The Italians called thirdFante ; in each of the four suitsthe principal coat

the King. It would, however, appear that at an \ a occasionallyubstituted Queen | s earlyperiod,the Italians forthe Cavallo;and if the cards formerlybelonging to the I Marquis Girolamo be really so earlya date as isassigned i of card
was

it to them by Millin,^ would

seem

that the French have

no

title just to the

"

honour" of being the firsto introducea \ t Queen as the second coat card,and that in having made Place aux Dames," in the pack, they had only followed \
'*

i the example set them by the Itahans. Millin's : efiect notice of those cards is to the following "In the collection the Marquis Girolamo, at Venice, of
ning cards of very earlydate, about the begincentury. They are largerthan the of the fifteenth ordinarycardsW the present day ; they are also very thick and the materialof which they are formed resembles the
there are
some
"

\
\
;

cotton paper of ancient manuscripts. The figures, which

are

gold ground, consist of ] one three Kings, two Queens, and two Valets, of the last being on horseback. Each figurehas a Baton, a Sword, or ] The a pieceof Money the [as mark of the suit]. design is very likethat of Jacobellodel Fiore ; but the work has the to have appearance of impression, and the colours seem
"

impressed

imprimees'"on

la La tercera figura,que ti^nen los naipes, qual representa el infante, soldado. Dixose de la voz Italiana 6 soto,que vale debaxo, porque vd a despuesde lasfiguras Key, y Caballo, de qne le son superiores." ^In superficial * in by printed the Bulletins paper on old playing-cards, the baronde RcifTenberg, d de rAcaddmie Royale des Sciences, esLettres, desBeaux-Arts de Belgique/ et
' **

SoTA.

"

de into a female: " Dans les No. 10^ 1847, the Sota istransformed jeux cartes la sota, le la remplac^s par le cavallo et espagnols, dame et le valet 6taient
cavalier t la/ille." e * Mons. Duchesne, is of opinion that the Marquis Girolamo*Scards belonged Gringonneur cards preservedin the to the same pack or set as the so-called however, be correct,Mons. Bibliothequedu Roi. If Millin'sdescription,

j
';
"

|
|

Duchesne is unquestionablyrong. w

230

PLATING

CARDS.

been appliedby means of a stencil.They are the most kind."* ancientspecimens of their Clubs and Spades, given to two of the As the names.
correspond with the suits in this country, by no means marks by which they are distinguished,to wit, the French
"

inclined to considerthem as the for the suitsof Bastoni and Spade ; Clubs being old names of merely a translation Bastoni, and Spades probably a corruptionof Spade, or Espadas, Swords.^ Erom these

^"^^ and

Pique" 1

am

"

names,

indeed, it may be fairly supposed that the cards first nown in England were those having Swords, Clubs, k

the marks of the suits and that two ; when the old cardsof of those suitsretainedtheir names Spanish or ItaHan type were superseded by those of more

Cups, and Money,

as

Millin, ictionnaire Beaux Arts^ torn, p. 201. Paris,1806. Quoted des i, P " by Peiguot." Jacobello del Piore flourished taining about 1420.^A set of cards, configures the gods,with theiremblematic animals, and figures birds of of for Philip Visconti, uke of Milan, who died in 1447. D were also," painted in Decembrio,in his life thisprince, the 20th volume of the * Rerum Italicaof Scriptores,* rum h says that they cost fifteen undred pieces of gold, and were Martianus Terdonensis. Prom the chiefly xecutedby the prince's e secretary, itappears that they were not mere but were intendedfor context, pictures, * in his Carte Parlanti,' some kind of game. of speaks with admiration ^Aretine, a pack of cards by Jacopo del Giallo, Florentineartist flourished a pamted who about 1540.
"

"

for the suit which we name Spades,isScopya Shovel, Spade; and that as this or has been evidently name call given to the suitfrom the mark bearingsome resemblanceto a spade,the same

It isbut fair observehere that tlie to Dutch

This Spades by the English for the same reason. suitmight have been called however,does not afl'ect In the with objection, conjecture respect to Clubs. the Nugae Vcnales, printed in Holland, 1648, we meet with the following :
"

Hearts,, the Four Kings of cards,Diamonds, Trefoil, and Spades Rhombuli, Trifolii, cause Cordis,et Ligonis always poor? Answer. Bethey are always at play; and play, according to the proverb, is man's
are
"
"

Query. Why

"

Their stateisalsoin otherrespects for perdition. most miserable; when through them much money is lost, they arc condemned to the flames,and burnt like for the suitsof Prench cards are Hart, wizards." Tliemodem Dutch names Rui/tf lozenge-shaped a figure, diamond-shaped pane of glass, a ; ^Hcart Diamonds ; Klaver, Clover,Trefoil," Clubs ; Scop, a Spade, Shovel,or Scoop,
" " "

Spades.

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

231

recent French design. There

also other circumstances that cards, on theirfirst which strengthenthe conclusion, intoEngland, as a popular game, were brought introduction from Spain or Italy the character of the thirdcoat ; either in accordance with the card, the Knave, or Jack, is more the ItaUan Fante, than with the French Valet,which, in the earhestFrench cards,always bears the in or history. name of some person of note, either romance
Spanish Sota,
or

are

The term Valet, at the time when it was firstbestowed on the third coat card by the French, did not signifya "Gentleman's Gentleman" or a menial servant; but was
more
" appUed to young noblemen ^the Dilecti especially Regis" holding appointments at court. The term Knave
" "

likeValet,to signify courtier, person a or applied, ; used to signifya serving-man of of distinction it was to be derived from the same low condition. It seems
was never

root

is a

Knabe, the primary meaning of which Boy, but which was alsoused, in the same way as the
as

the German

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

a

of cards, was
"

in

former times very frequentlyapplied to low degree," without any regard to the

serving-man of which might

name

have been given to him by his godfathersand godmothers. graphers, Though Dr. Johnson, and most other English lexicoderive the term Jackanapes from Jack and Ape,
to be supported by the and though this derivationseems w meaning attached to the term by one of the earliestriters who makes use of it,yet Jack-a-Naipes,"that is.Jack of
"

Cards,is at least probable an etymology ; and much more as Turner, so than that of "Jack Cnapa," suggested by Sharon in his 'History England,' from which the following passage of is extracted.

232
"

PLAYING

CAEDS.

M In the Britishuseum, Vesp. B, 16, is a balladwritten at thistime on the catastrophes the Duke of Suffolk of and hisfriends. (Temp.Henr. VI, May, 1450.) It treatsthese

levity, horrorswith an exulting which shows the barbarous but it is curious for unfcchngness of poHticalrancour; of of those friends the government who givingthe names were most hated by the people. They are the clerical
statesmen who
or

on

in o ment employed either the officesf governits embassies, and it shows how much the
were

tified dominant church had, by these employments, become idenIt designatesthe Duke of Suilblk with the crown. by the cant term of Jac Napes,' and is perhaps the eariiest instance we have of the abusive application the word of derive this word from Jackanapes. Our lexicographers
'

Jack and Ape ; but the balladshows, thatNapes was a term be a of derision signifying Knave ; and must therefore the
Saxon Cnapa, which bore alsothismeaning. This willexplain Jack,and thereason why our thirdfigured card iscalled to be alsoKnave. The word Jackanapes thereforeseems

Jack Cnapa, and to mean Jack the Knave. In thissense itis applied Suffolk; to and as the Knave isnext in power at cards to the King and Queen, the nickname may be being the to used in the ballad with an allusion Suffolk's

prime ministerof Henry and Margaret."^ The followingare two of the stanzas which the term
"

in of the ballad

occurs

In the moneth of May, when grass grows grene, Fragrantin her flowres with swete savour, Jac Napes wold on the see, a maryner to ben,

With hisclogi and hischeyn to seke more

**

tresour.

Swych

a payn ; prikkedhim, he asked a confessour Nicholassaid, am redithe confessour be; I to He was holden so, that he ue passed that hour :
" For Jac Napes saule, placebo et dirige.'
*

Sharon Turner's Historyof England,

iii, vol. p. 80.

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

233

Mr. Turner'sremark, that the ballad shows that Napes a term was of derision,signifyinga Knave, and must thereforebe the Saxon Cnapa,'* does not appear to be
"

derived from Cnapa, and if it were well founded; for Cheat, itis diflicult conceive to a merely signified Knave, or Napes, and not Knave, or Knape, why it should be written as required, according to Mr. Turner's etymology ; besides, it is evident from the context, that, in the mind of the the idea of a Jac Napes was associated with that of writer,

monkey, or an ape, with his clog and his chain. That this was not the primary signification the term, may of be confidentlyasserted;and no writer who has derived it from Jack and Ape, has produced any authority to
a

meant a man who travelled about show that it originally from a with apes or monkeys. In the followingpassage, tract printed about 1540,* the term '*YacX:an najjea** to or bufibon in a particoloured refers a mummer evidently

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,"

better to hunte the thus proceeds: "Nobyl statiswere 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,

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
curse

by the handlydo traetys callyde tlieLordis llayle At the end : Thomas Solme." ^Withoutdate. Bushoppes powre theresshere " Prynted at Basyl by me Theophyll Emlos, undere the sygne of Sente Peters Kay." 16mo. In one passage Henry VUI is appealedto as then living. * To the bam or grange of monasteries a chapel was frequently attached, lived a distance by at which used to be attended on holidays country people who from the parishchurch.
"
"

Here begynncth

"

"

234
"

PLAYING

CARDS.

it that he in swearing by his ten bones/* would seem the term with the Jack-aor other associated manner some Naipes, or Jack of Cards ; for his ten bones can only be
supposed to relateto the numerical value of the Jack of " Naipes, as a coat card. In Bale'stime a card of ten" would appear to have been a generalexpressionfor a coat

by card, as well as fora card distinguished that number of

pips.
And
soo

Fyrste pycke

out with hym then. a quarell, nd fall outfacehym with a carde of ten.
a

Bowghe SkeltotCi

ofCourt.

From the following *MorganteMaggiore/ passageinPulci's itwould seem that,in Italy,in the fifteenth century, the King of cards was
"E Tu
com* se*

r occasionallyeferredto
giunse,gridavailgigante; qui,Re diNaibi,o di Scacchi,
e*

as

the type of

presumptuous person :

Col mio bataglio convien cVio t'ammachi."

"

And when the two togethercame, the giant shouted out, And here you are, my King of Cards,or e*en of Chess,pardie! My clubthen with your shoulders ust without delaymake free." m

':

In Scotland, about 1508, the Knave of cards was the representativef a forward impertinent person, a very o Jack-a-Naipes, as is evident from the Flytingof Dunbar
"

"

"

and Kennedy," where the latter, among ** the former Valet of cards : calls
"

other bad

names,

Waik walidrag, and verlotof the cairtis."'

Even in modem times the Knave of Hearts has been little referredto as the ideal of a presumptuous, thickset
firstcollected, ith notes and a of William Dunbar, now w b memoir of his life,y David Laing/vol. ii,p. 67, 1834!."Tn the notes to this t to edition, here are several references the card-j)laying James IV of Scotland. of " His itwould seem, was accustomed to play Leich," majesty, with the French John Damiun, whom he aflcrwardspromoted to the abbacy of Tungland. Damian, who broke Illshighin an t castle, attempt to flyfrom the top of Stirb'ng isthe person ridiculed Dunbar as the " Fenyet Friar by Tungland." of
"
*

The Poems

DIPFERENT

KINDS.

235

from the following appiears passage which occurs in the second edition, Brockett'sGlossary,1829, under the of word Purdy.
man,
as
''

Purdy,

fellow. I little thickset

"

owe

Mr. Brockett,

"

to the communication

thisword," says friend of a clerical

heard it at Barnard in the county of Durham, who first Castle. On ascertaining meaning, the following dialogue the
took place. Q. What does Purdy
A,
mean

?
a

Uttle throsian-up thing Uke

"

Jack at Warts.

0* [Jack 'Arts,

Jack of Hearts.] Q. What's that ?

A, Something likea lime-burner,

Q. What is a lime-burner?
A, Oh, nobbut a Kendal stockener, Q. What is that ?

A. A little thicksetfellow."

If cards were known in Italyand Spain in the actually latter that part of the fourteenthcentury, itisnot unlikely

the game, as a common amusement, was introducedinto thiscountry by some of the English soldiersho had served w under the banners of Hawkwood, and other Free Captains, in the wars of Italyand Spain, about the period in question.
But, however thismay be, it seems at least certainthat the earliest cards commonly used in this country,were of the kind, with respect to the marks of the suits,as those same

used in Italyand Spain. The German cards of the fifteenth century, and even of a much later embellishment of fanciful period, displaymore in than the cards of other countries; more especially the
low cards; which, in addition to the "pips," or marks of the suits, frequentlycontain figuresof men and women, and such like, quadrupeds, birds, foliage, introduced by the way of ornament, at the caprice of
numeral,
or

236

PLAYING

CARDS.

designer. These ornamental appendages are frequently of indecent. The two a grotesque character, and sometimes the suits Griin are of annexed figures the second coat cards of

L and Eicheln,-"eaves, and Acorns, in a pack of German The figures are cards engraved on wood, of the date 1511. drawn with great freedom, and are much in the styleof
"

Lucas Cranach. On the Two ofAcorns are the letters.C.Z.; F the F and the C being probably the initials the designer, of
that he made the drawings, zeichnet. and the Z signifying On the Two of Leaves are two shields suspended from a tree;
"

the one

displays two strait ; swords, in saltireand the other the arms of the house of Saxony, the same as are frequently in wood engravings designed by Lucas Cranach. In seen

third shield at the bottom of the

same

card,

are

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

237

in the pickaxeand mallet, saltire, same as in Dr. Stukeley's cards,and probably the mark of the card maker. Thirtysix cards of this pack, which appears to have originally

are consisted fifty-two, of

preserved in the Bibliotheque du Roi ; and fac-similes them are given in the Jeux of de CartesTarots et de Cartes Numerales,'published by the Societyof Bibliophilesran^ais,planches 92-95. F
*

Specimens of a pack of cards designed by Erhard Schon, and engraved on wood, are given by Singerin hisResearches. In thispack, the marks nates, of the suitsare Flowers, PomegraLeaves, and Roses.^ These cards are very inferior,
A few single cards,apparently belonging to this pack, preservedin the British Museum, are ascribedto Hans SebaldBehaim.
*

238

PLAYING

CARDS.

described, the to both in design and execution, those just of date 1511. Erhard Schon flourished about 1530. About
1550, VirgilSoUs 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'

in Graveur'; and six of the pack were recently the possession of Messrs.Smith, of Lisle street.
The best of all the fancifulcards that appeared in Germany during the sixteenthcentury,are those engraved

They were wood from the designs of Jost Amman. pubhshed at Nuremberg in 1588, in a quarto volume, with
on

in Latin and German, composed by J. H. Schroter, lowing the imperial poet-laureate.^From the fol-

illustrative verses,

verses,

^
"

those cards were

"

Liber de Seipso,' it would seem that not designed for the purposes of play :
"

Chajlta mihi titulum tribuit Lusoria ; lusus Et chartae pretiornunera vulgus habet. in Sed
aut ccnvicia vulgi; Sit mihi sat clans posse placereviris. Hos rogo, ut a remm quondam graviore vacantes
nee

ego laudesmoror

"

Cura, sichartis luderefortevelint, Colludentnostris: sinerixis,ulnere, morte, v Lndenti quoniam lucrabenigna dabunt."

In thisset of cards,the marks of the suits are Books; Printers' inking balls Wine-cups, of metal " formed by the ; skill the goldsmith;" and Goblets, of with bosses of glass or earthenware. Correct and beautifully cimens executed spe-

of those cards are given in Singer's'Researches,' pp. 180-96. The four annexed German cards, are the Sevens of the
Those cardsare the rarestof Jost Amman's nnmerons all works. The first " title the Tolume is Jodoci Ammanni, of civisNoribergensisCharta Lusoria, Tetrastichis illustrata Janum Heinrichum Scroterum de Gustrou." Then per
" follows long explanatorytitle German, a m and the imprint, Gedruct zuNurnberg,durch Leouhardt Heussler, Anno, 1588." There is a copy of the work in the British Museum.
.

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

239

H ioxa^viisxSchellen;er 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
"

probably intended for the amusement likethe "pretty little of children," 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. and period,
were

by the emperors As small bells as omaments worn were in of Germany and the higher classes the 12th and 13th
Breitkopf is inclinedto think that bellsmight centuries, 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 periodreferred 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
^^
"

"

figureis figures, all adorned with small bells. The first Wulphilde, who was li\ingin 1138 ; that of the Princess the Emperor Henry VI, who the second and thirdrepresent died in 1197; and the fourth is that of the Emperor

died in 1218.^" Breitkopf's conjecture he assei-ted is imdeserving of remark : had that his old German emperors and princes were adorned with bellsto
Otho IV, who
in indicateheir t of leading rank and precedence, the manner he packhorses, would perhaps have been as near the truth. The tinkle the bellrouses the questingspirit Mons. of of

Leber, who pursues the inquirywith singular ardour and His researches, though not with success. perseverance, however, on the of bells,though throwing not a

subject

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 additionalproof of the wide field for speculation the historyof cards. by aflbrded *' After the Fou of European Tarots,the Bellson Indian

cards are another proof of the Orientaloriginof the game. The use of bells India,whether as a mark of distinction in is and greatness,or as a means of diversion, of remote not antiquity; while everything shows that they were known to the ancient nations of Europe. The Baladins and female dancers of India have theirlegs decked with
small bells, which they shake when dancing ; and certain idols are decorated formed with the same ornament ; girdles are by infants, worn of bells also without any other clothing;
'

Breitkopf, Jrsprung Spielkarten, 33. [ der s.

DIFFBRBNT

KINDS.

241

bell the supplies placeof the girdle. and sometimes a single ' Herbert relates that as thisbellcontains viper's a tongue, it might be supposed to be annoying and disgraceful. It is, however,neither for the one nor the other, itismade au ornament, and it is esteemed one of theirmost superb, when given by the king to a person whom he wishes to have already for said thatthe use of bells ; various purposesis of greatantiquity and a proofof this is furnished by the Pentateuch.^ Bells appear to have passedfrom the Hebrews to the Arabs, and to have been

honour.'^ We
"

see them to have as we with these two nations the same been in India,a signof distinction and power, when not to prostituted the use of the Baladins. An English author, who has not been unmindful of the remarks of Calmet,*

terms, a kind of devotionpaid mentions,in the following to the bellamong the Arabians : 'The Arabian courtesans,

have little golden hellsfastened legs, round their neck, and elbows, to the sound of which wear they dance beforethe king. The Arabian princesses b are susto golden rings on theirfingers, which little ells pended,
women,
"

like the Indian

as

in the flowing tresses of theirhair,that their

superiorrank may be known, and they themselvesreceive in passingthe homage due to them/*" Such are bellsin the East : letus now see what they have been in Europe at different periods.

"The Emperor Henry IV, who died in 1197, and in Wulphilde, the wife of Count Rodolph, living 1138, are in habits ornamented in ancient monuments represented
Voy. lesVoyages de Samuel Purchas j ceux de Thomas Herbert en Perse avec des Ceremoniesrelig., de et dans plusieurs arties TOrient; le Suppl.t. ii, p lesfigures B. Picart, la- I.de la fetede Huly, t. i,2* part,des memes dc P et Ceremonies, 138." p. * " Notamment Exode, c. xxxix,v. 25." ' au "Voy. D. Calmet, Dictionn. laBible, mot Clochette." de
*
"

"

Lallallookh, oriental an romance,

by T. Moore."

10

242

PLAYING

CARDS.

to those which are seen on Tarots. It with bells similar ornament, which subsequently would seem that thissingular became the attribute the bufFoon, or professional ester, j of was then a mark of dignityin the West as well as in the

tinctive East, and that itheld a conspicuous place amongst the disGermany, ornaments of the princes and nobles of from the eleventhto the thirteenth century.^ Some EngUsh however, have supposed that the bell indicated critics, falconry,^ sport which the high nobilityonly had the a itis certainthat small bells o privilegef indulging in ; and But the were attached to the feet of trained falcons.^ questionis, did the bellsstand for the falcon,and was the ? indeed,a mark of high nobility falcon, "What renders this conjecture probable is, that we find in the use of the small bell [grelot] established the West
before the introduction heraldic signs,and that we have of to the ancientGreeks no evidenceof itshaving been known

by used in falconry princes and nobles of the first class,it might thus become the that of the nobihty emblem of the falcon, and, subsequently,
and Romans.* As the bellwas
der Spielkartcn, 33, et la PL de Henri VI p. figures, I'Archdologie, Les memcs et de Wulphilde (d'apres sauf erreur). d copi^ics Janscn,so rctrouvcntt.i,dc son Essai sur I'Origincc la Gravurc par
"
"

Voy. Breitkopf, Urspmng

Bois et en Taillc-douce. Paris, 1808, 2 vol. in-8. Le costume en a 6i6 (jvidemmcnt mais qu'on y aitsuppos^ rajcuni, ilest hors de toutcvraisemblance line parure dc ^trangere monument original."Mons. Leber,in citing au grclots
en
"

Breitkopf, his spells name with uniform inaccuracy. ' " Gough, d'apresStukeley,Archseologia,. viii,. 152 ; et Smger, p. 73." t p ' " La Fauconnerie de Guillaume Tardif,eh. x, p. 61 ; et les Oiseaux de Proie, de par G. B., p. 122 du reeueilde J. du Fouilloux, ^dit. Paris,1614, in.4, fig."

Quoiqu*on aitsouvent traduitles mots crotalum et crusma, rporaXov, KpuKTuUf par grelot,et r^ciproquement, on croit que les instruments ainsi
*
"

"

"

nommds par lesGrecs et lesRoraains n'etaientpas ce que nous appelons des la ; grelots et, en efTct, figuredu grelotne se retrouve dans aucun monument i, d'une antiquitd bien etablie. Voy. P. A. Lampe, De Cymbalis veterum, lib. cap. 4, 7, 8, et fig., pp. 26 et 44, Holl., pet.in.l2."

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

243

to whom

confined. The falcon, and things pertaining to falconry,were certainlyamong the marks of it
was

grandeur with which the sovereigns and barons of the middle ages loved to surround themselves in their formal

in displays, and which alone were sufficient, the same manner the rank of the persons to as armorial bearings, to indicate
whom they belonged. In the tapestryascribed to Queen Matilda, Harold is seen travelling with his falcon on his

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
fist;and the Count

surmounted with threechase.* Besides, sceptres are like branched fleurons, those which form the ornament on hood.^ We also see hawks and falcons the top of a falcon's
ancient tombs; and it is not unlikely that they were there placed as indications rank before the introduction of conventional distinctions of armorial bearings. The same
on

in recent times ; forAnne still existencein much more de Montmorency made his entiy into London as ambassador of Francis I, preceded by twenty-six gentlemen of the besthouses of France^ each bearing a falcon on his fist ;* display, and even our kings themselves, on occasionsof grand Falconry were preceded by their falconersfullyequipped. it was not known to the ancients; but it iscertainthat was in use among the nations of the North before the conquest commemorates of the Gauls by the Franks. Sidonius Apollinaris
were

the skill a person named Vectius in the art of of trainingdogs, 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.

spectandis,circumferendis, ulli n accipitribm instituendis,

sccundus/**
be, bells however, would still ' if were The question, used ?' and it may be presumed in falconryat so earlya period that they were not so used until long afterwards. to by Breitkopf, are decorated German princes, referred as
*'

from the marks of high birth, on monuments towards century. Now, it was just eleventh to the thirteenth the closeof the eleventhcentury,that the intercoiu*se

with them

as

between Europeans and Orientals became more extended by means ; of the crusades and the invention of heraldryis of the same period. Armorial bearings,which originated expeditions and in tournaments, are not of came higher antiquitythan the eleventh century; theiruse beover-sea

in

frequentin the twelfth and, in the thirteenth, ; find them generally From the concurrence we established.^ of these circumstances,it may be concluded that bellsof thiskind were brought into Europe from the East, towards
more

the end of the eleventh century; and, that on their first introduction, the German nobility adopted them as marks from the idea of grandeur attachedto of distinction, either 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 thismark of nobihty fell into disusewhen heraldrycould supply its place by signs better adapted to the pride of the great,on account of theirindicating, gratify at the same time, both rank and personal distinction. The
SidoniusApollinaris, Epist. p. 245 de Tddit. 9, in-4de Savaron. Ce commcntatcurallegueun passage de Prosper,lib. cap. 17, de Vita contemplativa, iii, * il oil est aussiquestiond*oiseaux de et chiensde chasse: Utuntur accipitribus " ac saginatis canibusad venatum.* " "Suivant Fopinion la plus gen^ralement adoptee, et que partagerentVelser, Duchesne, Tauchet, Du Tillet,londel, les freres de Sainte-Marthe,Spelman, B le P. Mencstrier et autres. Voy. le Traits de VOrigine des Armoiries, ce de
"
"

dernier. Paris, 1679, in-12, pp. 53 et suiv."

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

245

to Bayeux tapestry, alreadyreferred as the work of Queen to confirm this opinion. The conquestof Matilda,seems England by William Duke of Normandy was achieved in

and the tapestryrepresentingit is supposed to be of the same century: and of thisthere could be no doubt, if itwere true that the work was executed by the wife of
1066
;

William, and her attendants.^ It may thus have been the first years before crusade, worked about twenty or thirty which was determined on at the councilof Clermont, held

by Urban
some no

the birds of chase which fist,ave h carryon their of the persons in thistapestry

II, in 1095.

Now,

there only the jesses, perceive or leathernstrings at with tassels the ends, which serve to without any appearance of retainthe bird.^ These jesses,

bellsat theirfeet. We

in easilyto be distinguished the compartment Dux Willelm : Cum which contains the inscription. Haraldo : Venit : Ad Palatin. If thisbe not evidence in Europe, it that bells thiskind were not then common of

bells, are

is at least proof that they were not then used in falconry, a although this sport had been practised for several centuries.'** Mons. Leber callsboth Spanish and German cards Tarots,even though they may contain no Atous ; which yet appear to have been the veiy pieces which Were more distinguishedas Tarocchi or Tarots; and from especially
a the use of which, in combination with other cards, particular kind of game was calledTarocchino,or Tarocchio. Thus, between distinguishing in consequence of hisnot sufficiently Spanish and German cards,he speaks of the marks which

broda en Henault : * Mathilde Sentiment adopts par le president de de I'expedition son d laine un monument qu'on voit dans I'^glisee Bayeux, de de rachever.* (Hist, Fr. mari en Angleterre; la mort ne luipermit pas sous lesann. 1067-74.)"
*
"
. . .

