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On another occasion, and at a more advanced age, he won one
hundred thousand crowns (L50,000) at a single sitting, from M.
De Guise, Joinville, and the Marechal d'Ancre.
In reading his Memoirs we are apt to get indignant at the
fellow's successes; but at last we are tempted to laugh at his
misery. He died so poor that he did not leave enough to pay the
twentieth part of his debts! Such, doubtless, is the end of most
gamblers.
But to return to Henry IV., the great gambling exemplar of the
nation. The account given of him at the gaming table is most
afflicting, when we remember his royal greatness, his sublime
qualities. His only object was to _WIN_, and those who played
with him were thus always placed in a dreadful dilemma--either to
lose their money or offend the king by beating him! The Duke of
Savoy once played with him, and in order to suit his humour,
dissimulated his game--thus sacrificing or giving up forty
thousand pistoles (about L28,000).
When the king lost he was most exacting for his `revanche,' or
revenge, as it is termed at play. After winning considerably
from the king, on one occasion, Bassompierre, under the
pretext of his official engagements, furtively decamped: the king
immediately sent after him; he was stopped, brought back, and
allowed to depart only after giving the `revanche' to his
Majesty. This `good Henri,' who was incapable of the least
dissimulation either in good or in evil, often betrayed a degree
of cupidity which made his minister, Sully, ashamed of him;--in
order to pay his gaming debts, the king one day deducted seventy-
two thousand livres from the proceeds of a confiscation on which
he had no claim whatever.
On another occasion he was wonderfully struck with some gold-
pieces which Bassompierre brought to Fontainebleau, called
_Portugalloises_. He could not rest without having them. Play
was necessary to win them, but the king was also anxious to be in
time for a hunt. In order to conciliate the two passions, he
ordered a gaming party at the Palace, left a representative of
his game during his absence, and returned sooner than usual, to
try and win the so much coveted _Portugalloises_.
Even love--if that name can be applied to the grovelling passion
of Henry IV., intenselyviolent as it was--could not, with its
sensuous enticements, drag the king from the gaming table or
stifle his despicable covetousness. On one occasion, whilst at
play, it was whispered to him that a certain princess whom he
loved was likely to fall into other arms:--`Take care of my
money,' said he to Bassompierre, `and keep up the game
whilst I am absent on particular business.'
During this reign gamesters were in high favour, as may well be
imagined. One of them received an honour never conceded even to
princes and dukes. `The latter,' says Amelot de la Houssaie,
`did not enter the court-yard of the royal mansions in a carriage
before the year 1607, and they are indebted for the privilege to
the first Duc d'Epernon, the favourite of the late king, Henry
III., who being wont to go every