"

"

Voy. Fauconueric de G. Tardif." Leber, Etudes Histoiiquessur les Cartesa

"

pp. jouer, 80-4.

246
occur
on

PliAYJNG

CARDS.

Money

Swords and them indiscrimiiiately ; and explains as ifthey belonged to the same pack which has one

by Bells. His account of the of its suits distinguished " effect. The marks on the French cardsisto the following it itself; is a symbol of the most noble and C("urexplains indicates and more especially courage, generous sentiments, in the qualities most brilliant princes. and intrepidity, valour, from itsresemblance to the plant has its name The lV(^e or ; so-calledthough properlyitisa Flower,, rathera Fleuron
with threebranches,symbolicalof the mysterious number Three, which, in ancienttimes,was regarded with rehgious which contained veneration. This number being the first in itself he principal t of characteristics numbers, namely. O Unity and Plurality,dd and Even, became the symbol
"
"

virtues, such as Power, of a union of the most excellent Wisdom, Wisdom, Love ; and, by analogy. Sovereignty, Justice. Itis this three-branchedFleuron which appears on the monuments and of the French kings of the first

being badly designed second race; but,in consequence of its understood, it became confounded with the and worse
heraldicFleur-de-Lis,and is in fact now by displaced it. to have been better understood by the The Carreau scGms

French than theirneighbours,with whom

a precious stone, an jewel,

this figureis a ornamental article.The Enghsh

take itfor a diamond, and the Spaniards,for a jewel worn by ladies,or for the decoration of the toilet. Their error has doubtless arisenfrom the comparison which they between the Carreaux of cards and the figuresof precious stones which they had before their eyes.^ The made
to believe hatthe suit cardswhich vre call Diamonds t of was not so named in consequence of the mark being mistaken for the symbol a precious the same stone, but merely on account of itsform. The Dutch call of in Ruijt, consequence of itsform being likea lozenge-shaped suit pane of glass. The Diamonds on cards are, in Northumberland,more amongst the especially termed Fkks, in consequence of the acute angular points colUcrs,frequently
'

There isevery reason

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

247

diamonds and precious stones forming the ornaments of royal vestments, and of dresses of court ladies,have the form of carreaux, and are painted in vermilion, usually or in carmine in the manuscripts of the middle age; and this conventionalform, having been adopted by heralds,
introduced into armorial bearings as the made and lozenge. The Carreaux of cards, however, have no connexion than with diamonds and preciousstones, any more they have with the quarrellsor square-headed arrows of a
was

crossbow. The Carreau, as well as each of the other marks is of the suits, a symbol, and not a rebus. All iconoFortune as standing,upon one foot,on graphers represent
a

wheelor

idea was
a

her instability. The contrary ball, signify to of a necessarilyttached to the figure a square or
a

cube, considered as a firm and immoveable base. It was for this reason that the ancients placed the figureof Wisdom speaks in the same and Firmness on a cube ; and Aristotle

when he informs us that a true philosopherought to be square," carre that is to say, immoveable in courage and virtue. Heraldry has also admitted the square,placed
sense
"

of Constancy and Firmness ; and the Squares of cards,calledCarreaux, can only be supposed As to the Pique^ to have the same signification. there can be no doubt with respect to its meaning. It the head of a lance, and is thus an emblem of represents to have misforce. The Germans, however, seem conceived military
an

lozenge-wise,as

emblem

into

the character thisfigure, which they converted of Leaf, Griln;^ but this mistake, or rather this
"

"

Oros being something likethe Picks used in hewing coals. The Spanish name I by the Italiansknan appears to have been originally appliedto the suitcalled to oxDanari, without the leastreference the French Carreaux. ^T\ig mistakes

Mons. Leber's own. " German 6run, or The probability on the other side, is namely, that the covered Leaf,was the original the Prench Pique. No French cards hithertodisof Hearts, Leaves, and have Bells, are of so earlya date as those which Acorns as the marks of the suits.
on

this

appear to be exclusively subject

248

PLAYING

CARDS.

essays of t impossible distinguishhe figureof a leaffrom that of a to German cardswith pike-head. On comparing the earUest period,and with old woodshields arms, of the same of engravingswhich contain trees,it willbe immediately seen how easy itwas to confound the two forms. There is no

to difference, be ascribed theimperfection thepainting of may to in ancient cards; and more especially the coarseness in the first of wood-engraving, which itwas almost

differenceetween the Piques of cards and the leavesof b the tree on the rightof the woodcut of St. Christopherof the date 1423 ; and the Crequier^ of heraldryis precisely
of Pique^ in German cards of the fifteenth century. But whatever may have been the cause of this admitted that the Pique in anomaly, itis generally
the same
as

the

seven

French cards is the figure a weapon ; and itcan scarcely of be doubted that itwas the equivalent the Sword in the of Tarots. In thisrespect the Spanish and Itahan nomenclature In the is in perfect accordance with our own.

southernpartsof Europe the French Pique is La Picca or La SjpadaP Thus, according Mons. Leber, the four suits French to of : Cgeur, valour, cards hav6 the following ness greatsignification of soul; Trefle, wisdom and justice united with power; Carreau, firmness, stability, constancy; Pique, force,or the power of the military. The suits, physical four monarchies, as again, may be considered representing or political societies; namely,Cceurs,governedby a generous

and courageousprince Trebles, by ;

"

wise, just, sovereign

The Crcquicr a kind of wild plum-tree, is and itsleaves are borne as the familyarras of the house of Crequi. Armorialbearings this kind are called of " by French heralds. armoiries parlantei* " Mons. Leber shouldhave said " Sept de Griin;"but then this would have

destroyed anomaly which he was desirous illustrating thereisnothing the ; for of in the Leaves on German cardshavinga to auouuilous of resemblance theleaves tree. a purlicuhir

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

249

in ; and powerful Caereaux, by a king consistent principle, and decidedin action; and Piques, by a warlike prince, who owes his power to his arms.
Though Mons. writingon the subject he to referring cards themselves, is yet exceedingly prone to followDaniel'sexample ; and though his explanation the of

Leber has freely censured Daniel for from books, without of cards chiefly

meaning of cards be less extravagant than the symbolical latter's account of the originand signification the game of be called more ; of Piquet,it can scarcely reasonable since
both writersinterpret the marks on the cards according to their own conceit. The one informs us that the Trefle

that ought only to encamp in a place signifies a general which ; plenty of fodder forhis cavalry and the other says affords thatthe Carreau, which, as itstands,in the cards, seems the
firmness, stability, signifies of instability, on which seems to rest chiefly constancy; an! interpretation the ingenioushypothesis the Carreau being an emblem of

very emblem

of the cube. The variationswhich occur on mencement cards from the comas of the sixteenthcentury, either regards the
of the coat cards,throw marks of the suitsor the names have evidently no light on theirorigin; as such variations been introduced merely at the capriceof the card^maker in accordance vriththe prevalenttaste 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 their dress that variety colourwhich is to be in of cards of an earUerperiod,but which, at that time, appears to have been out of fashion. Such cards would in England in the use appear to have been in common
seen

on

earlypart of the reign of James I. In Rowland's 'Knave in his supof Hearts,'first printed in 1612, the Knave,

250

PLATING

CARDS.

to complains of the piebaldsuits plication the card-makers, In the which he and his fellowsare compelled to wear.^ and designationsof the Coat pack referredto the names I : cards are as follows

The Valet de Court has hishat under his arm ; the Valet a de Chasse holds a dog in a leash; the Valet d'Ete carries 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

of and fac-similes the Kings, Queens, and Valets, in their proper colours*are given in the Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numerales,*published
du Bibliotheque Roi
*

similes by the Society of Bibliophiles Fran9ais. From those facthe outlines the four Valets here given have been of

of given fac-similes coat cards executed in the reign of Louis XIII, and displayingthe costume of that period. The names given to the Kings,
same

copied. In the

work

are

those cards are : Coeur,Alexandre, Pentasilee[Penthesilea], Carreau, Cirus Major, Roland.

of the Valet wanting.^ Pir^ue,Jule Caesar,Pompeia, Roger. Each of the Aces is surrounded with an ornamental bordering;
;

Queens and Valets on

Roxane, Renault.

Ninus, Tt4jley

Semiramis

the

name

and at the foot is an inscription, which, when read le through all the four,is as follows;''Vive consecutively, 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 his mark. tODfcthcr with
"
*
"

^P. De Lestre
"

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 originallyuggested s if not copied from, an Oriental by, type ; more especially in the suitsof Danari and Bastoni, Money and Clubs. figure, In those cards the circular generally understood as
"

Danari, or Money, is certainly much more representing like the Chahra, or quoit of Vichnou, as seen in Hindospiece of coin ; while on the top of the Club there is a diamond proper,which is another of the attributesf the same deity. The dragon seen on each o Orientalin character; and the of the Aces is perfectly shields hich appear on the Kings and Queens are very w
a

tanee drawings, than

much like those which are to be seen in Hindostanee drawings. The coat cards in thispack are King, Queen, and Horseman ; and the suitsare Coppe, Danari, Bastoni, and Spade Cups, Money, Clubs proper,and Swords. The Queen, which here appears as the second coat card,is of
"

kind, and more especially in cardsof this unusualoccurrence in such as are of Spanish or Portuguese manufacture.^ In
two of the suits, Clubs and Swords,
"

"

in the act of encountering a dragon. have letters aces both at top and bottom, indicating the

the Queen appears The coat cards and

suit,and the rank or name of the card. Specimens of those cards,which appear to have been executed in 1693,
du preservedin the Bibliotheque Roi. The fourannexed cuts show the outlines of the four Valets. The letters
are

thereis no Queen ; me pack of modem Portuguese cards now before Leaves, and Acorns. The figures the coat of and the suitsare Hearts, Bells, that a head is cards are half-lengths and double" "de duas Cabepas;" so
*

In

always uppermost whichever way the card may be held. In a pack of modem Spanishcards,"" Naypes Rcfinos" alsowithout a Queen, the figures also are double; but the Cups, Money, suits are Copas, Oros, Spadas, and Bastos," Swords,and Clubs proper." On modern German cardsthe figures frequently are
"

d represented oublein the same

manner.

252

PLAYING

CARDS.

CC, CD,CB,CS, signify o the respectively Caballo,r Chevalier and Spade. of Coppe, Danari,Bastoni,

"

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

253

The most remarkablechanges thatcardshave midergone, to displayed them, are to be on with respect the characters found in certainpacks manufactured at Paris in the time of the Revolution. Specimens of the coat cardsof two of
those packs engraved by Chossonnerie and Gayant, in 1793-4, are given in the Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de CartesNumerales/ In one of them the places the Kings of are occupied by four Philosophers, namely, Moliere, La Fontaine,Voltaire, and J. J. Rousseau; the Queens are
'

i
i

J
i

"

by Temsubstituted the four Virtues,Prudence, Justice, ; perance, and Fortitude while the Valetsare supersededby fourRepublicans, one of whom is a grim-looking ruffian,ith w
turned up, brandishing red cap on, and his shirt-sleeves a pike; the second is a soldier armed with a musket; the in third an artilleryman and the fourth a young man, ;
a

1
\ \

"[

fancy costume, armed with a musket. In the other pack, fourSages, 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 thisdifference, that Temperance is displacedby Union; while four " Braves," Annibal,Horatius,P. Decius Mus, and
"

\
\
]

M. Scaevola, supply the placeof Valets. Another pack of Republican cards of the same period is thusdescribedby Peignot, in his Analyse de Recherches
'

\
'

sur

les Cartes a

jouer.*
'.

"For Kings we have Genii; for Queens, Liberties; King and for Valets, Equalities. In place of the la de of Hearts there is the Genius of War," 'G^nie Guerre.' This Genius, which is winged, is seated on he holds in the right hand a the breech of a cannon; left, a sword and a wreath of laurel,and in the *Pour la Bepuhlique shield,ound which is the inscription, r from the top, Frangaise* On the right,read vertically is the word 'Force: At the feet of the Genius are a

^
\ 1

254
bomb,
a

PLATING

CARDS.

lighted match, and a heap of bullets. At the * tion. bottom of the card is the inscription,Par brevetd^invenNaume et BugoueCy au Genie de la Eep.fran^*

"

Cultes,' For the Queen of Hearts : Libert^ des Liberty. This is a female seated,very badly Religious draped, and with her legs bare. She holds a pike surmounted
"
*

with a red cap ; and on a bannerol attached to Towards her feetare tliepike are the words *Dieu seuV ' three volumes, inscribed Thalmud,' Coran/ and seen is, Fraternite! inscription Evangile' The vertical
* ' '

* "Knave of Hearts : Egalit^ des Devoirs,' Equality of Duties. This is a soldierseated on a drum, with his musket between his knees. In his lefthand he holds
"

paper containing the words, inscription ' Securite' is vertical

a
"

'

Pour

la patrie!

The

King of Spades : ' G"nie des Arts,'" the Genius of Arts. The figure Apollo with a red cap on his head; in of hand he holds the Belvederestatue of himself, one and in At inscription * Gout* the other a lyre. The vertical : the bottom, emblems of painting, and such like. sculptm'e, " Queen of Spades : * Libert^ de la Presse,' Liberty
"

of the Press. A female figure with a pen in one hand, and with the other sustaininga desk, on which liesa rollof the words ' Morale^ paper partly unfolded,and displaying
Religion^ Philosophie, Physique^ Politique, Ilistoire! At

the bottom, masks, rolls manuscript,and such like. of Equality "Knave of Spades: 'Egalit^ de Rangs,' of Ranks. The figureof a man whose costume accordsrather
"

' Septemhriseur' than with that of a mere with that of a ' SanS'Culotte the period. He wears of and has a red sabots, cap on hishead. He has no coat on, and his shirt-sleeves are tucked up to the are loose elbows. His small-clothes at the knees, and hislegs are bare. He isseated on a large stone, on which is inscribed:'Demolition de la Bastille.

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

255
a

scrollinscribed Noblessey and displayingshields of arms. The vertical is inscription 'Puissance'

*

10 Aout, 1792/

Under

his feet is

G^nib de la Paix/ Genius of "King of Clubs: Peace. In his right hand he holds the 'Fasces*and an in the lefta scrollcontaining the word olivebranch, and inscription s Prosperite' i 'Lois' The vertical
*
"

'

"Queen of Clubs: 'Liberty du Mariage/ Liberty of Marriage. The figure of a female holding a pike surmounted attachedto the with the red cap ; and on a scroll inscriptions i pike is the word 'Divorce! The vertical
"

'

Pudeur!

On
"

n entirelyaked, Modesty.
"Knave

pedestalis a statue of the crouchingVenus without doubt intended for the emblem of
"

of Clubs: 'Egalit^ de Droits,' ^EquaUty of in one hand in Rights. A judge tricolorostume, holding c
containing the pair of scales,and in the other a scroll inscription 'La hi pour tons! He is trampUng on a
a

serpent or dragon, the tortuous folds of which represent legal i inscriptions Justice! chicanery. The vertical
'

the "King of Diamonds: *GiSnie du Commerce,' Genius of Commerce. He is seatedon a largebale,which ' contains the inscription P, B, d!inv,/. D. a Paris! In one hand he holds a purse, and in the other a caduceus
"

is inscription ' Bichesse! and an olive-branch. The vertical At the bottom are an anchor,the prow of a ship,a portfoho, and such like. "Queen of Diamonds: 'Libert:!^des Professions,'
figure who, and Trades. A female "Liberty of Professions h in the same manner as the other three Liberties, olds a pike surmounted with the red cap. With the other hand she holds a cornucopiseand a scroll containing the word
'

i Patentes! The vertical inscriptions 'Industrie! ''Knaveof Diamonds : 'Egalit6 de Couleurs,'" Equality

256

PLAYING

CARDS.

and leaning of Negro, seated, upon of Colours. The figure a * Near to him are \ Below is the word Ca/e.' a musket. for iron collars the neck, a a sugar-loaf,broken yoke, fetters,
'

i inscriptions * Courage,* and such like. The vertical " Such are the coat cards of thisRepublican pack. The as the old ones, with the numeral cards are the same by four fasces exceptionof the Aces, which are surrounded * Za Loi. Rep, with these words: placed lozcnge-wise, necessary Frang./the whole colouredblue. It is scarcely to say that those ridiculousards had not even a momentary c vogue." The coat cards of a Republican pack, of recent American by a friend, manufacture, have been forwarded to me
1

of the maker, residentat New York. From the name R. Sauzade, which occurs on the Ace of Spades, I am inclinedto 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 Presidentof the United States; Cluhs, Franklin; Spades, La Fayette. For the Queens: Hearts, Venus,
"
"

modestly concealingher charms with

mantle,in
Paris,

Peigiiot,nalyse de Reclierches A sur lesCartes a

jouer, 288-90. pp.

manners

1826.

a periodicalntitled e Corsaire:* "Les cartes en vogue jusqu'aa revolutionfurent totalement l *Le abandonndcspendant les tcrriblcs anndcs dc notre bouleverscmentpolitique. Le boston,le grave wisth,le s^millant plus conservesque reversis,*6toicnt n bons bourgeois, ont ilsn'avoient d doute enflamm^ les sans chcz quelques jamais
"

Tte followingpassage relative the change of to the Revolutionis quoted by Mons. Peignot from

ceeded which suc-

dans quelquesvieilles ou passions, maisons du Marais et du faubourg SaintGermain. La bouillotte ii'^toit guere connue que de quelques marchands ; et Topinionpublique meme fl^trissait dont une ignobleavidity ceux comproraettoit la fortune. La mode avoit mis en faveurla conversation, soirees les musicalcs,
.

dansantes. L'ecart^ a paru, et ce jeuniais et insipide fait les soirees a revivre parmi nous toutes les fureursdu gothique lansquenet. Plus de conversation, le en du jour plus de danses; la senate ou la romance sont interrompuespar

des joucursle bal est desert, ou ; n'est plus peuple que de vieux amateurs ; tandis que lajeunesse s'emprcsseautour dcs tablesd'ecarte."

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

257

w accordance ith American notions of delicacy.Diamonds^ The Knaves Fortune ; Clubs,Ceres ; Spades, Minerva. by Four Indian chiefs. The figures are represented appear
to be engraved
on

of the suits are use in England.

copper, and are coloured. The marks the same as those on the cardsin common

Those cards,I am informed,are held in by the card-playersf America, who continue no estimation o to preferthose of the old pattern. ^The chief town in
"

America for the manufacture of cards is Boston ; whose discreet, to meeting-goingpeople seem to have no
make
a

objection

by profit supplyingthe profanewith the instruments

"

instructive" have ever obtained character ; popularity amongst regularcard-playersfor when people sit down to play at cards they do not liketo have their or attentionwithdrawn from the game by the historical biographical reminiscences suggestedby Coat cards,either or morating containingportraits f distinguished characters, commeo remarkable events ; and leastof allcan they bear that the heads of a sermon or moral lecture sented should be preto them in the shape of the four cardinal ; virtues

of perdition. No cardsof an

in appropriate a pack of cards as they Theatre. would be on the proscenium of her Majesty's The best of the costume cards that I have seen are those
which
are as just

designed by Armand

Houbigant,

" Cartes Royales,"and named them XVIII, a licenseto manufacture them for generaluse, in 1818. They did not, however, acquireany vogue, and are now of seldom to be met with, except in the collections

French artist, who obtained from Louis

etched,and delicately coloured by hand, displaythe costume of the French Court at four different periods. The characters
are as follows. represented Sjoades, King, Charlemagne,

amateurs of prints. The coat cards, which

are

"Carolus Magnus;"
17

258

PLAYING

CARDS.

in the right crowned, and seatedon a throne,with a globe hand, and a long sceptrein the left. Queen, Hildegarde, second wife of Charlemagne ; erect, crowned, and holding book in her hands. Knave, Roland, described in a
"

"

the nephew of Charlemagne ; and said to have been killedat the battle of Roncevalles in 778 ; holding a spear and shield, which appears and clothed in armour,
romances
as

ratherto belong to the sixteenthcentury than to the time of Charlemagne.

Diamonds,

King, Louis IX,

"

SainctLoys

;"

crowned,

seated on a throne, wearing a blue robe powdered with in hand. Queen, fleurs-de-Ks, having a sceptre his left and
"

Castille, wife of Louis VIII, and mother of St. Louis; erect, crowned, and holding a rosary in her righthand. Knave, Sire de Joinville, the biographerof Blanche
de
"

Louis IX, and

one

over chain-mail, Clubs, King, Francis I ; seated, wearing the broad bonnet in which he is usuallyrepresented,and holding a

of the nobles of his court ; clothedin which is a surcoat of arms.

Valois, de sceptre. Queen, Marguerite Navarre, sister Francis I ; erect, holding a of

"
"

Queen
rose

of in her

righthand. Knave, Bayard ; in plate-armour, leaning on " a kind of pedestalon which is inscribed Sans peur, sans

seated, holding a sceptre, hat and wearing the characteristic and feather which, in Queen, Jeanne modem times,are designatedby hisname.
;
"

reprocJie** Hearts, King, Henry

TV

d'Albret, mother of Henry IV ; erect, holding a fan in her righthand." Knave, Sully ; bald and bearded, as he is

in in holding hisrighthand usuallyrepresented engravings, " a paper inscribed Economic Boy}

..,.**

a description tlic demy same of cards by Mons. Amanton, member of the Acais s of Dijon, given in Peignot's Analyse, p. 291 : "Dans ce jeu,"ays Mons. Amanton, "Ics portraits dcs roissont iihs les costumes du ressemblans,

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

259

A set of Picture Cards, published by Cotta,the bookseller of his Card Almanacs of Tubingen, in one ' is noticed by Mons. Peignot* The Karten Almanach' has chosen for the coat cards the principal designer ters charac"
"

Joan of Arc, and has clothedthem, as well in Schiller's as he could,in the costume of the period. The King of HeartsisCharles VII; the Queen, Isabella of Bavaria;
the Knave, La Hire.
"

The King

"

commander, Talbot, dying ; the Knave, Lionel, taking away the sword of Joan of Ai-c. The King of Diamonds is Philip, Duke of Burgundy ;

of Clubs is the EngUsh the Queen, Joan of Arc ;

the Queen, Agnes Sorel ; the Knave, Raimond, a villager. The King of Clubs is R^n^ of Anjou, with the crown at of of Sicily his feet; the Queen, Louise, sister Joan of
"

his knees, and on and the Knave, Montgomery, weeping. The low cards from 1 to 10 alsocontain fanciful designs but with the so arrangedthatthe numbers ; subjects distinguished. The and marks of the suits can be readily

Arc;

of of Clubs is an illustration Burger's back, balladof Leonore ^Death armed, and mounted on horseappears to be threatening with his dart a young woman yard, who ridesbehind him ; the scene is laidin a churchof subjectthe Pour
"

and a skeleton appears crawling towards an open grave. The mark of the suitis seen on four crosses in the Cotta's Card Almanack firstappeared in churchyard. It was published continued for several years. as a small pocket volume of a square form ; and the illustrations cards, the mark of consistedentirely fanciful
1806, and
was
"

of the suit being always introduced into each

subject,

en Icsnoma des personnagcs sont dcrits caractemps bien observes; et mcme Malgrc la perfection tcresde I'^criture usage dans le si^cle ils ou en ont vecu. du travail, jolis I'emporter sur les ancieunes images indessins n*ont pu ces formes, d I'enfancc e Tart; tant la forcedc I'habitudcst tyrane qui rappellent nique."

260

PLATING

CAEDS.

The designs forthe cardsin eitherby hook or by crook. are four volumes, from 1806 to 1809 inclusive, the first by a lady. ^Numerous packs of said to have been made fancy cards have appeared in Germany sincethe commencement displaying costume, of the present century; some
"

eminent characters, ancientand modem ; some representing to the illustration trades and proof fessions. and others devoted In one of them, published at Frankfort-on-the-

Maine, in 1815, in memory of the principal events military figures as the Knave of 1813-14, the Duke of Wellington
of Diamonds, Clubs.
and

Marshal Blucher

as

the Knave

of

imitated, In 1811 two different c packs of caricatureards, from the picture-cards inCotta'sAlmanack, or rather adapted, appeared in England. The one was published by S. and J.
Rathbone place,London ; and the other,by Jones, Fuller, C at the Repositoryof Arts,Market hill, ambridge. Neither intended for the purposes of play. of those packs was
They have very much the appearance of having been designed by the same artist. On the Avrapperof both packs

is the inscription the same ; " Metastasis. Transformation of Playing-cards." A set of costume cards was published by Ackermann, in the 'Repositoiy of Arts,'in 1806: a
"

description them would be just interesting as of particular in La BelleAssemblee' of the as a description the plates of
*

same

period.

A pack of cards published by Baker and Co., in 1813, more requires 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, EclecticCards, for England, Ireland,Scotland, Company of and Wales ; being a Selectionor an Eclectic

Twelve of the most eminent Personages, that ever distinguished in themselves thoserespective for Countries, Heroic

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

261

deeds,Wisdom, "c. And the other Forty Cards descriptive of the Local and National Emblems of the Four
Nations.
P Historian,oet, Painter, combine. all To charm the eye, the taste and mind refine ; Fancy and sentiment theiraid impart. To raisethe genius,and to mend the heart."

largerthan those in These cards,which are considerably display considerableskilland fancy in the use, common beautifully coloured. Hearts and Diamonds as marks of two of the suits;but Acorns are are retained for Clubs; and instead of Spades there is a substituted designs, and
are
"

true representation the real Spata, which is not of

a

coal-

two-edged heavy sword, without a point,as used by the ancient Britons to fightwith ; cut, hew, and slash down, eitherenemy or tree. So says our
ancienthistory."A fac-simile thisformidable of in weapon is here subjoined,order that the for himself of itspeculiar reader may judge

heaver's spade, but

fitnessor cutting, f hewing, or slashingdown. It has very much the appearance of a heavy from the Carron foundry, new cast-metal article,
and of modern

Gothic design.

scriptive In the deare

pamphlet, the coat cards explained:

"FOR ENGLAND.

thus

King

the of Clubs, ^Arthur,

" "

Hero, Great and Victorious

King of Britain. Queen the Wise and VirtuousQueen ofClubs, ^Elizabeth, of England.

Knight, John Falstaff, Facetious the and companion of Henry V, Knight of England.
Knight

"Sir ofClubs,

262

PLAYING

CARDS.

FOE

IRELAND.

King

Prince, the King of ofHearts, Gathelus, Grecian

"

Ireland.
hisWife, the Egyptian PrinHearts, cess, Queen of ^^coi\% Queen of Ireland. KniffJd Hearts. Ossian, the Warrior and Poet, Son

of

"

of Fingal,Knight of Ireland.
FOR

SCOTLAND.

Kinff

Achaius, the fortunate Contemporary, w and in allianceith Charlemagne, King of Scots. Diamonds. Mary Stuart, the unfortunate* Queen

of Diamonds, of

"

"

Dowager Queen of France, and Queen of Scots. Knight Diamonds. Meriin, the Magic Prophet,

of

"

Cabinet Counsellorto Vortigern,Aurelius Ambrosius, Uter

Pendragon, the Father of King Arthur, and to King Arthur, who was hisPupil,Knight of Scotland.
FOR
WALES.

King

ofSpata,
"

Camber, the thirdSon of Brute, King

"

of Cambria. Queen Queen of Mona, t ofSpata. Elfrida,he beautiful and of the Mountains. ^Thaliessin, Welch Bard and Poet, the dressed likea Herald or King at Arms of the Divine and
Knight

ofSpata.
"

Ancient Druids,as he sang to King Henry II of the great deeds of Arthur,the justly Isle, termed hero of the British Knight of Cambria.''
"

In the selection which we have made,'* say the proprietors, to form our set of court cards,we have chosen
"

from among those characterswho have rendered themselves most conspicuous in the historyof the United Kingdom. In this particular, have had recourse we not
them
truth, which we have rigidlyobserved, only to historical but we have taken care to fix upon personages,who lived at different periods,and which are calculatedin colour.

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

268

features, form an to varietyof dress, and characteristic and elegantcontrast, and to avoidthatunpleasant agreeable monotony which must have taken placeifthey had allbeen from the same period of time ; and itwill be a selected
to gratification us, in our attempts to form a set peculiar to of cards,should we contribute in the smallestdegree, amusements of taste and augment the elegantand rational fashion.

been inattentiveo minor t in objectsour ithas never been anxietyto complete the plan. We believe
"

Nor have

we

attempted to be explainedwhy the coarse and vulgar appellatio of knave, was originally iven to the card next in g degree to the queen. Perhaps the following demonstration is the most plausible way in which itcan be accounted for.
usual with kings in ancient times to choose some ludicrous person,with whose ridiculous and comical tricks from the in they might be diverted theirhours of relaxation,

It was

and formalities royalty. This person was generally of but not wholly chosen from among men of low condition,
cares

destitute talent, in of of particularly thatspecies low cunning to and the and humour calculated excite mirth and laughter, tricks knavery (in which he was allowed freeindulgence of in the presenceof the king), of gave him the appellation the king's fool, knave, or from whence be the "Whether this explanation really origin the knave in the old cards is derived, remain unmay still determined,but it appears to us the most rational way of
to accountingforit. Nor isit indeed essential our present is unpurpose ; the name of knave in our opinion vulgar, absolutely meaning, and inconsistent, and being moreover

incompatiblewith the dignity our characters, and the of it, and stituted uniformityof our plan,we have entirely rejected suba knight in itsstead. This being a title honour, of
to not only in immediate succession thatof king and queen.

264

"

PLAYING

CARDS.

as but isever considered itself/'

an

honorable appendage to royalty

About 1819,

drawn satirical cards, set of cleverly with

against o and in the Nine of Hearts,portraits f Chateaubriand and introduced as are other persons, both lay and clerical, advocatesof the old order of things; in the background
are
"

as the marks of the suitsintroduced in the same manner in Cotta's cards, appeared at Paris. Their satireis directed the political party then in the ascendant;

scriptio the ruins of the Bastille, and at the foot is the inLes Immohiles** The coat cards of the suitof
"

consist of figures representing three popular " Constitutionnel," a figurein Roman : King, journals

Hearts

scribed defending a column incostume, with sword and shield,

Charte constitutionneh Libertc de la Presse, LiberieIndividuelle. des Elections, Loi ^ Tolerance Queen,
"

"

MiNERVE,"

"

" of the in proper costume. The coat cards of Spades are r King, " Conservateur," a Jesuit with a sword in one hand, and a torchin the other. Queen, ** Quotidienne," holdingin her left an old woman hand a book inscribed,
"

Minerva puttingto flight evil spirits certain " PartiePrctre."~Knave, Figaro,*'" the character
"

Chretiennequotidienne and in her right an "^ is about to clap upon a figure extinguisher,hich she of w ** Truth seen emerging from a well Knave, Bazile," figure Chateaubriand, clerical in of costume, but conceaUng
"

'^

Pensee

Jesuit's under his robe ; besidehim is a brayingass, cap its knees. Clubs: King, " D"bats,"" the Editor on endeavouring to carry two large bags, the one inscribed,
a
"

Debate** and the other " Empire

;*'

t in the distance,wo
"
"

asses a

mutuallycaressingach other. Queen, Gazette/' e hard-featured lady, old with a pen in her hand, at a writing
near

table :
"

to her a magpie in a cage. Knave, "Clopineaij,"

are

the figureof Talleyrand towards the top ;

the signs

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

265

zodiac which he had already ofthe political passedthrough. In the only pack which I have had an opportunityof examining Queen of Diamonds is wanting. The reprethe sentative
of the King is the Moniteuk/* a brazen head on a kind of pedestal,ound which are stuck flags r of various indicative the different colours, of parties hose cause the w
"
"

paper had advocated. Knave, "Don Quichotte," the Don, with shield a and lance, attacking wnidmill: the person intendedby thisfigureI have not been able to discover.^
"

With respect to the common names three of the first Deuce, and Tray, itmay be observed numeral cards, ^Ace, in almost everycountry thatthe term Ace or As iscommon in Eiu-opeas the designation the One at cards and that of -^ Two and Three,may the terms Deuce and Tray, signifying
"

"

have been derivedeitherfrom the Spanish Dos and Tree,

Mons. Peignot,in his 'Analyse de Recherches sur les Cartes ItJouer/ 1826,after scribed thus speaksof the satirical noticingCottars cards, cardsabovede" C*estsans doute ce recuoil a dound lieua un jcu cartes trb: dc qm le titre Cartesa rire ce de a Paris ily a sept a huit ans, sous malin, j public doit dc M. D. C sous le ministere autant que jepuis me le rappcler, etre,
"

On attribuc jcu M. A ii ce C. A. D. C. D. D. 0. Toutcs Icscartes, soit h. dcs figures des dessinscharraans, pcrsonnages,soit numdriques,prdsentent ingenieusement Mais I'esprit tres-plaisantes. satjrique groupies,des attitudes y est poussd a Texcesj et ce n'est point avec de parcillesaricaturesu'on q c h. lesFraupais."p. 297. I'union parviendra rdtablir parmi ' According to Pere Daniel,the Ace or As is the Latin As, a piece of Bullet derivesit from the Celtic, says that it money, coin,riches wliile j and
"

beginning, source, the first.A Prench writerof the sixteenth origin, in 'Paradoxes,* century,supposed to be Charles Stephens, a work entitled Nara, a printed Paris in 1553, says thatthe Ace, or "Jz ought to be called at
means a word which,in German, signifiesfool." The German word which he alludes Ace. to isNarr, to as which isjust likely have been the origm of Deuce as of It has alsobeen from the Greek supposed that the term Ace has been derived One j Pollux, word ivoff, signified in the Ionicdialect which,accordingto Julius but as the the Ace that an word 6voq also signified Ass, ithas been conjectured but as signifying dicewas so called, as a designation unity, of cardsand of not an Ass or a Pool. Those the latter opinionare saidby Hyde who entertained " to be Asses themselves: Qui unitatem asinum dicunt errant, et ipsisunt Etudes Orient,lib. pp. asmi," (JDeLudis ii.)--Lebcr, Historiques, 39, 86.

266
or

PLAYING

CARDS.

from the French Deux and Trots, The Deuce of cards, has no connexion with the term Deuce itmay be observed, used in the famiUar expression to play the Deuce ;" in or which itis synonymous with the Devil, an evilspirit, and
as
"

isof Northern origin. In some partsof the country,the Deuce, though lower in value,is consideredto be a more fortunatecard than the Tray; and "There*s luck in the in the Tray," is a frequent expression Deuce, but none
w amongst old card-players,ho
remark as with an occasional Northumberland, the Four of Hearts at Whist is sometimes wood,"* and is consideredby old ladies called Hob Colling
"

like to enliven the game they lay down a card. In

unlucky card. As far as memory can trace, according to Captain Chamier, in his novel entitledthe Aretlmsa,' by sailors the deviFs the Four of Clubs has been called
an
* "

bedpost." In Northamptonshire, accordingto a writerin 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 in particularly the county of Kilkenny, the Six of Hearts is known by the
name
"

of

that name

of the name to royalfavour, espouse the cause of William III,gave the following answer, writtenon the back of the Six of Hearts,
to
an
"
"

Grace's card ;" and it is said to have acquired from the followingcircumstance. A gentleman of Grace, being solicited,ith promises of w

emissary of Marshal Schomberg's, who had been Tell your commissioned to make the proposalto him : his offer and that honour and conscience master I despise ; a are dearerto a gentleman than all the wealth and titles princecan bestow."
The Nine of Diamonds is frequently called the
" '
"

Curse

Brockett*s Glossaryof North Country Words. Singer's Rcsearclics, 271. p.

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

267

i traditions thatitobtained of Scotland;" and the common in consequence of the Duke of Cumberland this name having writtenhis sanguinaryordersfor military execution, battle of Culloden, on the back of a Nine afterthe of This card, however, appears to have been Diamonds. known in the North as the Curse of Scotland" many years before the battle of Culloden; for Dr. Houstoun,
*'

speaking of the state of partiesin Scotland shortlyafter the rebelUon of 1715, says that the Lord Justice-Clerk Ormistone, who had been very zealousin suppressingthe

rebelhon,and oppressing the rebels, became universally hated in Scotland, where they calledhim the Curse of Scotland; and when the ladies were at cards playing the
"

Nine of Diamonds, (commonly the Curse of Scotland) called it they called the JusticeClerk."^

In the ' Gentleman's Magazine'for1786, a correspondent on offersthe following heraldic conjecture the subject.

which of at cards, I have never heard any explanationof. I mean the Nine of Diamonds being calledthe Curse of Scotland. Looking lately I over a book of heraldry, found nine diamonds, or
m expressionade
lozenges,
cross

**

There is a

common

use

or, conjoined,
"

G langiiage.ules,a in the heraldic

of Packer. Colonel of lozenges, to be the arms Packer appears to have been one of the personswho was on the when Charles the Firstwas beheaded, and scaffold and is recordedto have afterwardscommanded in Scotland,
"

is acted in his command with considerableseverity. It be that his arms possible might, by a very easy metonymy, calledthe Curse of Scotland;and the Nine of Diamonds, at to in being very similar, figure, them, might have cards, ever the appellation."Another correspondent sinceretained o says that he has always understood that the applicationf
"

Dr. Houstoun*s Memoirs of his own

Lifetime, 92. p.

Edit.1747.

268

PLAYING

CARDS/

"the Curse of Scotland,"to the nine of the expression, than the year 1707 ; and that he diamonds was not earlier thinks it more probable that the nine lozengesin the arms who made the Union, should have given of the Earl of Stair, of Packer. In the same riseto the phrase,than the arms " Magazine, for 1738, we have One more concerning

conjecture

It is syllogistic form, in the Nine of Diamonds." 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 the utmost detestation 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,' duodecimo a volume, printedabout 1770, the following solutionis given,
'

which is perhaps as near the truth as any of the preceding Q. conjectures. Pray why isthe Nine of Diamonds called the Curse of Scotland? J, Because the crown of Scotland
"

had but nine diamonds in it,and they were never ableto get a tenth." The word Trump, signifying card of the suitwhich has a
being the superiority certaingames, such superiority at determined by hazard, is derived either from the French
Trioniplie, the Spanish Triunfoat cards, these words or : have precisely the same meaning as the English Trump.'

With the French, Triomphe is of a game at alsothe name cards; and in England the old game of Ruff seems alsoto
A writerof the age of Queen Elizabeth the would appear to have foreseen "Card Controversy,"which within the last 150 great years has occupied so be many "learnedpens :" "It shall lawfulfor coney-catchersto fall together by the ears, about the four Knaves of Cards,which of them may claimsuperiority; false diceor true be of the most liament The PennylcssParand whether antiquity."" Tliread-bare Poets. of * The Prench alsocall the Trump Atour-'* Coupez : Cceurest Atou." Cut :
"

Heartsare Trumps.

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

269

Trump have been called

At Gleek,the Ace was called Tib ; the Knave, Tom ; and the Four, Tlddy. The Five and Six appear to have been respectively called Tumbler, and to have counted double when Towser and the Enave appears in his proper turned up. At All-Fours,
or
a serving-man,not a characterof Jack, cheat, or rogue. At certaingames the Knave of Clubs is called Pam.
"

Triumph.^

appliedto the celebrated nated publiccharacterwhom Byron is supposed to have desig" in one of the cantos of a moral chimney-sweep,** as Don Juan.^ Most of the terms in the game of Ombre
name

A few years ago the

was

are

Spanish.
Formerly
a

" Pair of a pack of cards was usuallycalled cards;" and itappears deservingof remark, thatthe Italians in cisely use the word Pajo, a which properlysignifies pair, pre-

when applied to a pack of cards, Pajodi carte. In the time of Queen Elizabeth a pack of In cards appears to have been sometimes calleda bunch.
sense
"

the same

the time of Charles II the term " Pair of Cards" fellinto instancesof itsemdisuse; and perhaps one of the latest ployment is to be found inPoorRobin's Almanac for1684,

ductory in under the month December, where the writer, his introlaments the dechne of good housekeeping in verses, the houses of the rich:
"The kitchenthat a-cold may be. fire For little you in itmay see. Perhaps a pair of cardsisgoing. And that'sthe chiefestatter doing." m

The French calla pack of cards

"

"

TinJeu de cartes,^*
"

the Ruff, or Trump ; also, Ruff,or Trump "Triomphe : the card-gamecalled French and English Dictionary. at it.""Cotgrave's " William King, In 'The Toast,' satirical a poem writtenabout 1730,by Dr. Principal St.Mary's Hall,Oxford, Dr. Hort, Archbishopof Tuam, iscalled of Lord Pam. He is alsocalled Pam by Swift.

270

PLAITING

CARDS.

game, or play of cards; and the Gennan name, *'EinSpiel Karteriy'has the same hteralmeaning as the French. As the of thiswork isnot to teach peoplehow to

object

those who wish forinformation, with respect play at cards, to to the diiSerent games, are referred Cotton's Complete Gamester,'Seymour, Hoyle,and the Academic des Jeux,'
"

taking with them thispieceof advice:

"He who hopes at Cards to win, Must never thinkthat cheating's ; sin To make a trickwhene'er he can.

No matter how, should be hisplan. No case of conscience must he make, how he may save his stake; Except
The only of object hisprayers, Not to be caught,and kicked down stairs.**'
"

it With respect themanufactureof cards, would appear to both in Germany and Italy, to have been a regularbusiness,
been asserted that about 1420 ; but, though ithas generally the earliest use were cards for common engraved on wood,

thereisyet reason to believe thatthey were at first executed by means ; ofa stencil and that the method of engravingthe on outlines wood was of subsequentintroduction.However

thismay be,itiscertain that the art of wood-engraving was at an earlyperiod appliedto the manufacture of cards,and thatin Germany, in the latter century, quarterof the fifteenth
the term
or

or Briefmaler, Briefdrucker, card-printer,

" "

card-painter ^was commonly used to signifya woodengraver. From the importation of playing cards into England being prohibited an act of parliamentin 1463, by
as

to the injurious interests nativetradesmen of

facturers, and manuit might be concluded that at that time the

.

'

"Discineta tunicafugiendumest; Ne nummi pereant. Dcprcndimiserum est.** Houat.

.

"

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

271

in manufactureof cards was established thiscountry. No however, ofundoubted English manufacture of so early cards, a date have yet been discovered. In the sixteenth century,
to believe that most of the cards used in there is reason lands. England were imported eitherfrom France, or the NetherIn the reign of Elizabeth the importationof cards
.

monopoly;^ but from the time ofher successor James I, itwould appear that most of the cards used in thiscountry were of home manufacture. From the reign of Charles II
was a

directlyr indirectly, to the present time, cards have,either o

been

to subjecta
a

duty.
an
^^un

In France, by
1581,
tax of

ordonnance dated 21st February, ecu was sou'^ 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

By an ordonnance each pack of cards intended for home use. of of the 14th January, 1G05, the exportation cards was turers, prohibited; but, as a compensation to the manufacthe duty on cards forhome consumption was reduced. in sequence As the collection the duties was rendered difficult conof different of the manufacturers residingin so many it time, determined that the only places, was, at the same
on, be carried placeswhere the manufacture of cards might Limoges, should be Paris,Rouen, Lyons, Toulouse,Troyes, the same and Thiers in Auvergiie. Shortly afterwards,

Romans, and was privilege accorded to Orleans, Angers, it Marseilles and, by way of recompense to other places, ; determined that the tax should be expended in the was haAing estaencouragement of manufactures. Louis XV,
in Alea, first Pascasius Justus mentions in liis published 1560, thata certain for ten years of the sale merchant,having obtainedfrom Charles V a monopoly the great demand of cards in Spain,became extremely richin consequence of
"

for them.

272

PLAYING

CARDS.

in the money Wished the EcoleMilitaire,1751,orderedthat by should be appliedto its support. raised the tax on cards,
The company, or guild, card-makers of Paris was supof pressed a in 1776, but re-established few months afterestablishmentappears to wards. The periodof theirfirst In theirstatutesof the year 1594, they call be unknown. Tarotiers? In Russia,at the presentday, the themselves manufacture of cards is a royal monopoly. A few months
ago a paragraph appeared in the LiteraryGazette,stating thatthough 14,400 packs were manufactured daily, the yet had supplywas unequal to the demand, and that a petition

liberal been presentedto the emperor praying for a more from derived issue. In Mexico a considerable was revenue a tax on cards and itwould appear to be still roductive, ; p as the notwithstanding unsettledstate of the country, itis by a of those which have been appropriated, d interim, the American commander-in-chief.
one

Most of the cardsengraved on copper are merely " cartes de fantaisie,*' designed ratherfor the entertainment the of
than forthe ordinary wealthyclasses, purposesofplay. Until a comparatively recent period the coat cards, after
more

having been printed in outline from wood blocks,were coloured by means of stencils;but at present, in this
country,the coloursare allapplied by means of the press. The following account of the manner of making cardsat the

manufactory of Messrs. De La Rue and Company, of London, is extracted from Bradshaw's Journal, No. 24, ICth April, 1842.
is paration attention, the preof the paper intended to be formed into cards. It isfound thatordinary paper,when submittedto pressure,
"

The first

that object engages

our

Encyclop6die Mdthodique, mot, Cartier. An account of the subsdquent ' legislationPrance,with respectto in is cards, to be found in the Manuel du Cartonnier, du Fabricant Cartonnages,* 224-37. Paris, de 1830. et pp.
"

DIFFERENT

KINDS.

273

degree of polish, but not sufficient a for acquires certain finest t quality. In order therefore hat of playing-cards the imparted, itmay admit of the high finish which isafterwards the paper is prepared by a white enamel colom*, consisting
This substance, hich w of animal sizeand othercompounds. impermeable to theatmosphere, laid by is on the renders paper to brush,and left dry by exposureto theatmosphere. a large The paper being ready for use, we proceed to explain
"

the printing the fronts the cards, of which of as distinguished pips and tefes.
"

are

technically

e. the with the simpler, pips (i. the hearts, are produced, diamonds, and clubs:) setsof blocks spades,

To

commence

"

card; and as the is printing employed,forty method of letterpress ordinary impressions one card are obtained at the same moment. of black or red,they are As the pips bear but one colour, or worked togetherat the hand-press, at one of Cowper's
one

fortyengravingsof containing each

steam printing machines.

h e. "For the tetes, owever (i. the court cards), which,with the outline, contain fivecolours dark blue, lightblue, black, contrivance red,and yellow, a somewhat diflerent
"

"

isemployed. The coloursare printed separately, and are in into each other with great nicety, the same made to fit manner or as in printing silks paper-hangings. For this w purposea series blocks are provided, hich,if united, of intendedto be produced. By printing would form thefigure fall from theseblocks, the different colours into

successively their proper places, ntilthe whole processis completed. u Greatcare is of course necessary causingeach coloured in impressiono fit itsproper place, thatitmay neither so in t nor leaveany part unprinted overlap upon ; but as another, thehand-press employed,the workman isenabledto keep is by eachcolourin register means of pointsin the tympan of thepressor on the engraving.
18

274
"

PLAYING

CARDS.

The whole operation f printing thepressbeing comat o pleted, to drying-rooms, heated are next carried the sheets to about 80" Fahrenheit, and are allowed to remain there threeor fourdays,in order to fixthe colours.
"The successful g of printing playing-cardsreatlydepends inks which are employed. Tlio of upon the quality the ink,even afterthe lapse of years, liable is common printing In the manufacture of playing-cards, be used as will bear the frictiono t such inks only must in the as which the cards arc subjected processof polishing, fingers the players. The of wellas in passingbetween the coloursemployed by the Messrs.De La Rue are prepared from the best French lamp-blacky or Chinese vermilion, by o ground in oil; thisis effected a machine, consisting f
to sluror smutch.
"

by at speeds, which any defects r cylinders evolving regulated from the inattention the workman, in grindingby hand, of brought to such perarc now arc avoided. These colours fection,

i that the card itself s not impression itssurface. on

more

durable than tlic

being previouslyre"The paper intended forthe hach8\ p pared desired, the same in as the manner with the coloiu*
is fronts,printed in
or variousdevices at the hand-press steam-machine. The plaid or tartan backs are produced from a block engraved with straightlines, and printedin

which is afterwardscrossed with the same or colour, by any other colour, again laying the sheeton the block,so H thatthe first ues cross the second printingat any required angle. A varietyof other devices are obtained from
one

blocks; and some, likethe court cards, appropriate and by are printedin a number the same process, of colours. i"c"?:*, is substituted for ink; the "In printing yo/t/ size faceof the card isthen powdered over with bronze dust, and rubbed over with a softcotton or woollen dabber,by which the bronze is made to adhere to those parts only

DIPPERENT

KINDS.

275

the size. The printing gold backs of which have received is pasted,but we have is usuallyexecuted afterthe card here for the sake of convenience. the jjescribed process

"As connectedwith the printing backs,we may mention of t thatthe Messrs.De La Rue have lately aken out a patent highly for printingfrom woven wire, from which some bearing, course, a perfect are obtained, beautiful patterns of
fabric. The wire when prepared resemblanceto the woven is forprinting, merely fastenedat the ends by two pieces of block,on which itis over a cast-iron wood, and stretched

passingthrough the wood intothe iron. The varietyof these patterns is very great; the in is printing effected the ordinarymanner. " Hitherto we have been referring printedsheets to
means

by fixed

of screws

of

paper, the next

are vfhicYi

object,

foolscap; eitherthe size double or single of is therefore, the conversion these sheets of

intocard-boardsf the usual thickness. In France thecard o of consists two sheets paper j but in England a of generally four is more a substantial rticle demanded ; it is generally
and the back, and two sheets thick,that is,the foreside d inside leavesof an inferior escription, " In order to make a firm and smooth card, it is first
to stance. necessary obtain a paste of an equable well-mixedsubis A paste of thisquality produced from flourand point,in water, mixed together, and heated to the boiling into a forty-gallon copper,by steam ; which is made to pass between the copper and an external the interstices casing of cast-iron, the same shape as the boiler.By employing of to the paste is not liable burn, or steam, instead of fire, riorated become deteadhere to the sides of the copper, and thus in itscolourand quality. it "Previous to the of pasting, is neces-

commencement

in which they sary that the sheets be arranged in the order The is are to be pasted. This operation termed mingling.

276
insides, which
are

PLAYING

CARDS.

gether, merely two sheets of paper pasted toand backs, so that placedbetween the foresides
are

the paste may take them up without the possibility error, of A heap of paper so pasted will thereforeuniformly consist
and back, between which, the inside,pasted of the foreside is on each side, placed. The pasteis laidon by means of a largebrush, resembling the head of a hair-broom,with which the workman, distributes by a series systematiccircular a movements, of
"

thin coat. And

by way of illustration the long practice of in and manual dexterity which are necessaryfor perfection even the simplest departments of art or labom*, it may be is a worthy of notice that card-pasting in itself branch of labour, is to and thatthree or four years'practice necessary render the operatorcomplete master of his business. "These newly-pasted cards are then, in quantities of

four or fivereams

at

time,

to subjectedthe

powerfulpressureof a hydraulicpress of one worked by a steam-engine. By this means

gradual but hundi'cdtons,

the water in the pasteexudes,and the airbetween the leavesis 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 linesin the drying-room.
to card-boards,after thus drying, are subjected the pressureand friction a brush-cylinder,the face of of is covered with short thick-setbristles, which which not stices. but even penetrateinto the intermerely polishthe surface, At this stageof the manufacture,cardsof a superior description are waterproofedon the back with a varnish prepared forthe purpose,so thatthey may not be marked
"

"The

DIFFERENT

KINDS^

277 they will prepared, be washed, without

by the fingersin dealing. When

so

keep perfectly clean, and may even the injuringimpressionor softeningthe card.
"

In continuationof the processof polishing, the cardboards between revolvingrollers moderate are passed of

warmth, one ; they

being of iron, the other of paper cut edgeways to two bright iron-faced are next

subjected

t at and finally,o the number of ten or fifteen a rollers; time, they are interleaved with thin sheetsof copper, and milled by being passed about a dozen times efiectually

between two large and powerful cylinders. After being for thus thoroughlyolished, the purpose of being flattened p
to they are press of subjectedthe pressureof a hydrostatic hundred tons, worked by steam. eight

"It may

appear surprising that

so
"

means machinery, and such circuitous m of four distinct cylindricalachines,

labour and ration requiring the opemuch

as

hydraulic press, allworked by steam, for effectingan apparently so

"

object

well as a should be required simple as that of

a polishing and flattening card-board. It is, however, found that thisend cannot be attainedin a more expeditious manner, but that the means adopted must be gradual,

though increasingly stages. powerful in theirdifierent "The boards being printed and pasted, polished and flattened, next cut up into singlecards. The apparatus are by which this is and by which perfectexactness effected, described be briefly in the size the of cards ispreserved,may as a from two to three feetlong, one blade pair of scissors fixed on the table. The cardboard, of which is

permanently

being placed upon the bench, is slippedbetween the blades of the scissors, and pushed up to a screw-gauge blade, by to width ; the moveable adjusted the requisite being then into eight narrow closed,cuts the card-board five cards. These slips, called traverses, each containing

278

PLAYING

CARDS.

similaroperation at a smaller pair where they are cut up into singlecards, of gauge-scissors, to the amount of thirtythousand daily.
is the making-up into packs. begins by laying After assortingthe cards, the workman two hundred) out on a long table a given number (say at "All that
now

traverses then undergo

remains

these with another suit,and so on u consecutively ntilhe has laid out allthe cards that constitute a pack ; so that by this operation two hundred packs
one

time; he then

covers

completed almost simultaneously. The best cards are called Moguls, the others Harrys, and Highlanders, the inferior cards consistof those which have any imperfection
are
"

in the impression,or any marks or specks on the surface. It may be necessary to remark that the Aces of Spades
"

whether the cards be for printed at the Stamp Office, exportationor for the home market, ^the paper for printing being sent to the Stamp Office by the maker; and an
are
"

of the number of aces fmrnished by the Stamp Officeiskept by the authorities. Before cards are dehvered by the manufacturer an officeris sent to seal them, and a
account

duty of
are

shiUing per pack is paid monthly for those that sold for home consumption. But as they are not Uable
a

to duty when enters into a

intended for exportation, the card-maker bond that they shall be duly shipped, and an
see

is officer sent to itup."

them put into the

case,

and to seal

279

CHAPTER
THE

V.
CARD-PLAYING.

MORALITY

OF

writers who have investigatedthe principlesof is, moralityagree in the condemnation of Gaming, ^that at playing any game of hazard forthe sake of gain. With however, of playing at such respect to the lawfulness, All
"

hours,forthe sake of recreation, games at leisure out and withany sordid desire of gain, there is, amongst such a authorities,difference opinion : some holding that,in of
the moral
"'

.";,

such games

are,

at alltimes, and under all

circumstances,unlawful; while others affirm that, under the conditionsmentioned, they are innocent. The former opinion has been espoused by many theologians, who, not content with condemning games of hazard as immoral, have
zeal than knowledge, denounced them as The argiunents, sinful, forbidden by the word of God. and however, of such teachers have been ably refuted by the also, with
more

Gataker, in his work 'On the Nature and Use of Lots,'the first of edition which appeared in 1619. He has clearly shown that the texts allegedby the opposite party do not bear the construction which had been put upon
them
was

learnedThomas

the so-called word of God and that, consequently, men. than the dogma of fallible nothing more
;

The controversy respecting the sinfulness games of of hazard,on scriptural rounds, seems'to have commenced in g

England about the latter century,with end of the sixteenth a small tract written by a Puritanicalclergyman of the its first name of Balmford, who appears, at the time of functionsat to publication, have exercised his ministerial

280

PLATING

CARDS.

Newcastle-on-Tyne.' The title Balmford's tract is 'A of Short and PlainDialogue concerning the Unlawfulness of Game consisting playingat Cards or Tables,or any other in chance/ The only copy that I have seen occurs in a by the same author,with the general o collection f tracts title,CarpentersChippes : or Simple Tokens of unfeined
'

Christianfriendsof James Balmford, the to good will, the Jesus Christ,a poor Carpenters sonne/ unworthy Servantof 16mo. Printed at London, forRichard Boyle, 1607. The
dedication the tract on gaming is dated 1st of following of Master Lionel January, 1593 : "To the rightworshipfull the Maddison, ]\Iaior, Aldermen hisbrethem, and the godly James Balmford wisheth Burgesses of Newcastle-upon-Tine,

that other the kingdom of God and his righteousnesse, fore thingsmay be ministered unto them. That which hereto"

I have propounded to you (right worshipfulland i beloved)n teaching,I doe now publish to all men by to of printing, wit mine opinion of the unlawfulness games in consisting chance."

very short one, consisting only of inclusiveof the dedicationand title. The eight leaves, speakersin the dialogueare Professor and Preacher. The
Professor had read,in the Common-places of Peter Martyr, i t because depending the declarationhatdice-playsunlawful,
on

Balmford's tractis

chance ; but not being satisfied with what is there said he about table-playing, craves the Preacher's opinioncon*
'

Tlieauthordocsnot seem to have been in at castle. successful hisministry NewColonel Fenwick says that the town was famous for using mocking and misChrist's ; ministers and tifter naming Knox and Udal, he thus reproaches the town for its treatment of Balmford : " Witness reverend Balmford,whom in a likemanner thou expulsed; though thou t touch his life,hou
couldst not in pricked his sides(as well as Christ's)his hearers,with the reproach of Bahnfordianfaction and schism.""Christ in the midst of his Enemies, by Licut.-Col. John Fenwick, 1G13. Ileprinted M. A. Richardson, Newcastle, by 181G.
.

MORALITY.
.

281

plajdng at tablesand cards. The Preacher, cerning after to the games on moral propounding several objections determines thus syllogistically thatgames of chance grounds, " Lots are not to be used in sport; but are unlawful : games consisting in chance, as Dice, Cards, Tables, are Lots : thereforenot to be used in sport." In support of
10 thisconclusion,he refers to Joshua, xviii, ; L Samuel, xiv, 41; Jonah, i, 7; Malachi, i, 6-7; and Hebrews,

vi, 16.

to use, sanctified a peculiar namely, to end controversies. On those grounds he absolutely condemns allgames depending on chance. The plea

Lots, he says, were

in favour of play merely for amusement he ; beingrejects lawful, even the desire of opinion that,ifsuch games were
to of gain would soon creep in ; for, according the common *' Sine lucro frigetIndus, No gaining, cold saying,
"

gaming." Severalcontinentaldivines, the reformed party,had of but without exciting previously xpressed similaropinions,^ e to have been much remark; and the question seems
..

theology,until the regarded as one scholastic of mere diflferences between the Puritansand the High-church party,

in the reignof James I,caused itto be treated a question as casioned of practical religion. The question appears to have ocfor great heats in the Universityof Cambridge ; College, Mr. William Ames, being then Fellow of Christ's having preached at St. Mary's, in 1610, againstplayingat
his course cardsand dice,as being forbidden by Scripture, disthat he to gave so much offence persons in authority
to withdrew from the Universityin order. avoid expulsion. Ames subsequently was appointed Professor Theology at of
The opinionsof Luther,Calvin, Peter Martyr, Lambert Danean, and others de upon thisquestionare to be found in the 'Collectanea ariorum authorum v Justus,by Joannes Sorlibns Ludo Alese,* et appended to the Alea of Pascasius a Munstcr, Ito, 1617.
'

282

PLAYING

CARDS.

the University Franeker,in Friesland and was one of ; of the principal opponents of Gataker in the controversyon

Lots.

the The question of respecting lawfulness games of chance both morally and theohas been thoroughlyinvestigated, logically ' by Barbcyrac,in his Traite du Jeu /^ and his
is, determination that such games are not in themselves immoral,whether the stakes be small or great and that ; by o they are not forbidden, citherdirectlyr indirectly, the Scriptures.In the Prefacehe thus speaks of the probable effectf the absolutecondemnation of allgames of hazard, o on the assumed ground of their being both immoral in
themselves, and forbiddenby the Scriptures. I am not surprised that Gataker should have found so on much opposition the points which he maintained,considering
"

the times in which he wrote. strangeto me that,in an age when

It,however,appears
so

many prejudices, both philosophical theological, have been shook off, and be thereshould still found people,who, looking only at the

in abuses which may arisein the use of things indifferent themselves, condemn such things as absolutelyevil, on frivolous extremelydoubtful. Such conor grounds either demnation so far from those who are addicted correcting to such abuses, is more likelyto confirm them in their
Traitd jeu, Ton examine lesprincipales du ou de Questions Droit naturel et de morale qui ont du rapporth cette Matiere. Par Jean Barbeyrac,ProfesDroitk Groninguc. Secondc Edition, scurcn revue et augment"$c. A laquclle
*
"

dc lanature du Sort, quclques autrcs Ecrits I'Autcur et a qui scrvent principalement defendre ce qu'ilavoit ditde Tinnocencedu jeu en lui-meme.""This Edition, in threevolumes, ICmo, was published consider^ to at Amsterdam, 1738, and is dedicated Anne, Princess of Orange, eldest daughterof George II. The first edition appearedin 1710. It issaidthattho idea of writmg such a book was first suggestedto Barbcyrac in consequence of bisbeing so frequently to on questionsrelating the game of cardsby to appealed in ladies to play with his mother-in-law, came who a with whom he resided,nd t whose apartment he used frequentlyo sit.
on a
un joint Discourssur

MORALITY.

283

Nothing but the evidence truthctm enlighten of the mind, and thus make an impression on the heart. however specious, False lightsand subtleties, will never
course.

dissipate illusions the produced by favorite passions.Such indeed, acquirenew force soon as a plausible as passions,

indulgenceis discovered the weakness for their in pretext ; of the arguments with which they are assailed while,by he who has been deluded them in a proper manner, attacking
by them may be induced to open his eyes to the truth, and his errors. If,by such means, a reformation is to perceive it not effected, is in consequence of the same obstacles against which render unavailingwhatever may be alleged
things which
are,

from theirvery nature, unquestionably

evil. I doubt much ifa gamester were ever deterredfrom brought forward to persuade him that play by the reasons was the practice a profanation of Divine Providence. If

the sermons

have produced s and writings assertinguch principles it containing any good effect, isin consequenceoftheir

derived from the abuse of the thing mere confounded with its usage. The formerhave produced
also solidreasons
no

impression; audit is to the latter alone thatthe is victory to be ascribed." As Barbeyrac's work is not common, and has never been translatedinto English, it is presumed that the
to following extracts from itwill not be uninteresting the reader. "It is certainthat Man was not sent into the making. world to pass his time in eating,drinkmg, and merryOn the contrary,everything shows that he is destinedby his Creator to be employed in matters of utihty and serious consideration.The natural use of all our faculties thismanifest tendency. We have Mind only has that we may think : we have Hands and Feet only that we industry, may move and act. Who could suppose thatthis thisaddress, thispenetration," all these wonderful talents.

Httle or

284

PLAYING

CARDS.

of capable producingthe Sciencesand Arts, were given to us only to be concealed,or to be shamefully wasted, idleness, in a perpetualround of dissior in either sluggish of pation and amusement ? The necessity providing for
"

to all in a state obligationcommon of that most men should apply themselves nature, requires kind or other; and even thosewho have to work of some the means without labour are yet not exempt from of living the duty of applying themselvesto some creditablemployment, e
our

wants,
"

an

"

tions which may not only secure them againstthe temptab of idleness,ut may alsorender them usefulmembers

of society. "But though the Allwise Creator has made Man for he labour,without labour, has not made him for incessant
relaxation.The same constitutionof our nature which displays the necessity action,also shows that we ought of to occasionally rest. Our bodies are not of iron,nor our
; spiritsf unwearied activity and the human o

machine

soon

We gets out of order when unremittingly worked arc not long in perceiving to that too intentan application any work weakens the strength of the body, and lessens the activity the mind. The way to become disgusted of
with anything, is to be unremittingly employed about it. Thus, the very obligation work requiresthat our labour to

in shouldbe sometimes intermitted, order that we may not it with vigour. sinkunder it,but be enabled to resume
To take recreation, order to in make progress with our work,'was the judicious maxim of an ancientsage.* Rest isthe seasoningof labour and we ought to combine them -^ so that a just medium may be preserved. Consult nature,
'

and she willtellyou that she has made the day"and the
Anacharsis, apud Aristot. WaiUw^ i'dirugoirnSa^y,Kar SpOuic ix^iv ^oKit." Etliic. Nicom. lib., cap. C." x
*'*'II avairavijic,
ru"v novutp
' "

'kvaxapaivt

aprvnaiiTTi.
"

de Plutarcli.Pucrorum institut."

MORALITY.

286

hours of labour and of repose,^ and to nightto mark the to teachus that each is equallyindispensable life. A life i with a festivals like a long journey without undiversified Such is the language of pagan philosophers, an inn.2 and ideaswhich pure reason suggests. such are the " The Night was made Revelation teachesus the same. for the repose of alllivingthings; and the Sabbath was f institutedor the recreation slavesand servants, of partly who otherwisemight have had masters so harsh as to pay This festival no regardto the weakness of human nature.
all the others appointed by the law, for were times both of restand enjoyment the whole of the Thus, so far from moralityor religion people of God. it forbidding that every kind of recreation, may be asserted
as [Fete],well as

theyrequireus to take such as may be becoming and convenient, to whenever itmay be requisite thus re-invigorate
our

powers when exhausted by labour. It would at least be ungratefulto haughtily the reject innocent pleasures which the kindness of the Deity allows to man; and it
to would be unjust arbitrarily condemn thosewho discreetly themselvesof such avail enjoyments. " There are, however, people who unreasonablysuppose

thatabuse and use cannot be separated, and who, forming to themselvesI know not what mysticalnotions of virtue i and piety, would persuade us thateverykind of diversions
a a low amusement,' unworthy of a reasonable being, 'a deceitful pleasure,' consequence of man's fallennature.' Such persons to tion may be allowed to aspire a state of perfecwhich perhaps may be beyond the reach of human by the great nature, and which is certainly nattainable u
*
"

'

Interse ista a miscenda sunt : et quiescentigendum, et agentiquiescendum Cumrerum natura delibera illadicet se et Diem fecisse Noctem. tibi, est. et : Seneca, pist. E iii."
"

*"

' '*

Btof iLvtopraaroQ, fiaxpriWoe

AiravdoKivroc^^'DcmQCnt apud Stobaium."

286
mass

PLAYING

CAKDS.

of mankind ; they ought, however, to allow those who are doubtfulof theirown at powers of arriving such perfecthe path which Nature and Providence to tion, humbly follow
have pointed out, and to possesstheir soulsin peace,and theirconsciencewithout scruple.
* * * *

"

"We

maintain,then,

as

an

we for the sake of relaxation, This being as are in themselves free from vice. if admitted, a person findspleasurein playing at Billiards, at Tennis,at Chess, at Cards, at Backgammon, and even

irrefragable t principle,hat, ments may indulge in such amuse-

himself with them, as well at Dice, why may he not amuse 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
c nothing or for a stake of some value. In the firstase, itis a mere s and bears not the slightest emblance of recreation,

criminaUty; and with regard to the second, I do not see be any evil in it, looking at the matter why there should,

simply,without regard to circumstances. For ifI am at liberty promise and give my property, to to and imconditionally, whomever I please, why | absolutely
"

may I not promise and give a certainsum, fortunate, more a person proving more or

in the event of than I skillful

with respectto the result certain nations, movements of and combiupon which we had previously agreed ? And why

may not thisperson fairly availhimself of the resulteither or cumstance c of his skill of a favorableconcurrence of fortuitousirconthe issue of which I had voluntarily tracted ? Even though but one of the parties an obhgation an obtains advantage, yet therewould be nothing contrary to equityin the transaction, providing that the terms had been previously agreed on by both. Every person is at libertyo determinethe conditions t on which he willcede on

MORALITY.

287

rightto another,and may even make itdependent on the a person circumstances. A fortiori, most fortuitous may himself of his winning, when he has risked fairly avail
a

much as he was Ukely to gain. In fact, is play pe jeu] a kind of contract ; and in every contract is the mutual consent of the pai-ties the supreme law : this isan incontestable maxim of naturalequity.^
on

the event

as

"In the Scriptures we do- not find games of hazard forbid. The ancient Jews appear to have been entirely ignorantof thiskind of recreation, for and even the name

itis not to be found in the Old Testament. On the dispersion the Babylonian captivity, of the Jews, however, after they learnt to play from the Greeks and Romans, as may
from the cases of conscience on this be inferred subject by the Rabbis. discussed Notwithstanding this, games of

nowhere forbidden in the New Testament, though no toleranceis there shown to any kind of vice. There is, indeed, only one passage that contains the least in this, the term allusionto play; and even ^which is
are
"

hazard

derived from metaphorically

game of hazard, when taken

"

It may be observed, that such cases of " Natural Equity," as are here hypothetically by Barbeyrac, not properly do partyas a judge, admit of a third put
"

irrespective in the event of a dispute. Parties intosuch contracts, of entering theusages ofsociety, the positive laws of the country where they reside,ught or o
loses One wealthy fool to be left enforcetheir means. to equityby natural natural them being,that to another tiie whole of his property, the contract between
a should draw the longeststraw out of stack. to pay ; but, is In natural equity, between the two parties, the loser obliged leavethe winner to hisremedy ; shouldhe recover his senses, he will and refuse, i w forthe circumstanceof his riskingso much in the firstnstance,as a greater to than his subsequentrefusal pay. What one gambler offence against society compared with the primary may loseto anotherisof smallmoment to society, of throughwhich such personsare enabledto play deeplywith the fruits evil by won l m others* abours.Luther, speaking the kwfulnessof retainingoney of but adds, that he could be lawfully gammg, concludesthat it might retained; has both partiesto lose,if it were possible.The impossibility been wish removed siiice gaming housesand gaming banks were established. regular

he

was

to be the winner who

288

PLAYING

CARDS.

in the worst

would only amount to a condemnation versions a word, of the abuse of play.^ If in some to by St. Paul, in his FirstEpistle the Corinthians, ^aiUiv used it is chap. X, V. 7, has been translated 'Jouer,'
sense,
"
"

of merely in consequence of the equivocalsignification this word, or perhaps from the originalterm not being fully understood, which in this place signifiesto dance,'as is
'

apparent from the passage in the Old Testament to which it 6. From the profound silence the Ba^odus of alludes, yXxsii, already advanced, it a sacredwriters, nd form other reasons be concluded that play considered may, in my judgment, safely

in itself, and apart from its abuse, is indificrence.^ perfect

matter of

persons are so rigid as to condemn absolutely games of every kind ; an exceptionbeing usuallymade in favourof those which are determined by skill alone. Most however, have pronounced strongly theologians and casuists,

"Few

against allgames intowhich hazard enters, as if such were times unlawful. The Rabbis, who are of the same at all of fraud opinion,and who even considerthem as means between Jew and Jew, assert that 'a man, during the whole
of hislife, should do nothing but devote himself to the study of the law and of wisdom, to the practiceof or charity, to some employment or businesswhich may be
course

be to serviceable the community.'^ If thisdecision taken literally,is manifestlyabsurd, and requiresno further it notice. Even in puttinga reasonableinterpretation upon
"viii"^ Tr\Q Tliefollowing the passage referred : irepi^epoixtvoi, is navn to Iv ry KYBEIA rwv av9pu)Tr"av. "Carried about with every wind by doctrine the sleight men." ^Ephesians,v,14. Dr. Rennell, quoting i of of the passage in the notes to his sermon that " The conGaming, observes, nexion against between the artifices gamesters, depravity heretical the shifting of of and is subterfuge, strongly marked by the Apostle." * Barbeyrac,Traite du Jen, liv. chap. 1. " Que le Jeu en lui-meme, et i,
*

MaoKoKiaQ

"

"

"

Tabus mis
"
"

indifferente." part,est une chose tout-a-fait de Selden, Jure Naturaeet Gentium, lib. cap. v." iv,
a

MORALITY.

289

them as condemnatory of such these words, and considering in as do they still not persons employ themselves playalone, in itself, merely restrain to but it apply to play,considered
u legitimatese. its

are

The Jewish doctorsthemselvesacknowledge in forceamongst them, that the prohibitions f play o founded on the regulations theirancestors ; that is, of

thatthey are not derived eitherfrom the law of Nature, or the positiveordinances of God; but that they depend law established those who had the by on entirely the civil

regulationswhenever such might power of making new appearto be necessaryfor the welfare of the state. This isso true, thatthey in a manner permitted Jews to play at
at prohibition games of hazard with Gentiles: any rate,their feeble, was since they declared that,in such a extremely case, a Jew was of onlyculpable having spent histime about

frivolous thing. or Among the works of St; Cyprian we find a treatise, kindof homily,on gaming," De Aleatoribus, which though of high antiquity, and evidentlywritten by a Bishop, is
a
"
"

probablynot the composition of the saintto whom it has usuallybeen ascribed. The author,whoever he may have been, callsgames of hazard the nets of the devil and ; that they were invented by a certainlearned man affirms at the prompting of the evil spirit, nd that he placed his a on the instrumentsof the game in order portraitnd name a he that might be worshipped by thosewho used them.^ He,
consequently,aintains that whoever plays at such games m to ofiersacrifice theirauthor,and thus commits an act of s
From thisaccount of instrumentsof play containingpictures and devises, ithas been known, and thatthe game was that conjectured cardswere then " includedin the Alea." On thispoint, Barbeyrac observes, general term is founded in a note : "All this p pleasantconceit[abouticturesand idolatry] Trictracand Dice, on two tilings first hat the board on : t which they playedat was was of adorned with paintings;and second,that the invention thosegames was his death, to attributed Theut, or Thout, the Egyptian Mercury, who, after
"

numbered amongst the gods."

290

PLAYING

CARDS.

idolatry. Such chimerical arguments, when divested all i of hazard are frequently figure, the only show that games of cause of disorder. A Flemish clergyman,in a historical
on treatise

this subject, publishedabout the middle of the gravelymaintains that allgames of century, seventeenth
hazard
are

contraryto every one of the ten commandIt may be easilyimagined that he is obliged' ments.^ in to employ many devices order to give a colourof plausito bility this paradox ; and that whenever he advances it anything reallypertinent, applies only to the abuses, into every or less, may insinuate.themselves which, more kind of game. A prelate distinguished merit, Sidonius of B ApoUinaris,ishop ofClermont,in Auvergne, who flourished

in the fifth was ; century, way of thinking of a different liimseKat Trictrac, he forhe was accustomed to amuse as in without testifying relates his letters any compunction,

saying that he had abandoned the amusement on his being advanced to the office f Bishop, o he mentions that he had then given up poetry. though Others have imagined that they have discoveredin the very nature of games of hazard something which renders
and without
even
"

them essentially ; gument sinful supportingtheir views by an aris which, though extremely specious, yet easily t j refuted. For instance, hey say that God presidesover
it manner ; callchance, and directs in a special and that, as chance enters into allgames of hazard, such as the interventionf games are manifestly o sinful requiring Divine Providence in affairs but which are not only trivial, to alsosubjectmany incommodities. " This conclusion if would be demonstrative the principle from which it is drawn were true; but how is it known that the results chance are of always determined by the d Is his intervention irectly special will of the Deity?
what
we
'
"
,

DanielSoutcr, Pabmcd. lib. i, C." i c.

MORALITY.

291

or ? perceptible, can itbe 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

to the contrary,is it not derogatory the Supreme Being to suppose that he should immediately

On

in interfere affairs such small consequence as most of of by means those are which are determined amongst men of
The very supposition contains within chance? itself best reasons for concludingitto be imtenable. the "If the Deity indeed were to act by a special willin all
lots or

determined by lotor chance, and more in especially games of hazard, it would hence follow : 1. That men have the power to compel, and in a manner, forcethe Deity to exercisean especialProvidence whenever
matters which
are

they may think good ; forit is certainthat they can determine some matters by lot whenever they please.

2. It will also follow that the Deity 'performs miracles undeservin every day in favour of personswho are most assuredly pect of them, and in placeswhere no one could susso that his presencewould be displayed in a manner i Besides,what likelihoodstherethat,when extraordinary/^

coupleof lacqueysor porterssitdown to play at diceor i interferen lansquenet,Providence should more especially their game than in events which affectthe destiny of
a

battles, and other important revolutions, kind ? There is even something ridiculous actions a similar of in supposing thatwhen two men are playingat draughts, or billiards, their game is only the object common and of ordinary Providence,but that when they sit down to play and at dice or cards,a specialProvidencethen intervenes, determinesthe chances of the game.^
nations, such
as
....

de LoteReflexions sur ce que Ton appcUe Bonheiir et Malheur en mati^re ries, M. le Clerc, par p. oh.viii, 97. ' La Placette,es Jeux de Hasard, eh.ii, 202. D p.
'

292
^'

PLAYING

CARDS.

to however,willing allow that even at play there manifestationf Provio may sometimes be an extraordinary intellior directly, by means dence, either of some invisible

am,

gence determiningthe lot or chance. I can conceive that that a the Deity should disposeof events in such a manner who might be in danger of giving worthy man, forinstance, himselfentirely p to play,should be cured of his passion u by a great and sudden loss. But, even admitting this,
thereis no
reason

to conclude that the Deity interferes on

and in favour of allsorts of people ; and, after alloccasions, be positively it can all, without a directrevelation, never in known that he reallydoes interfere such matters. T believewhat the eloquentJesuitMaffei as could just readily relates IgnatiusLoyola, in his life that saint; namely, of of 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."^ To In concluding the first book, Barbeyrac observes: in refute detail the objections all of rigid moralistswould ever, howan require entire volume. What I have alreadysaid,
"

to appears to me suificient remove any vain scruples I which may have been excited on the subject. am, indeed, rather apprehensive that those who are too fond of play will think that I might have spared myself the

troubleof provingthat which they had no doubts about ; and thatitwas quiteunnecessaryto explainto them at so in great length that play, considered itself, containsnothing contraryto the law of Nature or the preceptsof the Gospel.

The plan of the work, however, required that I should

"

J. B. Thiers, LisTraits in des Jcux

"

ct dcs Divertisscmcns, 6, thus refers p.

Saint Ignacc de Loiola : a au un ancedote joiia jour billardvec un Tavoit invito 'yjoucr, 8*il faut croirc J6smio d Tijloquent gentil-hommcqui en ct Maph(jO, logagna iniraculcuHoniont, il no quoiqu'ii spftt pas lojcu. Cum nihil If/natius, mnna dioinilusfacttm in mgulos omnino (rajcdua callcrcl victor catut evaderet.**

to the same

MORALITY.

293

with this; and the opportunity being thus of aiSbrded showing the fallacy the austere portrait hich of w have drawn of Christian some writers morahty, I have I availedmyself of it. On this subjectalso feelmyself in referring the schools Pagan to justified of 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 thatout hundred perof a sons who are accustomed to thereis scarcelyne o play daily, itmay who has ever asked himselfhow, or in what manner, be lawful, is not surprising it that so many people
commence

should

convert

of subject disorder, it as a means nate theirinordiemploying of gratifying love of pleasure, theiridleness, theiravarice." or
"

thing in itself harmlessinto a perfectly

In the second book, wherein he discusses the essentials Jeu he distinguishes kinds of games : tlu-ee of play ^le 1, Games of pure skill 2, Games of ; pure chance ; and, 3,
"

Games which depend partlyon skill and partlyon chance. Games of skill are terity, those which depend on manual dexbodilyagility, mental acuteness : BiUiards, or Racket,.

Quoits,Cricket, Draughts, and Chess are of this kind. Games of pure chance are thosein which the event, though brought about by the instrumentality the players, yet is of beyond theirdu*ectionr control of thiskind o : absolutely
Dice,and certain Brelan, such as Basset, games at cards, Lansquenet, Rouge-et-N6ir, and Faro. In the thirdkind, such as Backgammon and most of the usual games at cards,*
are

"Omnis autem Actio vacare debet temeritate negligeutia: nee vero agere et l causam quidquam, cujus possit uon reddere." Cicerode Offic. ibi. probabilem Sec also Marc. Antonin. lib. cap. 2, and lib.x, cap. 37, togetherwith viii, Gataker*s : quotation observations.On thispointtheremark of Senecadeserves " Ilac [Ratione] ducc, per totam vitam eundum est. ^Minima Maximaque ex
"

"

"

Iiujus consilioercnda sunt." g

"

lib. cap. 18. De Benefic. ii,

Thiers, hisTraitddca Jcux ot dcs Divcrtisscnicns, distinguishes in games in the same manner; but Barbcyrac that ho is wrong in classing all observes
games of cardswith games of pure chance.

'

294

PLAYING

CARDS.

degree be counteracted the effectsf chance may in some o derivedjfroma knowby a skilful ledge apphcationof principles of the variouscombinations which resultfrom the In all games for any conventionalrules of the game. that is, with regard to the means of the s considerable take, it that the playersshould be as nearly parties, is necessary
as

in possible equal in point of"skill;for, this case, the to allthe and game becomes a kind of traffic, is

subject

conditions f an o

c equitableontract. Most personswho play forhigh stakes, at either games of

more or

pure chance or of chance and skill ombined, make c lessa traffic theiramusement; and risktheirown of
from
cases,
a

money

desireof winning that of another. In all such cusable, inexto gaming isa positivevil society, nd isutterly a e on any justifiable,grounds whatever;and much less

all who thus venture largesums requiredto may be justly show by what rightthey possessthem. When a foolor a knave is thus strippedof a large his loss is a property,
matter of small import to society;the true evilis,that so

large a portionof national wealth,created by the industry of others, hould be at the disposal such a character, s and of

should be allowed to pass,on such a contract,to another even more has than himself. This worthless objectionnot been urged in any that sermons of the numerous and essays have been published againstgaming ; the authorsof which, instead of showing that societyhas both the generally, power and the right to correct such abuses by depriving the offending partiesof the means of continuing them, have contented themselves the with declamations on wickedness of the pursuit,and.with vain appeals to the conscience of inveterate gamesters : while they whistle to the deaf adder, they never to suspect that it seem may be easilydispatchedwith a stick. But such abuses in society are never till remedied the HEiiACLiDiE acquire
"

MORALITY.

295

as knowledge of theirrights, well as a consciousness of their power. The appealto the vanityof men of " rank and education"^ loveof play is as futile in orderto shame them out of their a as in itseffects it is wrong in principle forittends only ; to nourishin them feelings of self-conceit, to induce and them to thinkrather the deficiencies the low-born men, of of
own their whose money they are eagerto win, than to consider dereliction duty,in playingforlarge sums, with any one. of

At the gaming-table, community of feeUng levels the a all distinctions rank ; and the rude plebeianw^ho of artificial as covers the high-bom noble's stakeis just g09d, for all intents and purposes of play,as that noble himself. The condescension the noble to play with a costermonger for of the sake of winning his money, is fully compensated by the him a chance. The annals of to other's willingness afford gaming sufficiently show that rank is no guaranteeof a honesty ; and in the case of Lord De Ros versus gamester's

Gumming, tried before Lord Denman, 10th of Februaiy, 1837, it would appear that the rank of the fraudulent with one party at gamester screened him for severalyears, in least, from being denounced. Sir William Ingilby, his De Ros perform examination, statedthat he had seen Lord the trick reversing the cut, and thus secure himselfan of fifty imes; and t ace or a king for the tuni-up card,at least five, thathe firstobserved his lordshipdo it about four, he did not denounce or six years ago." When asked why Lord De Ros afterhe had become aware ot hisfraudulent
"

The low and profligate company which a gentleman of rank and education his than lose belovedHazard, b such that, frequently will submit to keep, rather ifhe had been requiredto admit them simply on the ground of companions, he A degradation."" Disserhave looked upon itas an insufferable would certainly as having by tationon the peniicious o effects f Gaming, published, appointment, in the University Cambridge. By Richard Hey, of gaineda Prize (June
'
"

1783)

LL.D., Cambridge, 1784, p. 31.

"

296

PLAYING

CARDS.

" I did not mention answer : he tricks, givesthe following for this reason : I consideredthatif the matter publicly l an obscure and humble individual ikemyself,not possessed
"

of his rank, were to attempt to go up to a peer of the realm, in society, nd who at the same a who held a high station time was regarded by all his associates, and by the world in general, as
a man

*My lord,you are had individual, addressed Lord De Ros in these terms,
I had denounced
a

and say, of unimpeachable character, cheating;' if,I say, I, that humble

"

if

of such peer of the realm, and a man have gathered around I generalpopularity, should instantly I as a matter of comse, a host of persons; and I take it, mc

between the door and thewindow." shouldhave had no choice Notwithstandingthatthe honorablebaronet was aware of the fraudulent of practice the righthonorable peer,itseems
that he still continued to play with him ; but it does not a appear thathe was particularlyttentiveto his lordship's trickof reversing the cut, sauter la coupe, when he had him for a partner.^ If Sir William Ingilby'sfears were
"
"

to wellfounded,itseems reasonable conclude thatthosewho would have "pitched him out of the window," for exposing the fraudulenttricks a peer,must have been personsof of

similarcharacterto the party denounced ; and thattheir by conduct in such a case would not have been influenced a regard forthe honour of a peer of the realm, but would

ratherhave been the result the vexationwhich they felt of at the publicexposure of one of theu*own stamp. On this trial, of the witnesses one admittedthathe had won "35,000 a at cardsin the course of fifteen years. This is certainly largesum, but nothing to be compared to the winnings of by their gambling in railway some men shares within the lastten years. Lord De Ros failed his in action; the fact
who cheats/* a young gentleman to Sheridan; "I do said to I not like expose him; what shall doP" the reply. was "Back him,*"
a man
"

" "

I know

MORALITY.

297

of cheatingwhich had been allegedagainsthim having ful been clearly roved. He did not long survivethe disgracep
exposure; and Theodore Hook is said to have emHere lies bahned his memory in the following epitaph: England's Premier Baron patiently awaiting the
"

LAST

TRUMP

r^

On the questionof the lawfulness playingat cards for of the sake of amusement, and not from the mere desire of tive gain,many persons of eminent pietyhave held the affirmasame

in their writings; and a far greaternumber of the have testified, their by theirconcurrence class practice,
same
"

'* Many fiercedeclamations," says opinion. have been uttered Jeremy Taylor, from ancient sanctity used in the cards and dice,by reason of the craft against as game, and the consequent evils, -inventedby the Devil.

in the

And, indeed, thisis almost the whole stateof the question; forthere are so many evils the use of these sports, in they

they are accomtrades of fraud and livelihood, panied so with drinking and swearing,they are so scandalous by blasphemies and quarrels, infamous by misspending so
are

made

t time, and the ruin of many families, hey so often precious that we may say make wise men fools of and slaves passion, they are in an ocean of of those who use them inordinately,
mischief, nd can a He can
.....

hardly swim to shore without perishing. be suspected in any criminalsense never

by contingentthings his labour, and having acquiredhis refreshment recreates to the hath no other end to serve, and no desires engage A man Divine Providence to any other purpose to a tavern, but may innocently, and to good purposes go they who frequent them have no excuse, unless their
to tempt the Divine Providence, who

innocentbusiness does frequently engage, and theirsevere

" "

Hook's cleverepitaphon
or,

The Dowagers;

the New

deceased."" fashionable gambler then recently School for Scandal,by Mrs. Gore. 1813.
a

298

PLAYING

CARDS.

bring them offsafely. And so it is in thesesports ; religion but there is only one cause of using them, and that comes I friend, to seldom, the refreshment, mean, of myself or my in charity but when our or j which I ministerin justice long and seek for to that excess, that we sports come when we tempt others, are weary of our opportunities; business, and not weary of our game ; when we situp till midnight, and spend half days, and that often too ; then

but a sin. have spoiled the sport, itis not a recreation, to make his games lawful, He that means must not play for money, but for refreshment. This, though few may believe,yet is the most considerable thing to be
we
....
"

and sober persons. For the amended in the games of civil gaining of money can have no influencein the game to
itthe more unless covetousness holds the recreative, But when money is at stake,eitherthe sum box istrifling, itis considerable. If trifling, can be of no it or little hospitable purpose unlessto serve the ends of some
make

and entertainmentor love-feast, then thereis nothing amiss; but ifconsiderable, wide door is opened to temptation, a to and a man cannot be indifferent win or lose a great sum

of money, though he can easily pretend it. If a man be to or willing indifferent lose his own money, and not at all desirous get another's, what purpose is itthat he plays to to forit? 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 no mind his game, then the game is no divertisement, but the money is all the sport, and therefore recreation, 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 labour or study, of him to the worse remove trouble of fear, or anger, or

MORALITY.

299

impatient desires. Here begins the mischief,here men begin for the money to use vilearts ; here cards and dice are wittyto defraud begin to be diabolical, when players and undo one another; when estates are ventured,and famihes
are

made sad and poor by a lucklesschance. And what to losemy money, ifitbe at all valuable? sportis it to me is it to my game? But sure the and ifit be not, what isin winning the money; that certainly it. But is pleasure they who make pastime of a neighbour'sruin,are. the worst of men, said the comedy. But concerning the lossof our

that he plays for pretend what he will, money, leta man more than he is willing to lose,it is certainthat we no ought not to believehim ; forif that sum is so indifferent
to him, why is not he easy to be tempted to give such a to the poor ? ^Vhenever this is the case, he sins, that sum

Let the s games for money beyond an inconsiderableum. stakebe nothing,or almost nothing, and the cards or dice innocent, and the game as innocent as push-pin In plays and games, as in other entertainments, we must to do evil we must not converse nor seem ; neitherdo evil,
are

with evil persons,nor use our Uberty to a brother'sprejudice do anything,which he, \^ith or grief. We must not or probability, with innocent weakness, thinks to be amiss, he instructed but where nothing of these ; until be rightly
is dant, thingsintervene, and nothing of the former evils appen: we with reason and sobriety and may use our liberty can be so used, and such recreations then,ifthisliberty can be innocent, as they assuredly may, there is no further diverquestion,but those trades, which minister to these tisements, are innocent and lawful."^.
'

struments the making and providing such insuch an aid to the which usuallyministerto it,is by interpretation P" This treatiseis printedin a small work as sin, to involveus in the guilt Writings ex' entitledThe Life of Bishop Taylor,and the Purest Spiritof his 8vo, 1789. tracted by and exhibited John Whealdon, A.M.'

"Questionon Gaming, Whether

or

no

300

PLAYING

CARDS.

Nelson,thepiousauthor of the Fasts and Festivals the of Church of England/nd of the Practice True Devotion/ of a
'
'

had

no

to cards. objection
"

"

Sober

says he,in persons/'

the last-mentioned work,

for his high Calvinistic principles, himself with a game at cards; amuse used to occasionally " d and in a letterated Broad Hembury, Nov. 19th, 1773,"
in himself on the he thus expresses of subject recreations which clergymen may innocentlyindulge.^

they should only use as Toplady, so well known

do not make a businessof what diversion." The Rev. Augustus

I do not think that honest Martin Luther committed for an hour or two after sin by playing at Backgammon
"

dinner in order, by unbending digestion.

his mind, to promote

"I cannot blame the holy martyr Bishop Ridley for frequentlyplaying at Tennis before he became a prelate, nor forplaying at the more serious game of Chess twice a day after was made a bishop. he d "As littleo I find faultwith another of our most exemplary martyrs,the leanied and devout Mr. Archdeacon

Philpot who has left on recordas a brand on Pelagians it ; of that age, that they looked on honeste pastyme ias a
'

him an Antinomian sinne/ and had the impudence to call and a loose morahst, because he now and then relaxed his bow with 'huntinge, bowlynge, and such

shootynge,

like.' I set doAvn pious Bishop Latimer for such an enemy to holiness of lifeon account of his saying that hunting is a good exercisefor men of rank, and that shootingis as lawful an amusement for persons of inferior
"Nor
can

class. '* I have not

"

whit the worse

of opinion the eminent and

Thislettera i givenin the Rev. 11.Polwhcle'a Ileminisecnees, ii, 42. vol. p. Edit.1836.

MORALITY/

301

Gataker for the treatise which he profound Mr. Thomas the lawfulnessof card-playing, wrote to prove^ professedly and under due restrictions limitations.
******

I cannot condemn the Vicar of Broad Hembury [Mr. forrelaxinghimselfnow and then among Toplady himself] friendswith a rubber of sixpenny Whist, a pool a few select
"

or of penny Quadrille, a few rounds of twopenny Pope Joan. To my certainknowledge, the saidvicarhas been cured of headache by one or other of those games, afterspending

ten, or twelve,and sometimes sixteen hours in his eight, study. Nor willhe ask any man's leavefor so unbending himself because another person'sconscience is no rule to
"

his, any more than another person'sstatureor complexion." his John Wesley, when a young man at college, and before
thorough conversion, appears to have been fond of a game at *' cards. Tate Wilkinson, writingin 1 790, says: Mr. Wesley,
at about four years ago, in the fields Leeds, for want of forhiscongregationin his tabernacle, room 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 that every Saturday he was one of a constant party at said,
Whist, not only for the afternoon, but alsoforthe evening; he then mentioned the names men g respectableentleof several But,' continued he, who were with him at college."'

'thelatter with part of my time thereI became acquainted the Lord ; I used to hold communication with him. On ' Lord once a my first acquaintance, I used to talkwith the at last week, then every day, from that to twice a day, till
the intimacy
once

increased,that He appointed a meeting he He recollected, said, in every four hours

so

played at cards, that the rubber longer, than he expected;and on observing at Whist was the tediousness the game, he pulledout his watch,when. of
the last Saturday he
ever

302

PLAYING

CARDS

to his shame, he found it was

minutes past eight, he had appointed to meet the which wag beyond the time tempted him Lord. He thought the devilhad certainly to stay beyond his hour; he therefore suddenly gave his cards to a gentleman near him to finishthe game, and f went to the placeappointed, beseeching forgivenessorhis
"

some

to play with the devil's pops crime, and resolvednever broken; and what he had never again. That resolution

that though extraordinary, his brother and sister, from Cambridge, experienced distant signsof grace on that
was

more

hour, in the month of October."^ for the sake of even On the of subject card-playing, laymen, John Locke and Dr. amusement, two distinguished different The Johnson,appear to have entertained opinions. former,in his Treatiseon Education,says,"As to cards
same

day, on that same

I and best way is never to learn and dice, think the safest for any play upon them, and so to be incapacitated those dangerous temptationsand incroachingwasters of useful
thathe had time." Dr. Johnson, on the contrary, regretted to not learnt play at cards, at giving, the same time,as his " It is very usefulin life it generateskindness, reason : ;
-^ and consolidates society.*
"

The

opinion of

living

Memoirs of Tato Wilkinson, iii, vol. p. 9-11. York, 1790. "Boswcll'sJournal of a Tour to tie Hebrides. The following anecdote by Locke isrelated Le Clerc. Three or four men of rank met him respecting
by appomtment at the house of Lord Ashley, afterwardsEarl of Shaftesbury, for than for business. After mutual rather the sake of mutual entertainment there had been any time for conversation, complimentshad passed, and before introduced, cards were and the visitors down to play. Mr. Locke, after sat looking a while, drew out his tablets on and sat down to write. One of the how he was employed, asked him what he was company at length observing he, "I am endeavouringto profit much as I as writing. "My lord,"replied can from your company; for havinpf impatientlylonged to be present at a meeting of the most sensible and most witty men of the day,and havingat last that good fortune, thought thatI I than writedown could not do better your conversation I have indeed here put down the substanceof what has ; been said for the lasthour or two." The felt the immediately ; was satire

MORALITY.

303

Professor Moral PhUosophy, on the of of subject cardbe gathered from the followingdialogue playing,may
between Christopher North and the Ettrick Shepherd.^
*'

NORTH.

Gaming is not
There's little or

then, in the country,James ? vice,

SHEPHERD. nae

sic thing

a sir. You'llfin' pack o' but no in them a'" for some

gamblin' in the kintra, cairdsin mony o' the houses

as
"

o' thmk gude fathers families

b them the deevil'sulks,and

read they begin to smell o'

Why, James, how
can

aneuch when ower sulphurand Satan.

sure

muckle

NORTH.

dim-eyed or so, a old people, little than at an innocent whilean occasionalvening away better e and cheerful game at cards?
SHEPHERD.

your haun* a wee, Mr. North. I'm no saying to But I was sayin' that there are onything the reverse. heads o' families that abhor cairds,nd would half-kill their a sons and daughters were they to bring a pack into the house. Neither you nor me wull blame them for sicsavin*
The prejudice.
canna austere Calvinistic spirit
o'

Hand

thole to

spades should be lying within twa threeincheso' the Bible. The auld stern man wud as soon forgie the introductioninto the house o' base balladso' love and wishes that the precinctsbe pure sinfu' ain fire-side.Though I take a ggem o^ whust now
"

think that the knave

o'

his

and* then mysel, yet I boo to the principle, I venerate the and in the high-souledpatriarchsof the adherence till't

Covenant.
players quitted the game, and after amusing themselves for a while in retouching and enlargingwhat Mr. Locke had set down, spent the remainderof the day in more laBibliotheque de worthy conversation. ^Eloge Mr. Locke dans Choisie,orn,vi,p. 357. t
"

'

1826. Noctes Ambrosianae, No. 25, in Blackwood'sMagazine for April,

304

PLATING

CARDS.

NORTH.

is in Perhaps such strict morality scarcely practicable our

presentcondition.
SHEPHERD. necesWhat, do you mainteen that cairds are absolutely sary in a puir man's house? Tuts ! As for auld dim-eyed few o' them, except they be blin'a'thegither, that people, canna and they can aye read big prent wi' powerfu' specs, Oe 'to read out aloud get,at the warst, some bit wee idle

cawnel, by the fin' that auld folk heartsomeingle-light.You'llgenerally have been raithcr frcevolous, that plays cairds, and no
to its grannies, without expense o' oil or

greedy, and play mucklc addicked to thocht unlessthey're forthe pool, which is fearsomein auld age ; forwhat need for ony ither they care for twa three brass penny-pieces, fortheircoffin ? purpose than to buy nails
"

NORTH.

James. You push the argument ratherfar,

SHEPHERD.

Na, sir. Avariceis a failing' auld age sure aneuch o and shouldna be fed by the Lang Ten. I'm aye somewhat sad when I see folko' eightyhaudin'up the trumps to their heads, whether they mill or rheumy een, and shaking their
"

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 !
no,
ower
a
"
"

NORTH.

The pictm*eis strongly coloured but could you not ; nor paint another less revolting,ay, absolutely n pleasant, the violate truthof nature ?
SHEPHERD.
conPerhaps I micht. In anither quite sure. dition o' life in towns, and among folko' a higher rank, I dinna deny that I hae seen auld leddies playingcardsvery

I'm

no

"

MORALITY.

305

to and without appearin* be doin*onything composedly, richtly' ony ae thing in o that's wrang. Beforeyou judge domesticlife, o' understan'the hailconstitution you maun in the economy. Noo, auld leddies towns dresssomewhat
even, wi' ribbons, and superbly, and laces, and jewels richly 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' friendsand acquaintance, Noo, wi' sica styleand their fashion life that,caird-playing to be somewhat o' as seems if accordant, taken in moderation,and as a quiet pastime, for and no made a trade o', or profession, sake o* filthy

lucre. I grant it harmless; and gin it maks the auld happy, what richthae I to mint ony leddies objections? God bless them, man ; far be it frae me to curtailthe
auld age. Let them playon, and allI wish is, they may never lose either theirtemper, theirmoney, nor their naturalrest.
resources o'

NORTH.

do And I say God blessyou, James, foryour sentiments honour to humanity.

SHEPHERD.

like when the As for young folks ^ladsand lasses, harm in gudeman and his wife are gaen to bed, what's the
"

"

o' n ggem at cairds? It'sa chearfu',oisy,sicht comfort haun's ! Sic into ane anither's and confusion. Sic luckin' Sic winkin'to tell fauseshufflin'l unfair dealin'I Sic your And when that t pairtner hat ye hae the king or the ace ! on wunna do, sic kickin' shins and treadin' taes aneath o' the table" aften the wrang anes ! Then down wi' your haun' o' cairdsin a clash on the board, because you've ane lose his deal! Then what ower few, and the coof maun ! What amicable,nay, lovegigglin' amang the lasses ! Jokin', and jeestin' and quarrels,between pairtners

20

306
"

PLAYING

CARDS.

tauntin', nd toozKn' the cawnel blawn out, and the soun a in the kintra, o' a thousan'kisses! That's caird-playing

Mr. North ; and where'sthe man amang ye that wull daur to say that itsno a pleasantpastime o' a winter's nicht, doon the lum, or the speat'soarin r when the snaw iscumin' ? amang the mirk mountains
NORTH.

James, is no Wilkie himself,

SHEPHERD.

more

than your equal.

Mr. North, sh*, my soul's my heartis wae sick wrathfu'to think o' thae placesin great and my spirit's Hells ! which they ca' cities 0
man,
"

"

"

NORTH.

Thank Heaven, my gambler But itwas

"

dear James, that I

see

never

was

^nor, a

exceptonce" to

ever in a Hell. the thing,

"

stupidand passionless night unworthy of itsname. misery altogether

"

of place mean

SHEPHERD.

I'm glad you

in the dumps
;

never

was went back, and that the deevil

for they say that some

when Satan and Sin sit thegitheron roun' arm the neck o' that Destruction his Daughter, a horrible drivin' temptation invades men's heartsand souls,
and draggin'them
on

nichtsin thae Hells, he ae chair, wi' his

to the doom
NORTH.

o'

death. everlasting have

Strong language,James

"

^many good and great men

shook the elbow.

SHEPHERD.

Mr. North, and dinna allow paradox to darken or obscure the bright licht your great natural o' and acquiredunderstandin'. Good and great'are lofty
come now,
'

Come,

to epithets bestow on ony man that is bom o' a woman" themselves and if ony such there have been who delivered ; up to sin,and shame, and sorrow, at the ggeming-table

MORALITY.

307
"

lettheir biographers justify them will gie me pleasure ^it to see them do't ^butsuch examples shall never confound o' my judgment right or wrang. 'Shake the elbow What mair does a parricide but ' shake his do indeedT
"

he cuts his father'shroat ? The gamester t oak trees planted shakes his elbow, and down go the glorious when elbow/
two hundred years ago, by
"

some
"

ancestor who

loved the

"

does no forbid freshsmell o' the woods away go ifentail thousands o' bonny braid acres, ance a' ae princely estate, but now w shivereddown into beggarly parshels, hile the
seems

Auld House

head, broken-hearted, and hangs down its lairddies or shoots himself. Oh, man! when the infatuated is nae it a sad thocht to think that my leddy, aye sae
graciousto the puir,should hae to laydown her carriagein her auld age,and disappear frae the Ha' into some far-aflf

perhaps no in Scotlandava'j while he, that village, to is shouldhae been the heir, apprenticed a writer to the i' signet,and becomes a money-scrivener his soul,and aibHns a Whig routin'at a publicmeetin' about Queens,
town
or

pation." Emanciand Borough Reform, and Cautholic and Slavery,

St. FrancisXavier, though disapprovingof allgames of condemn them as forbidden chance, yet did not absolutely by the word of God ; but endeavoured to reclaim,by gentle means, those who were addictedto play. "That he might banish Games of Chance," says his biographer, which and swearing, he proposed almost always occasionquarrels the littlennocent diversions, some i capable of entertaining
"

But seeingthat in mind, vrithout u stirring p the passions. Cards and Dice, spightof his endeavours they were bent on he thought it not convenientto absent himself,but became a looker-on, sence that he might somewhat awe them by his prebreaking out into any extravagance, ; and when they were he reclaimed them by gentle and soft reproofs.

303

PLAYING

CARDS.

He showed concernment in theirgains,or in theirlosses, sometimes to hold theircards. and offered

the ship that carried Xavier was crossingthe an Gulph of Ceylon, [in 1545] occasion of charity was to to offered the Saint,which he would not suffer escape. The mariners and souldiers pass'd theirtime, accordingto their custome, in playing at cards. Two souldiers set

"While

themselvesto it
one

more

out of avarice than pleasure,and

of them plaidwith such illfortune, that he lostnot only allhis own money, but the stock which others had put Having nothing more into his hands to trafBck for them.
to lose,he withdrew, cursing his luck, and

blaspheming

His despairprevailedso far over him, that he had thrown himselfinto the Sea, or run upon the point of his sword, if he had not been prevented. Xavier had notice God.
of thesehis mad immediately came intentions, and execrable behaviour,and to his relief.He embrac'd him tenderly,

and saidallhe cou'd to comfort him : But the souldierin the transports his fury,thrusthim away, and forbore not of illlanguage to him. for even Xavier stood recollected

time, imploring God's assistance and counsel; then Royals of a passenger, brought went and borrowed fifty them to the souldier, to try his and advis'dhim once more fortune. At this the souldiertook heart, and play'd so luckily, that he recovered his losses all with great advantage. The Saint, who look'don, took out of the overplusof the winnings, what he had borrowed for him ; and seeing the
some

gamester, now retum'd to to refus'd hear him, was now

never

calm temper, he who before overpowered by his discom'se,

after handled cards, and became

exemplary in his

life.
"

He

was

who are Indies,than elsewhere. For, that they less might the

free particularly in his converse with souldiers debauch'd in the greaterlibertines, and more

MORALITY.

809

suspecthim, he kept them company ; and because sometimes when they saw him coming, they had hid theircards not of the clergy, and dice, he told them. They were neither cou'd they continue praying all the day; that forbid to gamequarrellingand swearing,were cheating, sters, but that play was not forbid to a souldier. Sometimes he play'd at chess himself out of complyance, when
they whom he study'd to withdraw from vice, lovers were of that game : And a Portuguese gentleman, whose name Don Diego Norogna, had once a very illopinion of was

This cavalier, who had heard a report of Xavier, that he was a saint-like man, and desir'dmuch to have a sight of him, happened to be aboard of the same
him for it.

galley. Not knowing his person, he enquired which was he; but was much surprisedto find him playing at chess nation, with a privatesouldier. For he had form'd in his imagithe idea of one who was recollectednd austere,and a but to discom-seof eternity, who never appeared in publick
or

to work miracles."^

in his younger days, a cardthough subsequentlyhe condemned all games at cards player, as being in themselvesunlawful.^ According to the Duchess
St. Francis de Sales was,
who had known him in of Orleans,the old Marshal Villeroi, hisyouth, could never bring himselfto callhim Saint. As in oftenas the name of St. Francis de Saleswas mentioned his presence,he would observe, I was deHghted to learn that Mons. de Sales was a Saint. He was fond of saying in other respects smutty things,and used to cheat at cards ;
"

intoEnglish The Life of St,FrancisXavier,by Father Bouhours. Translated by John Dryden, pp. 71, 203, 697. depend prin" des dez, des cartes, et semblables, esquelsle gain "Les jeux des recreationsdangereuses, cipalement du hasard, ne sont pas seulement les danses, mais ellessont simplement et naturellementmauvaises et comme Litrod.a la Vie devote, blamables.""St.Franpois de Sales, quoted by Thiers
'

in hisTraitsdes Jeux, p. 168.

310

PLAYING

CARDS.

he was

^ gentleman, though a ninny." The excuse perfect that he made for his cheating was, thaiwhatever he won for the poor. Cardinal Mazarine, another dignitary was of

the church of Rome, was much given to cheating at play as that ; well as in politicsand itis relatedby an eye-witness, continued to play when he was on his death-bed, he still

of the company holding his hand ;" and that he was thus employed when he receivedthe Pope's plenaryindulgence,togetherwith the viaticum,as a prince
**

at cards, one

of the church,from the Papal nuncio.^ In the sixteenth many of the and seventeenthcenturies, clergyof alldegreesin France, Spain, and Italy appear to but to have been much addicted not only to card-playing notwithstandingthe determinations of gaming in general,
casuists and the prohibitionsof councils. Masses and prayers were sometimes staked by the priestagainst tlie devout people, hard money of the layman; and even followingthe example set them by their pastors,used to play with each other for Aves and Pater-hosters. On the
of subjectthe clergystaking masses
at play, Barbeyrac, a

Protestant, observes, These

"

are

in tmth frivolous matters,

to as and of no effect, say no worse ; nevertheless, those in o wlio traffic them believe,r, at least, pretend to believe

M^moires sur la Cour de Louis XTV et de la R^gence. Extraits la dc Corrcspondance llcmandc de Madame Elisabeth-Charlotte, A Duchesse d'Orl^ans, du ll^-gcnt, 339. 8vo, Paris,1823. In corroborationf the anecdote mere p. o by the Duchess, the Editor gives the following d'un from the * Loisirs related Homme
H d'Etat/ the Dictionnaircistoriquc "M. de Cosnac,archevcque :* and
*

d'Aix, ^tait tres vieux, quand 11appritque Tonvient de canoniserSaintFranpois de Sales. *Quoi!' s'dcria-t-il, de Geneve, mon *M. aucien ami? Je suis charme de la fortune qu'il : un vient de faire e'etait galant homme, un aimable homme, ct mcme homme, quoiqu'il trichat piquet,ou nous avons au unhonnete * souvent jou^ luidit-on, est-il ensemble.' Mais, moriscigncur,* qu'un possible * friponne jcu au ?' Ho !'repliqua I'archeveque,ildisait, saint pour ses raisons, Icspauvres.* que ee qu'il gagnait utait pour * Mcmoircs incdits Louis Henri de Lomenie, Comte dc Bricnnc. de
* *
"

MORALITY.

311

that a kind of sanctity and supernatural virtueare attached to their use, allplay for such stakes is unlawful; and he
who thus profanelyventures them is evidently guiltyboth and simony." With respect to playing for of sacrilege is prayers,Thiers says that the practice not condemned by Dr. Navarre, and that Pere Raynaud bears witness of its

being admitted among

the devout ; for his own

"

ever, part, how-

he disapproves of it as a heteroclite refinement of devotion;" and is of opinion that there is some degree of irreverencen playingforPsalms, Patcr-nosters, Aves.^ i and The Spanish phrase, Jugar los Kiries^' shows that such a
"

was not unusual among the clergyof that country : practice dictionaries though the explanation the phrase in some of is,that it relatesto a clergyman who plays away the alms

that are given him for praying, it yet properlyrelates a to clergyman who plays away prayers, not the money given for them.
"

the vicesgenerated by gaming, that of swearing is especiallyoted by most authors who have written on the n French appear to have minced and frittered their oaths, swearing "like a comfit-maker'swife;" the English and Germans to have sworn grossly; and the The subject.^

Among

Spaniards and Italians have blasphemed in to

refined impiety.
"

spirit of

Pascasius Justus, in this respect,calls

de "Une treizi^me qui, circonstance, limon sens, est capable gaterle jeu, k des que c'cstquand on joiie prieres, veux dire quand on joiie condition je ou fera certainesprieresou pour les fidMes trepass^s, pour cclui qui perdra ccluiqui aura gagnd, ou pour quelqu*autre qui lui fera indiqu6. Le Docteur Raynaud tdmoigne Navarre ne condamne pas cet pratique.Lc P. Tbdopliile un Mais pour moi, je la regarde comme qu'elle est repue parmi les devots. ou de et qu'il raffiuement devotionheteroclite irreguliere, j'estime y a de Tirr^ou reciter, des Fater naster,ou des Ave Maria h.dire." Thiers, Traitddes Jeux, p. 425. ' des to On thispoint the reader is more particularly referred Thiers, Traits Jeux et des Divertissemens, 422 ; and to Barbeyrac,Traitd du Jeu, torn, ii, p. vcrence
a

joiier, exemple, des Pseaumes par

"

1737. p. 356, second edit.

812

Pl.AYINO

CARDS.

farm, and says thatitalways the devil's the gaming-table Iiihis time, gamesters yieldshim a most abundant crop. from vexation,but do not appear to have merely sworn to have delightedin pouring forth a volley oaths. even of

told a gambler that he him" Then selfcould never utter an oath, the other replied, A French writer, you arc ignorant of a great pleasure." following speaking of the oathsof the Spaniards,gives the impiety. On one occasion, as of anecdote, an instance their Spanish army against when an orderhad been issuedto the
that, He relates when he
once

having lost all his money at cards, swearing, a soldier the letter the order, gave vent of and not daringto violate Senor by exclaiming,"Beso las manos, to his feelings II Pilato," I thank you, Mr. Pontius Pilate.''"" devoit stance inof etre brule,"isthe judgment the relater. A similar who had lost of blasphemy, on the part of an Itialian his money at cards,is recordedby Henry Stephens, in the
"

t introductiono his ' Traitede la Conformite des Merveilles

anciennesavec lesmodcrnes.'^ With respect to the passions excited by gaming, the learned and pious Jeremy Collierexpresses his opinion in his 'Essay on Gaming,' in a in the followingmanner, Dialogue : I can't help observing that playing deep sets the spmts on float, strikesthe nodnd strongly into the
"

h "Toutcfois Bans vciiir tcllca uous sortcs do blasplit'mcs, en trouvons de dc la forts langagcIlalicn dont aucuus : sauvagcs au plutostsoriir scrablcnt bouclie dc diables que d'horamcs. Du nombre desquels est un que j'ouy
"

a Icquel M sera recitd en son lieji. ais on luy peut proferer Rome par un prestre, bien donner pour compagnon un qui fut profer6 a Venise par un Italien, non en aux prestre, ais suculier, jouant eartes en la maison d'un ambassadeurdu m Roy. Ce blasphemeest tel: * Venga '1cancaro ad lupo/ Quel si grand mal ici y-a-t-il P diraquelqu'un. Lc grand mal est en cc que cecise disoit par une figure, en qui s'ai)pclle aposiopeseou retinenea, lieu de (comme depuison * era Venga '1 eancaro, ad lupo clie non cogneut) christo quando manjib il agucllo.*Or raj)pclloit agnello,ayaut esgard ft cc qui est dieten S. Jean, * " Ecce agnus Dei qui tollit peecatamundi.*

MORALITY.

313

face,and discoversa man's weakness very remarkably. dice, "c. command Cards and the humour no lessthan does the tide; you may see the passionscome the moon up with the dice, and ebb and flow with the fortuneof the r game ; what alternateeturns of hope and fear, pleasuie of are frequently visiblepon such occasions? u and regret,
*Ep9a S* dfi* 6in"ayti re
*0\\vvTCJV
Ti,
Kai

xai lix^^^ irtKiv dvSpuVf dWyfievuv.

image of war, the sudden turns of success are the advances of easilydiscernible; in luck, make a strange revolution the blood. or victory ill
an

"As you say gaming is

from the chance, and The countenance takes its tincture appearsin the coloursof the prospect. With what anxiousness is the issueexpected. You would think a jury life of gone out upon them. The sentence for and death was
execution is not receivedwith
more

concern,

than the

unlucky appearance of a cast or a card. Thus some people are miserably ruffled,nd thrown offthe hinges; they seem a distressedo an agony ; you'd pitythem for the meanness t ; pleas'd of their behaviour; others are no less foolishly
break out with childishsatisfaction, bring the and tousness of theirhumour too much into view.
"Now
cove-

over the passions, since play is thus arbitrary of who would resignthe reposeof his mind, and the credit histemper, to the mercy of chance? Who would stakehis hazards? And throw the discretion upon such unnecessary dice, whether he should be in his wits or not?" On DoLOMEDES, the other speaker in the dialogue, serving, ob; that thisdoes not always follow that some people losegreat or a play without the least offensiveness ruffle, nd imaginable,the sums with allthe decency and indifference : author,in the character Callimachus, thus proceeds of Alas ! this is often but 'a copy of the countenance :
"

314

PLAYING

CARDS.

smooth within,as they seem without. Some people when they bleed inwardly have the art to is the most of the concealthe anguish; and this generally imconcem'd ; if so heavy a matter ; but ifthey are really worse blow brings no smart along with it,the case is still : things
are

not

so

of the value of money, they won't they have not so much do the least penance fortheirfolly, This stoicism is the speediest as the guard of a remorse. to dispatch beggary ; nothing can be more dangerous than T such a stupidtranquillity. o be thus becalm'd presages
these men
sense

have no

foolhardy, Short allowance. This sedatenessmakes the man renew the combat, and venture a brush for the remainder; for he that can be beaten at his ease, and feels as no pain upon a wound, willfight, most likely, long as

hislegswillbear him. is "But this insensibleness rarelymet with: very few are proof against a shrewd chance to thisdegree. When
misfortune strikeshome, 'tis seldom decently received; For, accordingto their temper goes offwith theirmoney. And here one the proverb.Quiper d le sien,perd le sens.

lossusually and leads to another: makes people desperate, the gentlemen of your function are extremely and now to vigilant improve the opportunity, and observethe current head of the passions. You know very well when a man's over his luck,when the spleen comes grows misty with ill his himselfofi" guard, he understanding, and he has fretted ismuch the easier conquest : thus,when your bubbles are lend them a going down the hill, you manage accordingly, I push, tho' theirbones are broken at the bottom. But
forgetmyself; there'sneithermercy business. people's
"

nor

in justicesome

you know I may take it for granted, that a yom* gaming sparks are horribly when things with ruffled promisingfacesicken,and sink on the sudden, when they To return
:

MORALITY.

316

crossbitten, and success is snatcH'dfrom surprizingly theirgrasp; when this happens, which is not unfrequent, are the spirits up immediately, and they are a storm at the b first last: the traintakes fire, and they kindle and flash
are

at the touch like gunpowder.

thus rampant, nothing is more execrablelanguage : when instead of blaming theirown theirfolly, they are cursingtheir and disciplining rashness, stars,and raging againsttheirfate.*

And when the passions are common than oaths, and

These paroxysms of madness run sometimes so high, that you would think the Devil had seiz'dthe organs of in : speech,and that they were possess'd every syllable and
"

farther, hese hideous sallies sometimes carry'd are to finish t

on

to quarrellingand murther. The dice,it may be, are snatch'd too quick, the cast is disputed,the loading and

legerdemauiis discovered.
"jamque facesetsaxa volant:
"

disartillery to a closeencounter. And thus leftagonizing one of them is run through the lungs, and upon the place : or, as it happened not long since, the and his skull gamester is knocked down with a pint-pot, broken : he is forced to be trepan'd,and then relapsing diesof a frenzy. intoplay and drinking,

this, they run to charg'din swearing,come

Upon

arms,

and aftersome

from The author of 'A Short Essay on the FoUy of Gaming/ reprinted in thcDubHn InteUigencer, 1734, speaking of the lossof temper at cardsand him to the " I dice, doubts the truth of tliis position, refer says : If any one the gaming Groom-Porter's,and other public tables, where the virtuososof duelling, Ifblasphemy,cursing, swearing, to are daily science and nightly be seen. distortions hatsand wigs m the fire, running of heads againstthe wall,thro^ving dice-boxes, burning of cards,breakingof of the countenance, bitingof nails, degree." to be found there in the highest can be caUed a loss of temper, they are followingwarning: "IshaU closethese concludes his essay with the "He Theuth Plato's, viz.that the Daemon cursory reflections with a usefulremark of are the t was the inventorof Dice ; and the vulgar have it by tradition hat cards information given, Devil'sbooks; thereforeI cannot but say that after tliis devotion." t at if gamesters willnot desist, hey are undoubtedly the Devil's
"

316
"

TLAYINO

CAKD8.

As to the hazards,they are frightful, to and sufficient overset the temper of better principledpeople than gamesters Have we not heard of ladieslosing commonly are. ? hundreds ofguineasat a sitting And othersmore slenderly
"

husbands'studies, disfurnish their and play offthe stocked, books which, it may be, help'dto feed them. And when are thus courageous,the men the women conclude their for a bolder liberty that they ought to go : sex calls own brave in the methods of in farther danger, and appear more
has been lostin an afternoon; the suit and servicefollow the cast, aud the right is transfer'd sooner than the lawyer can draw the conveyance. A box
ruin : thus a
manor a artillery, batteryof and diceare terrible execution. They make plays with more

cannon a

scarcely breach in a

time."* a castle,nd command a surrenderin a little A curious Rabbinical tract on the of Gaming,

subject

J entitled,HD IID,

"

Sur

Mera,"

Evil,"^seems

to require some

that is, "Depart notice here. It was

from first

printed at Venice, about 1615; was reprintedat Leyden about 1660; and a third edition,accompanied with a German translation, was published at Leipsic in 1683,
None of the editors mention eitherthe name of the author, or the time when he lived. The work is in the form of a dialoguebetween two young Jews, one of whom, named

Medad, maintainsthe lawfulness Gaming, and isopposed of by the other, The work is divided into six named Eldad. is chapters. The first merely introductory, giving a brief Medad, a account of the speakers in the dialogue; merchant's son, addicted to play ; and Eldad, his friend,
"

who
"

endeavours to reclaim him.

The

second chapter

An Essay upon Gaming, ina Dialogue between Callimachus and Dolomedes. By Jeremy Collier, M.A. 1713. 'This title s taken from the 14tliverse i of the xxxivth Psalm: "Depart from evil, do good." The names are and of the speakers, Eldad and Medad, from Numbers, xi, 26.

MORALITY.

317

containsthe argument which they had on the subject of Medad endeavouringto show that ; gaming and commerce and similar to commerce; play is commendable while Eldad maintains the contrary. In the third chapter, Eldad undertakes to prove from the Scriptures that a gamester breaks allthe Ten Commandments, and Mcdad In the foiu1;h chapter,Eldad, on the authority of the Talmud and other Rabbinical works, maintains that a gamester can neitherbe a judge ingeniouslyanswers
him, citing opposite witness; and Medad answers authorities.In the fifth passages from the same chapter, Eldad recites piece of poetry descriptive the miserable a of
nor
a

him.

state of a gamester ; and Medad, in return, recites another,

life are highlyextolled. of wherein the pleasures a gamester's In the sixthand lastchapter, Eldad seriously exhorts his friendto assent to truth; Medad yields,and acknowledges thatthe cause

which he had maintained was bad. The followingare 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 inventions. It is like a bright min*or in which many excellent
"

things are to be discovered, and excitingto a sluggishman, incident to daily life. causing him to forget the cares

it be undeniable that he whose whole pleasure of the Lord, and consists in keeping the commands who is neither vain nor ambitious, is a better man
Though
in plays; yet of the various pursuits Play which men engage in order to obtain wealth or power, is one which may be allowed to those who, without pretending to be absolutely ighteous,yet endeavour to be as r man Through much trafficking righteous as they can.

than he

who

becomes knowing
"

and

wares

are

Sechorah

"

word

which

means

in Hebrew calledmirrD ' or circulation,','that

one

on which circulates,'

account

of their passing from

318

PLAYING

CARDS.

by way of barter or sale. Why should person to another as any other business, Play not be estimated the same at lost and sometimes gained?^ which money is sometimes
The determining of matters by lot or chance is even of was : Divine institution the high priest'ssin-oflPering to be to be divided amongst determined by lot; the land was the Twelve Tribes by lot; David, in the sixteenthPsalm, his lot; and in Proverbs, says that the Lord maintains

the lot causeth contentions between the mighty.' It is answered, to cease, and parteth is productive of mutual benefit. o that trafficr commerce But hearken: in anticipation a dearth you purchase a of hundred quartersof corn of your neighbour, and lock itup
we chap, xviii, are

told that

'

"

in in your granaries, the hope of gaining double. You out for the signs raise your face to Heaven, but itis to loolc of bad weather ; and you are content that there should be
a

by famine in the land,provided that you tlirive it. When

to the your wine-vatsare full overflowing,you enjoy storm of thunder and hail that destroysthe vintage of the year; is for you wiU thus be enriched. But is this just? there

any mutual benefitin this? Can you make your profit ? without the rest of the world being injured And yet you In the held to be an honourable fair-dealing arc man.^
"

thirdchapterof 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 thisportionof Mcdad*s argument, observesthatPlay to isnot to be compared with commerce men or trade, with things which supplies
arc trade both the buyer and the seller necessaryor useful, nd that in fair a
'

benefited.
*

Eldad, in

answer

to thistirade, observes that no

blessingcan

gains of such an unfeeling character, nd that his money willgo as a put of a thousand,he says,thereis not one who succeedsin such speculations, and that we dailysee many reduced to poverty by them. Trade and commerce
us are from speculations supplying with usefularticles to be distinguished which the nature of gaming. partakeof

attendthe ithas come,

MORALITY.

819

even

forbidden. But
;

honoured
actingas

and

so

those who liveby usury are farfrom being deprived of the right of
now,

of giving testimony as witnesses,they : are magistrates and rulers a word of theirsis worth a hundred witnesses. Gamesters, on the contrary, are un; vilified
"

or judges

justly

and he who does not speak evilof play runs ^Even the losing the risk of being excommunicated. 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 lostmuch money, he consoleshimselfwith 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 acquiresthe elements of science he learns
arithmetic without a master ; and also becomes a proficient in logicand rhetoric, from his exercise those arts on his of he may acquire a knowledge opponents. From the cards
of painting, and from the dice,which are exactlysquared, he he may learn mathematics. In short, who plays at cards

hand in allarts. The Hebrew word bD2 is,in its numerical value, BeM which signifies in all,' n equal to 52 : that is, = 2 ; 3 = 20 ; and V= 30 : in all

and dice,has
"

"

'

the number of cards in a French pack. The Hebrew *a Fa-t/od" which signifies Hand,' is,in the same word T1 to 21 : that as manner, reckoning the word itself 1, equal = the word itself l: in all is, = 6; ^=10; 1 "7=4;
52,
" "

the spotson a die. Thus, from hisplay, "the number of learn righteousness,nd how to conduct himself a may a man
21,

of cards has not been so elaborately has not moraUsed as the game of Chess, yet the Pack wanted spiritual xpounders, who have ingeniouslyshown e thatit might serve, not only as a perpetualalmanack, but

with moderation." Though the game

320

PLATING

CARDS.

moral monitor, and a help to devotion. The or most popular and best known of such expositions, rather The Perpetual Almanack, is applications, that entitled
but alsoas
a
'

or

Prayer Book;' which has been Gentleman-Soldier's in long cu*culated this country as a penny chap-book. Mons. Leber says that it is an imitation a French tract of

the same entitled 'Explication morale du subject, Jeu de Cartes,anecdote curieuse et interessante, sous le de Louis Bras-de-fer, nom engage au ser\ice du roi,'
on

to have been first published at Brussels,in which seems to i 1778. The history Bras-de-fersreferred by Breitkopf; of ' and Mons. Rcnouard, speakingof Singer's Researchesinto

the History of Playing Cards,'in the Catalogue of his " Library, n'a observes, Cet auteur, qui a tout recherche, probablement pas tout rencontre, car s'ilI'eutseulement
laisseechapper I'explication entrevue, auroit-il morale du
de jeu cartes par
le I'une des pieces le soldat Bras-de-fer, ?" In order a plus notables de la bibliothcque deux sols that a similar may not be brought againstthe

objection

of writer this work, the whole of the PerpetualAlmanack is here given, verbatim, from a broadside, "printed by
J. Catnach, 2, Monmouth

Court, Seven Dials."

Perpetual Almanack; "The Gentleman-soldier's or Prayer Book: shewing how one Richard Middleton was taken before the Mayor of the cityhe was in for using : cardsin churchduringDivineService being a droll, merry, that happened to a and humorous account of an odd afiair in private soldier the 60th Regiment of Foot. " The commanded his party to the church,and

Serjeant

when the parson had ended his prayer, he took his text, and allof them that had a Bible, pulled it out to find the text; but this soldierhad neither Bible,Almanack, nor Common-Prayer Book, but he put his hand in his pocket him and pulledout a pack of cards,and spreadthem before

MORALITY.

321

he sat; and while the parson was preaching, first he kept lookingat one card and then at another.* The of serjeant thecompany saw him, and said, 'Richard, put up your cards,
as

Never mind that,' forthisis no placefor them.' saidthe soldier,you have no businesswith me here.'
'
"

'

Now the parson had ended his sermon, and allwas to over : the soldiersepaired the churchyard and the comr manding i officerave the word of command to fall n,which g they did. The of the citycame, and took the man
"

serjeant

"

Sir,' you are my prisoner,' saidhe. prisoner. * saidthe soldier,what have I done thatI am your prisoner?' You have played a game at cardsin thechurch.' No,*
'
"
"

Man,

'

"

'I said the soldier, have not play'da game, for I only lookedat apack.' 'No matter for that, you are my prisoner.* "VVTiere must we go ?' said the soldier. You must go
"

'

"

"

So he beforethe Mayor,' said the serjeant. took him before to the Mayor's house,he the Mayor ; and when they came
was

at dinner. When

he had dined he

came

down to them,
"

' what and said, Well,serjeant,do you want with me ?' 'I before have brought a soldier you forplayingat cardsin the

let The following p anecdote of a card-playingarson who inopportunely cate, drop from hissleeve some cards when in church,occurs in 'The Women's Advo1683. or the "Fifteen realComforts of Matrimony.* 2d edit. " his eyes, made a good use of it than The Parson that lovedgaming better came inhaste, ho put up hiscardsin hisgown-sleeve and when the clerk when *Tis toldhim the laststave was a-singirig. true, thatin the heightof his upon the throwingout of the Parishfortheir of neglect holyduties, reproving his sleeve, hiszealous and flewabout the church. arm, the cards dropt out of What thenP He bid one boy take up a cardand asked him what itwas," the
*
"

the King of Clubs. Then he bid anotherboy take up anothercard. * 'now tellme, that?* * The Knave of Spades.' Well/ quo' he, he to the next,'Who redeemed who made ye ?' The boy couldnot wellteU, Quo' 'Look ye,' quoth the Parson,'you think ye?'" thatwas a harder'question. to thiswas an accident, laugh at it; but I did it on purpose shew you that and as cards,, their had you taught your children catechism, well as to know their to answer material uestions when they q they would have been better provided '* come to church,'
*

boy answers What was

21

322

PLAriNG

CARDS.

?'" Yes/"' Well, soldier, church/"'What ! thatsoldier I foryourself?' Much, sir, hope/ what have you to say
*
'
"

"

be Well and good ; but ifyou have not, you shall punished ' ' Sir/said the soldier,I the worst that ever man was/ have been five weeks upon the march, and have but little on to subsist ; and am without eitherBible, Almanack, or Common-Prayer Book, or anything but a pack of cards: I hope to satisfy of your honour of the purity my intentions/ Then the soldier ulled out of his pocket the pack of p
*
"

"

he then began which he spread before the Mayor ; cards, * When I see the Ace,' saidhe, itputs me with the Ace. in mind thatthereisone God only ; when I see the Deuce, itputs me in mind of the Father and the Son ; when I see
'

in mind of the Father,Son, and Holy Ghost ; when I see the Four, itputs me in mind of thefour EvangeUsts, hat penned the Gospel,viz.Matthew, Mark, t the Tray,itputs me

Luke, and John ; when I see the Five,itputs me in mind were w of thefive wisevirgins ho trimmed theirlamps ; there foolish, ten, but five were who were shut out. When I see the Six,itputs me in mind thatin six days the Lord made Eeaven and Earth ; when I see the Seven, it puts me in
mind thaton the seventhday God restedfrom allthe works which he had createdand made, whereforethe Lord blessed the seventhday, and hallowed it. When I see the Eight, itputs me in mind of the eightrighteouspersons that were saved when God drowned the world, viz. Noah, his wife,

and theirwives ; when I see the Nine, it puts inmind of nine lepers me thatwere cleansedby our Saviour; therewere ten, but nine never returnedGod thanks ; when I see the Ten, itputs me in mind of the Ten Commandthreesons,
ments thatGod gave Moses

Mount Sinaion the two tables I of stone.' He took the Knave, and laidit aside.^ When in mind of the Queen of Sheba, see the Queen, itputs me
on
'
"

who

came

from the furthermostpartsof the world to hear

MORALITY.

328

thewisdom of King Solomon, forshe was as wise a woman a man as he was boys and fifty ; forshe broughtfifty girls, in boy'sapparel, show beforeKing Solomon, to clothed all forhim to tell which were boys,and which were girls but ; he couldnot, untilhe called for water for them to wash
themselves the girls ; washed up to theirelbows, and the boys only up to their by ; wrists so King Solomon told that.

And when I see the King, itputs me in mind of the great King of Heaven and Earth,which is God Almighty,and h likewiseis Majesty King George,to pray forhim.'
Well,'saidthe Mayor, *you have a verygood description lacking.' Which one, which is of allthe cards, except isthat?'saidthe soldier.' The Knave,'said the Mayor. Oh, I can giveyour honour a verygood description that, of
'
"

"

'

'

"

"

'

ifyour honour won't be angry.' 'No, I willnot,'saidthe Mayor, ' if not term me to be theKnave.' 'Well,' you will that I know isthe said the soldier,the greatest serjeant brought me here.' * I don't know,' said the city, that of
"

"

'

"

knave,but I am sure the Mayor, thathe is the greatest thathe is the greatestfool.' 'When I count how many spotsthereare in a pack of cards,I find there are three hundred and sixty-five ; there are so many days in a year.
'
"

I count how many cardsthereare in a pack, I find there are fifty-two; here are so many weeks in a year. t When I count how many tricks a pack, I findthereare in thirteen there are so many months in a year. You see, ; Almanack, Commonthatthispack of cardsis a Bible, sir, When Prayer Book, and pack of cardsto me.' " a for a loafof bread, pieceof Then the Mayor called a and gave the soldier good cheese, and a pot of good beer, piece of money, bidding him to go about his business, he had ever seen." man saying he was the cleverest Another chap-book, entitled 'A New Game at Cards, between a Nobleman in London and one of hisServants,* Almanack :' a servant is merelya variation the 'Perpetual of

824

PLATING

CARDS.

being denounced to his master as a gambler, deniesthe he fact and on a pack of cardsbeing found in his pocket, ; with theiruse as mere cards, assertsthathe isunacquainted
verts and thathe uses them as an almanack, and sometimes conanswer to them into a prayer-book. The four suits the fourquarters the jear; thereare thirteen cards in of ; w a each suit, nd thirteeneeks in each quarter the twelve

coat cardscorrespond with the twelve months in

as and thereare just many weeks in the year as ; pack. The King and Queen remind him of his allegiance

year; cards in a

the Ten reminds him of the Ten Commandments ; the Nine,of the nine Muses ; the Eight,of the eightaltitudes, and the eight persons who were saved in the ark; the

Seven,of the seven wonders of the world,and the seven thatrulethe days of the week ; the Six,of the six planets petitionsontainedin the Lord's Prayer, and of the six c
Four, senses; the working daysin a week; the Five, the five of of the four seasons ; the Three, of the three Graces,and of the threedays and nightsthatJonah was in the whale's

belly the Two, of the two Testaments,Old and New, and ; Virtue and Vice ; and the of the two contrary principles. Ace, of the worship of one God. With respect to the Knave, which,hke the soldier, had laidaside, he and had
he omitted to noticein itsproper place, says,on being asked its meaning by hismaster, thatitwillalwaysremind hun of the personwho informed against him. A variation the history Bras-de-fer was a of of published t Parisin 1809, with notes by a Mons. Hadin, under the

following : title Histoiredu Jeu de Cartes du Grenadier Richard, Explicationu Jeu de ou d cartes cinquante-deux en forme de Livres de Priere.'^Mons. G. Brunet, in his
'

Mons. Peignotsaysthat Mile.Le Normand, the fortune-teller, celebrated in her 'Souvenirs but Paris, published Proph^tiqucs/ 1814, the same history,
"

with the name of thehero changed to EiehardMiddleton. Mile.Le Normand diedat Parisin 1843, it a aged 72, leaving fortune, is said, 500,000 francs. of She had followed trade fortune-telling the for upwards of forty years; and of

MORALITY.

825

Bibliographique les Cartes a jouer/ that sur 'Notice says thisKvret is not devoidof originality, that it is not and it met with. From the passages which he quotes, easily would appear that the GrenadierRichard" was equally well read in sacred and profanehistory, and that he had
"

thumbed

both his Concordance and his ClassicalicD tionary to some purpose. The Ace reminds him, amongst

various otherthings, the unityof the Deity; that Noah of left the ark one year after the deluge; and that thereis only one CatholicChurch. When he sees the Nine, he thinks of the nine ordersof angels and is reminded that ;
Christdied at the ninthhour of the day. A Queen reminds him of Eve, Judith,Dalilah,the Queen of Sheba, and the Virgin Mary ; a Knave, of the centurionin the Gospel ; and a King, of Adam, Solomon, or any king mentioned in Holy Writ. The twelve coat cardsremind him of thetwelve breastfountains Elim, the twelve precious stones in the plate of

the twelve loaves shew-bread, of of the high priest, thetwelve the twelve stones with which Eli builtan altar, the the patriarchs, twelve oxen that sustained brazen sea in
Solomon's temple,the twelveapostles, twelvearticles the of
the creed,and the twelve feasts which are more particularly celebratedby 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 ; leaves, the loveof the three Trefle," of with theirtriple to women who went earlyin the morning with perfumes
" "

"

"

"

the holy sepulchre. On of heathen mythology, cards are equally subjects to memory. The Three reminds suggestive his well-stored
by who was issaidto have been frequently consulted the Empress Josephine, her customers were gamblers, of A extremelysuperstitious. great number of both by Napoleon, and by both sexes. Siie is said to have been visited Alexander, Emperor of Russia.

326

PLATING

CARDS.

N him of the threesons of Saturn, Jupiter,eptune, and Pluto; of the three Furies,the three Graces, the three Hesperides,he three daughters of Mineus, and the three t horsesof the chariot Pluto. The Four reminds him of of
"

the fourages,the fourhorsesof the chariot the sun, and of the four labyrinths, and namely, of Egypt, Crete, Italy, reLemnos ; and whenever he sees the Nine, he is vividly minded

of the nine Muses, and the nine acres of land coveredby the body of the giantTithius. The twelvecoat the o cards are suggestive f the twelvegods and goddesses, twelve labours of Hercules, and sundry other twelves
besides.^

historical The following aprqpoSyof a pack of anecdote, b from a littleook in duodecimo, entitled cards,is extracted
Companion,* printedfor The Social and Instructive Row, 1765. The same storyisalso T. Field in Paternoster in the 'Whitehall Evening Post,' of the 27th inserted September, 1767; and the editorsays that it is related
*

in the manuscript memoirs of Richard, Earl of Cork, He fiui:her and of Henry Usher, primate of Armagh. bishop by adds thatitstruthwas ascertained James Usher, ArchHenry. Whether of Armagh, nephew of theaforesaid

false, gi^eat any more improbable thingshave a m history passedcurrent as authentic evidence. upon no better "Queen Mary having dealt severely with the Protestants in England, signed a commission about the latter end of her reign, takingthe same course for with them in Ireland;
true
or

force, and to execute the same with greater she nominated Ur. Cole, who had recommended himself by wholesome in severities England, to be one of the commissioners, sending the commission by the doctorhimself. In the way. Dr. Cole lodged one night at Chester, where, being visitedas the queen's messenger, and a
"

he by churchman of distinction the mayor of that city, in* NoticeBibliograpliiquc lesCartes a joiier, 1842. sur p. 9. Paris,

MORALITT.

327

formed this magistrate the contents of hismessage; and of box out of his cloak-bag, taking a said, Here isa commission that shalllash the heretics' the Pro(meaning testantsof Ireland). The good woman to of the house being well affected the Protestantreligion, and having also a brothernamed
'

"

John Edmonds, then a citizen Dubhn, and a Protestant, in disturbed the doctor's was at greatly words ; but waitinga convenienttime whilst the mayor took his leave, and the doctorcomplimented him down stairs, venturedto open she

the box, and taking the commission out, she in itsplace put a sheetof paper,and a pack of cards, with the Knave at of Clubs faced uppermost, wrapped up. The doctor, 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 for Ireland, h fair,e sailed and landed at Dublin, the 7th of October,1558. " his The doctorhaving notified arrival the Castle, he t at lord deputy Fitz-Walters sent for him to
come

before his

; made excellency and the privycouncil to whom the doctor to a long speech relating the of his subject commission, and then presented the leatherbox with its contents to the lord deputy. But when the deputy opened itforthe secretary

to read the commission,]o! to the greatsurprisef all o

therewas nothingfound confusion, and the doctor's present, but a pack of cards with the Knave of Clubs faced uppermost. that he The doctorassuredthe deputy and council had a commission,but knew not how itwas gone, 'Then/ have another commission,and said the lord deputy, letus we the cards in the meanwhile.' willshuffle "The doctor withdrew in great trouble of mind; and hastingback to England, obtaineda freshcommission : but being detainedsome time at the water sidefora fair wind, he was prevented from putting it into execution by the news of the queen's death.
'

328

PLAYING

CARDS.

deliverance the "This account of the providential of Ireland from the Marian persecution is Protestantsin Richard, Earl of Cork, by the in attested the memorials of Lord Primate Usher ; and in Sir James Ware's MSS. ; who also writes that Queen Elizabeth,being informed of the h by truththereof the lorddeputy Fitz-Walters,er Majesty
was

delighted, that she sent forthe good woman, named Ehzabcth Edmonds, but by her husband (whom she afternamed Mathershead, and gave her a wards
so

married)

forhaving saved her pounds during life, pension of forty Protestant of Ireland."

subjects
now

laidbeforethe readera store of facts and on of and history cards,a sketchof speculations the origin inEurope, in the progress card-playing different countries of eminent men on of and a collection the opinions several of the lawfulness the game theologically morally considered, and of

Having

together with sundry othermatters either naturally, or artificially, with cards, I shall associated conclude the work by a briefrecapitulation a few of the leadingfacts of
"

to and circumstances relating the originof cardsand the firstntroduction i intoEurope. time of their In Hindostan,the traditions, i that cards were known in

thatcountryat 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 scrit o authority f the San.

professorat Oxford, thatthere is no Sanscrit word forplayingcards. This lastfactis, however, of but little weight as negativeevidence of cards being unknown in Hindostan a thousand yearsago ; forlong before that time Sanscrithad become obsolete as a vernacular language. In China,ifany credit be attached the two dictionaries, can to
rather cyclopaedias, the greatestauthority in that of " country, Dotted Cards" were invented in 1120, in the
or

MORALITY.

820

in the reign reignof Seun-ho,and began to be common of Kaou-tsung,who ascended the throne in 1131. Cards Carte in an Italian work, saidto have been ^are mentioned composed by Sandro di Pipozzo in 1299 ; but as the MS. isnot of an earlier date than 1400, there isgood reason for
"

concluding the word to be an interpolation, seeing that in severalworks of the earlier part of the fourteenth century, had been citedto prove that cards were then known which
in Europe, ithas been discovered that the term cards was introducedat a later an interpolation periodby a transcriber. The author of the ' GiildinSpil,' work written about the a
middle of the fifteenth century,and printedat Augsburg, in 1472, says that he had read that the game of cards was

first brought into Germany in 1300.

No

fact,however,

confirmatoryof the correctness of this account has been discovered;and the omission of all notice of cards by half European authorsof the earlier of the fourteenth century,

treating the games in vogue at the when expressly of as period, may be received good negative evidence of their ^^ Be not being then known as a popular game in Europe : mitting non e apparentihus et non existentibusadem est ratio*' Adeven

which appears cardsto be ofEasterninvention"a fact by to be sufficiently established the evidenceadduced in the became known first chapter, itwould seem that they first
"

popular game between 1360 and 1390. Covelluzzo, Italianchroniclerf the fifteenth an century, o in b says,that the game' was firstrought intoViterbo 1379 ; in 1393, three packs of cards were paintedby Jacquemin Gringonneur for the amusement of CharlesVI of France ;*
in Europe
as a

that cardsare- mentioned in a Since thissheetwas in type I have learned "nn * bourgeois written about 1393, by work entitled Le Menagier de Paris/ Franjais. la Bibliophiles Parisien,"and recently publishedby the Societyof it the noticeof it in the 'Journaldes Savants*forFebruary last, said: "On y h que nul autre ouvrage ne nous foumit; rencontre des indicationsistoriques telest,par example, la mention des Cartesa jouer."
"

33a

PLAYING

CARDS.

in 1397, tHe working people of Paris were forbid to play in the same year cardat cards on working days ; and by the magistrates of Ulm. Such playingwas prohibited to the introduction facts are the principal relative of cards
appears to have rapidlyspread The manufacture of cards amongst allclassesof people. in Germany and Italy a regular business was priorto 1425 ; into Europe.
The

game

the importationof foreigncardsinto England was prohibited by act of parliament in 1463; and about 1484, cards, as Christmas game. It is una common at present, was necessa

prominent incidents which to ; mark the progress of card-playing it may be sufficient that no other game was ever so generallyplayed, observe,
to recapitulate more the

rich and poor. with peopleof both sexes, ^young and old, ^* Even the "red man" of America, the Stoicof the Woods," has acquireda knowledge of cards, from his neighboursof
"

European descent, and ceases to be apathetic when engaged in the game. It is,perhaps, as extensively difiuseds the a indulged in by a greater use of tobacco; and is certainly
variety persons. of

:;3^^^^ iji^':'

APPENDIX.

No. I
Ustof the ^cimetuofCards given
NumSralei, du
in the 'Jeux de Carta Taroti de Cartet et Dix-huiiime Steele:*published hy the au Society Bibliophiles rangais, Paris, 1844. F of

Qmtorzime

1. Seventeen cards, ascribed to Grmgonnenr, from the in originals the BibKoth^que du Roi.
2. Ten cards,from the originals engraved Biblioth^que Roi. Supposed date,1425. du
^

on

wood and coloured,in the

3. Cards, from the originals engraved on wood, in the possessionf Mons. o H6muville. Supposed date,1440.
4. Copies of the set of ififty Italian TarocchL old engravings, usuallycalled

Supposed date,1470.
6. Ten plates, containinga set of fifty-two circular cards, with the mark T. W., and having Hares, Parroquets, Pinks, and Columbinesas 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,

ascribedto the "Master of 1466," formerlyin the possessionof Mr. T. Wilson, but now in the Bibliothequedu 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, of containingsixteenPortuguese cards, the date 1693. 10. A plate, twelve French cards,engraved by Vincent Goyraud, containing the time of Henry IV. of

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, containingtwelve cards of another Republican pack, engraved
11. A

sixteen containing plate,

period as the preceding. of originalsof all the specimens,with the exception those mentioned du in the Biblioth^ue Roi. under No. 3, arc preserved
same

in France about the

The

332

APPENDIX.

No. 2.
to directly Works either A List ofthe principal relating Cards,or incidentally de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes From the *Jeux the Game. treating

of

Numerates,*icith many additions,

domestique, d : Le M^nagicr de Paris traitde morale et d*^conomie composd, 1393, par un Bourgeois Parisien. Public pour la premiere fois vers par la 184-8. Frangais. 8vo, Paris, des Bibliophiles Soci^td
Augsburg, 1472. Spil. Folio, Das Giildin Ingold, d BaptistaPlatina, e Honesta Voluptate. 4to, Venice, 1475. Martius,de Doctrinapromiscua. About 1490. Galcottus
C R. Maphei Volaterraniommentaria Urbana. 1506. 4to, Logica Memorativa: Chartiludiumlogice"auctore Thoma Mumer. 1509. Reprintedat Paris. 8vo, 1629. 1507. Strasburg, Cracovia;, Grammatica figurata.4to, 1509. Vosgcsigenoe Pliilcsii Speculum Fatuorum, auctore Joanne Geiler de Kiesersberg, coneionatoro
1511. Argentorense. Sect.Ixxvii, Lusorum turba. 4to, Strasburg, J Chartiludium institutesummarie, vel institutiones ustiniani doctore ;

1518. Thoma Mumer, mcmorante et ludente. 4to, Argentinae, 1542. Dialogi HadrianiBarlandi. 8vo, Paris, omnes Vives. 1545. Charlarum, Dialogus, Ludus auctore Ludovieo Raggionamcnto del divinoPietro Aretino, con nel quale siparladelgiuoeo, morality piacevole.8vo, about 1545. Reprinted in 1589 and 1651. Lc Mepris et leContemnement de tons lesJeux de Sort, par 01. Gouyn. 1550. 8vo, Paris, 4to, Cento Giuochiliberal! da InnocentioRinghieriritrovati. e d'ingegno,
1551. Bologna, Satyra invectiva contra los Tahures: en que se declaranlosdanos que al Diego de cuerpo,y al alma,y lahaziendase siguen del juego losnaypes. (Por

del Castillo.) Sevilla, 12mo, 1557. PascasiusJustus,de Alea. About 1560. Reprinted in 4to, with a large Joannes Appendix on the of subjectgaming, selectedfrom variousauthors,by a Munster, at Neustadt,in the diocese 1617. of Spires, Hierouymi CardaniLib. de ludo Ale". About 1560.
John Northbrooke*sTreatise against Dicing, Dancing, Plays,and otherIdle Pastimes, 1577. Reprintedby the Shakspeare Society, 1843. Liber de Alea,ou breve Remontrance sur lesJeux de Cartes et de Des, par

Lambert Daneau. Small 8vo, Paris, 1579. Philip Stubbes's Anatomy of Abuses. 12mo, 1583. ReginaldScott's Discovery Witchcraft. 4to,1584. of Le Triomphe du Bcrlan, 1585. par J. Perrache. 8vo, Paris, Del Giuoeo; DiscorsodelR. Padre M. Tommaso BuoninsegnL 4to,Florence, 1585. A Short and Pkin Dialogue concerningthe Unlawfulness of Playing at Cards or Tables.By James Balmford. First 1593. Reprintedin 1607, edition,

APPENDIX.

833

d Les Tromperies Piperiesu Jen,ou laMort aiix Pipeurs, 12mo, Paris. et 1608. The Four Knaves,a seriesf Satirical Tracts. By SamuelRowlands, 1611-13. o 1843. Reprintedby the Percy Society, Commentarius contra Ludura Alearum, Chartamm scilicet acTaxillomm; Tagastensi. 4to,Rome, 1616. a FratreAngelo Roccha, episcopo On the Nature and Use of Lots. By Thomas Gataker, B.D. 4to,London, Second edition, 1619. 1627. Acaddmie des Jeux. 12mo, Paris, 1659. Numerous enlarged editions of have been published. this work ^/ And. Senftlebius, Alea de 1667. veterum, p. 137-8. 8vo, Leipsic,
The Compleat Gamester. By CharlesCotton. 12mo, London, 1674. Der Gelehrte und Bekehrte Spieler das ist ein anuehmlichesTractatlein, :

disputiren, as vom darinnen zwey Jiidische Studenten scharffsinnig W Spiel P. A. Christian.12mo, Leipzig, von zu haltensey ? Ins Deutsche libersetzet Hebrew appearsto have been printed 1683. The first of edition the original at

Venice about1615. A secondedition was at printed Leyden about 1660. Thiers, Docteur Traitsdes Jeux et des Divertissemens, M. Jean Baptiste par 1686. en Theologie. 12mo, Paris, de Parallele espagnoleet celle France,relativement entre laJurisprudence
1686. Jeux de Cartes, par Lucio Marinero Siculo, Elenchus quorumdam eorum et qui de ludis scripserunt, *de ludis orientalibus ; auctore Thoma Hyde. 12mo, Oxford, 1694.
aux

de Bonhcur et Malheur en mati^re Loteries que Ton appelle Amsterdam, 1696. 12mo, J. (Par Le Clerc.) instructive curieuse,ar leP^re Menestrier.12mo, Trevoux, Biblioth^que p et
Reflexions sur
ce

1704.
d^s, Fig. Analyse sur lesJeux de Hasard (cartes, trictrac). de Seb. Essai d' Leclerc. 4to, Paris,1708, de Questions Droit naturel Traitsdu Jeu, ou Ton examine lesprincipales et de Morale qui ont rapport a cette matiere, par Jean Barbeyrac. 16mo, revue Amsterdam, 1710. Seconde edition, et augment^e, 1738. in a Dialogue between Callimachusand Dolomedes. An Essay Gaming,

8vo, London, 1713. Intrigues, ComicalAdventures of themost Famous Memoirs of the Lives, and Gamestei-s and CelebratedSharpers in the reigns of Charies 11, James U, William HI, and Queen Anne. By TheophilusLucas, Esq. 12mo, 1714. Games now for The CourtGamester : or fall and easy instructions playingthe London, 1720. in vogue. By Richard Seymour, Esq. 12mo, second edition, du sur Dissertation TOriginedu Jeu de Piquet, par le Pere Daniel, extraite

upon A.M. Jeremy Collier. By

Journaldo Trevoux, Mai, 1720. and Profancness.By the A View of the Antique Laws againstImmorality Rev. John Disney,A.M. FoHo, London, 1729. Gent 12mo, on Treatise the Game of Whist. By Edmond Hoyle, A Shori; first about 1737. published FoUo, Rome, 1740. This IstoriadellaCittadiViterbo,daFelicianoBussi.

334

APPENDIX.

to from Covelluzzo, the of relating the introduction cards work contains extract by M. C. Leber. i intoVitcrbo,n 1379,first pointedout : Whist ; a Dramatic Satire as actedevery day at White's, The Humours of and Assemblies. 8vo, London, 1743. and otherCoffee-houses on A Letterto a Lady on Card-playing theLord'sDay. 8vo, London,1748. 12mo, Berlin, 1754. Longuerana. Tom. i,p. 408.
'

Rccherchcssur lesCartesh, jouer, Bullet. 12mo, Lyon, 1757. par Notitia Scriptorumde Ludis. 8vo,1761. Lusoria, B H. J. Clodii ibliothcca sive V Mcerman, OrigincsTypographicaj. ol. I. 4to, 1765.

Traitdhistorique pratiquede la Gravure en Bois, par J. M. Papillon. ct 1766. i,p. 80. 8vo, Paris, Tom. Burgh on the Dignity Human Nature. Vol.IT,p. 164-6. 8vo,1767. of Vol. II. London, 1768. Coutumcs d'ltalic, Barctti. par d dcs Encyclopedic Arts et Metiers(Artu Cartier), par Duhamel du Monceau.
4to,1771-76.

d'Estampes, d'uneCollection Id6e g^n^rale par le Baron de Heineken. 8vo, Leipsic, 1771. 1771*. Recueildes Actes sur laR^gie du Droit des Cartes. 4to, Paris,
da 8vo, Cremona, 1775. Bettinelli. H GiuocodelCarte, Saverio C.G. Von Murr, Journal zur Kunstgeschichte, 2terTheil, 89-92; 98 ; 200. s.

12mo, Nuremberg, 1776. du de Louis BrasExplication Jeu des Cartes, sous le nom anecdotecurieuse de-fer.12mo, 1778. The original the storyof the soldier ho used a pack of w
of cardsforhisprayer-book. Sur la Passiondu Jeu, par Dusauk. 8vo, Paris,1779. Mons. Peignot ing says thatthis ; work seems to have produced but little effect forin the followM. de lost year a counsellorparliament, Bergeret Frouville, at one sittmg of

27,000louis. Eclaircisscments Tlnvention sur des Cartes jouer, TAbb^ Rive, 12mo, a par Paris, 1780. Le Monde primitif, Court de Gebclin, tom. viii, 365-418. 4to.Paris, par pp. 1781. I. Versuch den Ursprung der Spiclkartcn zu erforschen. Von J. G. Breitkopf.4to,Leipsic, 784. 1 A Dissertation thepernicious on effects Gaming. By RichardHey, LL.D. of Svo,Cambridge, 1784. Archojologia, on vol.viii. Dissertations the History of PlayingCards,by Barrington, Bowie,and Gough. 4to,London, 1787. In Vol.XV of thesame work thereisan Account of the Italian game of Minchiate. Whist : a Poem, in twelve cantos. By Alex. Thomson, Esq. 12mo, second London, 1792. edition, Lcpons sur THistoire depuis le commencement du XVI* Siecle universelle, M. Pant, Professeur k TUniversit^d'Upsal,1780-93. In this work par the authorspeaksof the engravingof cardsas having led to the invention of
printing. Decret de laConvention, iteNationale France,du 22 Octobre, d de 1793,qui

APPENDIX,

335

de purger les cartes k joner tons les de la royaat^et de laf^odalit^. embl^mes Material! servire Stone dell* riginee de*Progress! ell*ncislone O d I in per all' da Rame e inLegno, col. PibtroZani, 78-81,et 149-93. 8vo, Parma, 1802, pp. The Monthly Repositoryof Theology and GeneralLiterature.ol.I,pp. 534, V 644-50. On the Propriety Dissenting Ministers Cards. 8vo,1806. of at playing Essai sur POrigine de la Gravure en Bois et en Taille-douce, Henri par
Jansen. 8vo, Paris,1808. Le Peintre-Graveur, par Adam 120-38. 8vo, Vienna, 1812. pp. Bartsch,torn, x, pp. 70-120,et torn,xiii,

Franpaises de ftnz enjoini municipalit^s

"c., Aperpu du Jeu desTarots, Jeu de laVie, ou parDurand. 12mo, Metz,1813.

Magazine,vol. ii. 8?o,Calcutta, 815. HindostaneeCards. In the Calcutta 1 Rcscarclics into the History of Playing Cards; with Illustrations the of

Originof Printingand Engraving on Wood. By Samuel Weller Singer. 4to, London, 1816. Melanges d'Origines ^tymologiques de Questions et grammaticales,ar Eloi p 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 London, 1820. edition, den UrGeschichte der Holzschneidekunst nebst zwei Beilagenenthaltend ;
der samt xylographischen Werke, sprung der Spielkarten und ein Verzeichness Joseph Heller. 8vo, Bamberg, 1823. von
Analyse critique raisonn^ede toutes les"Recherches ce jusqu'a et publi^es de Cartesa jouer, G. Peignot (alasuite ses Recherches sur jour rOriginedes par 8vo, Dijon, 1826. sur lesDanses de Moft.)

Catalogue raisonn^ of the selectcollection engravingsof an Amateur, of T. (Mr. Wilson)p. 87-91. 4to,London, 1828. p de du Manuel du Cartonnier, Carticr, du Eabricant Cartonnages. Par et
1830. M. Lebrun, pp. 189-237. 16mo, Paris, dal dellaCalcografia, conte Leopold Cicognara. Memoric spettantilia a storia 8vo, Prata,1831. delaBoussole desCartesa Origine Franpaise jouer, Rey. 8vo,Paris,1836. par et de Observationssur les Cartes h jouer, M. Duchesne ain6, extraites par 1836. PAnnuaire Historiquepour 1837. 12mo, Paris, or Gaming, and the Gaming Houses of London and Paris, Les Maisons des Jeux d6voil6es.By Scrutator. 8vo, London, 1836. P. Wm. A. Chatto.) 62-9. Royal 8vo. A Treatise Wood Engraving. (By on London, 1839." Copies of this work Publishedby Charles Knight and Co.,

without the T/drd Preface are incomplete. dessins, Catalogue des livres, etc, de M. C. Leber. 8vo, Pms, 1839. cartes, by The list works on cards,and of old cardscollected Mens. Leber, is in of tom. i,p. 240 et seq. lesCartes sur s Etudes historiquesur les Cartes a jouer,rincipalement p
.

tome xvidesM^moires de la Soci6t6 P Franyaises.ar M. C. Leber. Extraitdu 1842" d Royale des Antiquaires e Prance. 8vo,Paris,

336

APPENDIX.

8to, Paris, 1842." A Trahs* but Bibliographiqne lesCartesi jouer. liotice d from the 'Lehrbuch einer Literargeschichteer beruhmtesten Volker lation Von J. G. T. Grasse, Dresden, 1842, with additions,y des Mittelalters.* b Brunet,the younger. d h Dictionnaireistoriquees Mceurs des Franpais, par La Chesnaye des Bois. Tom. i,p. 374. R Whist. By B. E. Pote. In the Foreign Quarterly eview, No. 48. On the Costume of Coat Cards. By John Adey Repton. In the * Gentleman's
Magazine' for November, 1843. Cartes a jouer, M. le Baron de Reiffenberg. Dans le Sur d'anciennes par de Bulletin TAcad^mie Royale des Sciences et des Beaux-artsde Bruxelles.
No. 10, 1847. A Bibliotheca ntiquariaFabricii. t Vindiciajypographicae, auctore Schoepflin. sur Dissertation TOrigine et le Progres de la Gravure en Bois,par Foumier. d Memoire sur I'Originee I'Imprimerie, De Vigny. par Saint-Foix. Paris, Essaia sur par

de Trait6 laPolice, par Do laMarre.

INDEX.

Barbeyrac's raits Jen,extracts Act of Parliament, 1463, proliibiting T du from, of 96. 282-94, 310. the importation ofcards, ^Acts to protect gamesters who plaj on Barrington's, Hon. B., Observations the 147 ; the reason of their on the Antiquity i parcredit, tial of Card-playingn 148. England, 18, 46, 65, 107,132, 145, repeal, 160. Advice to professional 270. card-players, term for play; supposed Barrois,J., on the proper meaning Alea,a general of to include 61. the name Gringonneur, ; 70. cards, tual, Peintrc-Graveur, Almanac, Cotta'scard,259; the Perpe- Bartsch's 200, 223. Basset,prohibited Louis XIV, 147. Prayer or Gentleman-Soldier's by
"

Battleof the Reed Swire,113. Book, 321. Amadous VIII, Duke of Savoy, forbids Bells, an ornament of dress, 240. Leber's researches the in 1430, 80. on gamin/^ subject, 240-5. Ames, William, 129 ; preaches against his to cards and dice at Cambridge in Bemardin, St., address the citizens 1610, 281. of Bologna, 90. Franpais, specimens of Amman, Jost, his designsin a book of Bibliophiles by, 190, 201, 236, 84 trades, ; cards of hisdesigning, cards published 250-3. 238. Blacksmith's Anderson'sHistory of Commerce, 96. coat of arms, 6. to from gaming, Christopher, Annals of the Bonds,voluntary, abstain 79. English Bible,109,112. Bras-de-fer, moral exposition a his land 11.,Balladsin the Cumberof 1 dialect,85. ; of cards,320, 324. pack Brietkopf's Inquiry into the Ongin of Anson, Lord, the circumnavigator, catured cariPlaying Cards, 7, 26, 225, 227, 181. as a gamestcjr, 239. History of the Garter,18. Anstis's 26. the German name for cards, Arabian "Nights,cards not mentioned Briefe, 84. Briefmaler, in,46. 1 his Aretine, Pietro, Carte Parlanti, 94, Brunct, the younger, his note prefixed Bibliographique sur to a 'IsTotice 207. 100, 326. lesCartes Asscmblv-rooms devotedto dancingand ajouer,' E sur les Bullet'secherches Historiques 185. caras, Cartes a jouer, 27-8. Astragali,1. 1 Pathcr Buoninse^ui's, Thomas, Discorso Avatars of Vichnou, 38. del Giuoco, 90. 23, 73. History of Viterbo, Bussi's Bacon,Lord, hisinquisitive excited spirit trick when a boy by a juggling with 111. Cabinet du Roi de France,cited. cards,118. Capability cards as a subject dis* 108. Baker's chronicle, of of 2. 261. Baker and Co.'seclectic quisition, cards, John, his discourseagainst Bale, John, uses the word Jack-a-Napes, Capistrari, 233. gaming at Nuremberg in 1452, 91. Card-playingt Bologna in 1423, 90. James,, tractconcerningthe Balmford's, a in Germany in the fifteenth hazard, unlawfulness of games of i 129, 279. century,92.
'
"

",

22

338
c Card-playingommon

INDEX.

in England

as

uliristmas game about 14:84,97. 98, 110, 113. in Scotland, in 1498, 99-100. at Rliodcs
m

ia Irelandand Spain, about 1590, 114-15. in the rei^ of James 1, 125. in the reign of Charles U, 146-9. in the reignof Queen Anne, 105. inthe reignofGeorge II,17080. inthereign George 111,180. of Cards." Hindostanee,32-50. Chinese,55-9. in old stencilled, the British Museum, 88. Historical, Heraldic, 150. For 153. Mathematical,155. 150. Satirical, 157-9. carving, old pahitcd, ascribed to Gringonncur, 195-8. Dr. Stukclcy's,05. 2 old Prench,211, 214. on per, oldGerman, engraved cop220-0.
"

the Chesterfield, Earl of, a card-plaver. ' ^ 173. Chinese cards, 55-9. J Christie,ames, his inquiry into an ancient Greek game, 13. Clubs for gaming, 170. Cole's, Dr. loss of his commission, 327. J Collier,eremy, on gaming, 312. Colours of the ground ot the Hindostanee cards,17, 35, 30, 37. Comedy devised on the game of cards, 122.
on the Controversy lawfulness playing of at cards and other games of chance,

128, 279. Titus Britannicus, Cook's, Aurelian, 145. Cotta'sCard Almanacs, 259. Cotton's Complete Gamester, 159. Counting and guessing,11. Covelluzzo's account of the introduction 23, 73. of cardsinto Vitcrbo, CuiTe,secretaryto the Earl of Essex, 119. his fortunestoldby cards, Curse of Scotland,200-8. St., do histreatise, Alcatoribus, Cyprian, 61,290.
.

engravedon copper,ascribed to Israel Mccken, 220. van

German, engraved on wood, 1511, 230. Trench, of thetime of Henry IV, 250. Portuguese, thedate1093, of 251. French Republican, 253-6. American, 250. Caricatures the reign of George 11, in
181.

Pke, Originedu Jeu de Piquet, Daniel's,

4, 209, 205.

Cartas(Epistobe) Carthage, from 20. Cartes,chartce, cards,probableetymology

Dictionary the Spanish Academy ; its of mology sanctionof a conundrum as an etyof Naipes, 23. Dominotiers, old name for engravers an of and colourers woodcuts, 87. 03, Ducange's glossaries, 99. les Duchesne's, Observations sur Cartes a joucr, and Precis Histo05, 99, 189, 204, 200, 210, rique,

225. Dunbar's,Wm., poems, 110; Valet of of,20, 22. Carving, the art,156. cardsteaching cards,234. Castillo's, Diego del,Satyra contra los Dutch names of the suits of cards, Tahures,115. 230. Catliarine Arragon, wife of Henry of VIII, a card-player, 107. Cervantes' Comical History 120. Q of Rinco- Elizabeth, ueen,a card-player, Cortadillo, 115. ncte and Engravings, seriesf, a called o improperly Charta, 24. paper, Tarocchi cards,199-204. probable etymologyof, Chatur-anga, tne Hindostaneename for Epitaph on Beau Nash, 173 -, on a noble 10. chess, gambler, 297. Cheatingat cards,trialn the o Equity, natural,how to be enforcedin subject. "' 290. 287. games of hazard, Chess, by Evelyn'sMemoirs, 146. saidto have been invented an Indian, 13. Exchequer, derivation theword,16,21. of
.

INDEX.

339

Fante,the Italian for the Knave name Giildin pil, S 74. 229. Gungefu, the name forcardsamong the of cards, Pierge, the Pherz of Persianchess, 14. Moslems, in Hmdostan, 41. Pleur-de-lis, coat cards, and in the on compass, 7. Foreign (Quarterly Keview, article on Whist, 36. Heineken'sId^e g^n^rale d'uneCollec-i Formsclmeider, wood-engraver,as disa tiond'Estampes, 15, 27, 82, 228. tinguished
'

from

Forret,Thomas, his to the objections inwliichmany of the Scotmanner tish 1539, spent their clergy, about tithes, 11-12. 1 Fortune,the gambler's 11. goddess, Fortune-telling cards,116-19. by Four Kin^, a name given to cards, 19. Franklin, Dr., hisdefinition man, 1. of Freret on the orig:in chess,14. of Fumy card,explained, 109. Game, the first playedat,9. Games at cards in 1709, 159. Btfore the time of CharlesII, 160. Games, various,enumerated by Taylor, 163. the water-poet, Games, threedifferent of, species 294. Gaming, excessive,f the French clergy, o
about 1580, HI. Gammer Gurton*s Needle, cards mentioned in,109; Gataker,Thos. B. D., on Lots,129, 279. Gebelin,Court de, findsin cards an 5 of abstract Egyptian learning,; his the word Tarocchi, explanationof
189.

83. card-paiuter,

Helgen, a name given to woodcuts in Suabia,87. Heller's History of Wood-engraving ]

"'

91, cited- 93. ; Henry VII, a card-player, ! 98. Henry VIII, Act of Parliamentagainst i 108. card-playing, Henry, Prmce of Wales, son of James I, * a card-player, 125. Heraldiccards,150-2. Herrera relatesthat Montezuma took in pleasure seeing the Spanish so:- i dicrsplay at cards, 106. 6. Hieroglyphics, ; 33-52. Hindostanee cards, \ to Historical cards,relating the Popish tlie death of Sir E. i plot, and ^ 153-5. Godfrey, Homer, his notice of the games of ] 1 Pctteiaand Astragali,2. ; ? Houbigant's CartesRoyales,257. o Hoyle, Edmond, liis treatisen Whist, 162, 170. as Hume, David, apostrophised a whist160. i player, in, Hycke-Scomer,cardsmentioned 108. Hyde, Dr. T., De ludis orientalibus, 16, 265.
^

Ingilby,Sir Wm., his examinationon 228. German cards,names of the suits, the trial,Lord De Ros versus d Gittem,guitar,erivation the word,25. of Gumming, 295. 6 Goethe's Gotz von Berlichingen,1. author of the Gough's Observationson the Invention Ingold,a Dominican friar, Spil, 74. Giildin of Cards, 22. 1559, against to the Goyraud, Vincent,a French card-manu- Injunctions clergy, facturer, 121. card-playing, of the time of Henry IV, Interpolations the word Cartes,in of 249. Grace'scard,266. old MSS., 67-71. of Gregory, Dr., replyof,respecting ards, Isis,the homed, the original the c Virgin with the crescent on her head, 5. in Gringouneur,Jac, paints cards 1393, Italian names of the suitsof French 76. 207. into Guevara's translated French cards, epistles by Gutery^66. the probable de Jackanapes, etymologyof GuiUcvillc's, William de,Pclerinaige the word, 231-5. I'Hommc, 69.
^

J Geiler,ohn, hisremarks on card-playing about 1508, 100. 150. Geographical cards,

I
;

j
!
i

j
;
i

340
"

INDEX.

on Macbiavclli Fortune,10. 235. Jack nt Warts Jack o'Hearts, Madden's, Sir E.,Privr-purseExpenses James IV of Scotland a card-player, 98. of the Princess Mary, daughterof Henry VUI, 109. 126. a James I of England card-plaver, Magasin rittorcsque, on Jausen'sEssai sur rOrigincdc la Graarticle cards in,71. vurc, 07. II,143; Jcux dc Cartes,Barrington's opinionof Manners in the time of Charles George II, 176. the signification the term, 78. of Eloi,on the etymology of Manufacture of cards, extensivein Johannc.'iu, Germany about 1450, 82; at Nal[)cs, the invention cards, of and Venice, 1441 ; in England, 131, 27-30. 100, 272. Johnson, Dr. Samuel, his opinion of Mappa, its ancient meaning, 29. 302. card-playing, Margaret,daughter of Henry VII, found Jones, Sir Wm., on Chess, 15-17. his device for Abel Jonson, Ben, at playing cards by her aliianced Iiusbaud, James IV of Scotland, G. i)rugger's si^n, 98. 118. Jugj[,'lijjg with cards, tricks 200. Junius, F., his explanation of the Marks of the suits cards, of Martius, Galcottus,speculateson the22. Qiiartes, word Justus,PiLscasius, work on gaming, his meaning of the marks of the suits, 93. 115, 174, 271. daughter of Henrv Mary, the Princess, VIII, afterwards queen, a caraKartenmaehcrat Augsburg in 141 8, 81 ; player,109. Mary, daughter of James II, afterwards Ulm, 82. at 140. Knave, the original queen, a card-player, meaning of the Mazarine,Cardinal, 231. when word, playedat cards dying, 310. Meckcn, Israel van, cards supposed to Lassale,Antoine dc, author of the be engraved by, 226. Chronicle of Jchan de Saintr^ Mecrman's reference to the chronicle 68. 08. of Petit-Jehande Saintrd, Latnmculi,12. Menestrier's,Pcre, BibliothcquecuLeber's, C, Etudes Historiques M. 3, sur rieuscet instructive, 70,80, 151, Jos Cartes a Jouer, 8, 23, 73, 85, 191. 103, 132, 155, 211-13, 217, 220, de, submitscertain Mer6, the Chevalier 210-9. to Pascal respecting qiicstions Lc Normand, Mile.,heParisianortunethe teller, f t chances at play, 157. [See 324. by treatise Probability, Lubbock on Leo X, a trickof hisat cards, bv the 174. and Drinkwater, published List of specimens of cards Dill'usion Useful by Societyfor the of published the Society Biblioj)hiles Eranpais, Knowledge, p. 12; 41-50.] of Aj^)pcnclL\, 1, 333. No. Merrels,the game of,13. List ot works relatingto cards. Appendix, Meursius, de Ludis Graicorum, 5. No. 2, 334. Millin's description of the Marquis Locke, John, his opinion of Girolamo's cards,229. ing, card-play302. Morelli's 73. chronicle, Lookuj), the gamester, 173-0. Moxon's cards for caiTing, 150; astronomical Loyola,St,Ignatius, 157. wins, miraculously, cards, 292. Murner's Chartiludium, or logical at billiards, cardLusty Juvcntus,cardsmentionedin, 108. play,101-5. I^yiy" John, represents Cupid Mun-'s, C. G. von. Journal,75, 81, 85, and Camj)aspc ph'i"'ingcards, 123. 133, 220. at Lyndsay, SiriJavid, the card- "Murry ncct," in Cumberland,186. satirises in l)laying the clergy Scotland,j of 1535, 110. | about

INDEX.

341

Pollux, Julius, account of the "ime bia 1 of Petteia, 3. Pomegranate, a mark on 226. cards, Poupart, C, pays Gringonneurfor cards in 1393, 74. Prayer-book, the soldier's, a pack of in 321. cards, 215. Prayers, 311. playingfor, 265-9. Price of a pack of cardsin the time of particular cards, of Nash, Beau, hisreign at Baih, 171. Roger Ascham, 133; in the reign Nine of Diamonds, the Curse of Scotof Queen Anne, 167. laud,2C6-8. Process of card-makingat De La Rue Noctes Ambrosianse,extractfrom, rela272. tive and Co.'s, to card-playing, 303. Prodigal, pictureof a, 163. Protestantsof Ireland, the reign in of Queen Mary, how saved from persecution, Ombre, Barrington's as 327. conjectureto the time of its introduction nto Pulci's Morgante Maggiore"Re i di Euffland, 45. 1 Naibi,234. Pope's description frequently of, 167. praised, One-aud-thirty,populargame at cards a in Irelandand Spain, 115. 22. Quartes, Quatuor Re^ea,a game so called, mentioned
"
^

Nabob, the meaning of the word, 22. Naibi,and Naipes, speculations the on name as applied to cards,22-9. Names of the suits of Hmdostanee cards,41-2 ; of German, Spanish, Italian, French cards,228. and givento coat cards,208, 211,

Pair of Cards, the old

pack, 269.

name

for

Pam, the Knave of Clubs,269. Pamphlets with titles borrowed from the
game of cards,138.

m the wardrobe accounts of Edward I, 18, 64. European Queen, none in the earliest 15. cards, derivation the word, 25. Quire, of

Paris,Mons. Paulin, his collationf Rabelais, ranslated Urquhart,19. by t o de Guilleville'sRabbinical treatise against gaming, MSS. Wm. of 316-20. poem of the Pilgrimageof Man, Reiffenberg,he Baron de, his account the 70 ; his conjectures t respecting Valery on a Knave of cards, name a woodcut discovered Malines, of at 218. with the supposed date 1418, 86 ; Parson, the, that loved gaming better mistakes the Spanish soia for a
than liis eyes, 321. Paston, Margery, mentions cards as a Christmas game, about 1484, 97. Peignot'sAnalyse de llecherchessur 20, lesCartes a joucr, 69,81,253-6,
259, 265.

female, 229.

Pepin, Nicolas,saidto be the inventor of cards,23. 66. Pepys*s Diary, 146. Perlimpimpim, the by-name of an Italian Roccha, Angelus, Conmientariuscontra Ludum Alearum, 61. 117. jugderinl622, Rogers representsthe followers Co121. Phaer's Book of Precedents, of lumbus 105. nac, Picture cards in Cotta'sCard Almaat playing cards, Rowlands, bam., his Knave of Hearts, 259. to Piozzi, Mrs., refers the game of the and More Knaves yet, 134-7. on Roy's,"William, Pour Kings, 20. satire Cardmal Wol109. Piquet, tlicmeaning of the game exsey, Russia, 209. great consumptionof cardsin, plauicdby Pure Daniel, by, 93. 272. B., Plutiua, cardsmentioned

Dr. Tliomas,hissermon against Rennell, gaming, 187. Republican cards,253-6. Rey, M., on cards,7. Cento Giuochi liberali, 63. Ringhieri's HisRive's, the Abbe, Eclaircissements 20, sur les Cartesa jouer, toriques

S42

INDEX.

Tahures,a Spanishname forgamesters, US. SirRalph,StatePapers, Sadler's, on Paris, Saint Foix'shistorical etymology of the word, accordini" essays to Diego del Castillo, 115, 116. 123. forcards Hindosor Tas, a name in J Saintr6, Petit ehan de, 68. Taj, tan,41. S Sales, t.Francisde, a card-player when TaU,ll. 309. youn^, Tarocchi, Tarots,190-5. in a or Sandro di Pipozzi, cardsmentioned French card-makers called Tarotiers, by MS. work of his,65. in 1594, 272. thisname Joannes, 62. Sarisbcriensis, Tax on cards,when first evied Engl in land, French, about 1819, 264 Satirical cards, 131. Schon, Erhard, cards of his designing, Taylor, the water-poet, hispicture a 238. of 163. 139-41. Sciential grammatical prodigal, cards, and Taylor,Dr. Jeremy, on card-pkying, Sex of the East IndiaCompany, 32. V ;i h* Court Gamester, 168. 297-300. Seymour's Sheppard, W., lib England's Bahn, Tenicrs,in a picturerepresents two ! p soldierslayingat cardsin the hall 123. Sheridan's of the high priest, character the East India of Terms used at the game of cardsin HinCompany, 32. dostan, 43. 1 diplomatic,81. Sbifflcrs, J. B., his Traitd Dr. des Jeux, i R Singer's esearchesintothe Histoiyof Thiers, 80, 293, 309, 311. Playing Cards, 7, 131, 147, 201, I Thimble-rig by railwayspe223, 238. superseded culation, 101. Skelton'sowgho of Court, Card of B Toplady,the Rev. Augustus, on card- j \ Virgil, hisdesigning, 300. Solis, 238. cardsof playing, Townshend, Lord George, caricatures Solme, Thomas, * the Bushoppes poure to, 184. uses thresshere,* the term Yack an ascribed Transformation cards, 260. napes^ 233. of Sota, forthe Knave of Turner, Sharon, his derivation the name the Spanish of
.

"

229. 231. cards, word jackanapes, South-seabubble,cards ridiculing the T. W., the initials the engraver of a of 169. speculators, pack of cards of the 15th century, Spata, a weapon figured Baker and in 222. Co.'seclectic 261 cards, St.Christopher, woodcut of,with the Urquhart, SirThomas,histransktion of date 1423, inEarlSpencer's tion, collec19. Rabelais,
.

86.

Stencilling, early cards executed by means Valery, a name an on of,83. old Knave of Stephens, Henry, relatesan anecdote Hearts, 217. of a losing gamester's swearing, Valet,the originaleaning ofthe word, m
231

d Vega, Garcilasso e la,his account of ' the Spanish soldiers manufacturing cards,106. Vichnou. incarnations in n pack of of, Hindostanee cards,36-40. Vierge, Fierge, Pherz, the queen at Chess, 15-21. Visconti, hilip,Duke of Milan, cards P paintedforhim, 230. Volay,Jean,a French cardmanufacturer, Swabbcr8,101. 132. Swearing, vice to which gamesters Volj)iito, a belonging formerly Mons.,cards 311, to, 221. ttrej)ronc,
,

Strutt'sports S and Pastimes,107. Stubbcs, Philip, opinionof playing his at cardsand othergames, 124 ; on 165. ruffs, Stukelcy,r.,old cards D formerly belongbgto, 205. Suitsof cards, names of, 228, 230. Sunday, card-playing 146. on, SurMcra, the title a Rabbinical tise treaof against gaming, 317.

INDEX.

843

Ward, Samnel,preaclier, Ipswich,his of Woe to Drunkards, 130. Wesley, John, sometimes sought an answer by lot,129: fond of whist
when a voung man, 301. fo Whist, its relation chess,17. 160-5. a game of English origin, 161-2; club at, White's coflee-house, 178. Wilson, Mr. T., old cards engraved on
^

Worcester, councilf,prohibitions its in o 62. canons, Wuruq, a leaf, the name for a card with the Moslems in Hindostan, 25. Xavier, St. Francis,card-playing the in East in his time, 53 ; his lenity towards 307. gamesters, Yack
an

to, copper, formerlybelonging 224. in Wilson, Professor, on card-playing, 303-7. the * Noctes Ambrosianae,' Wood-engraving, the earliestwith an date,85. authentic

naipes,tne Knave of cards,233.

napes.Jackanapes, Jack-a-

Zani, P.

on

the PipozziMS., 65.

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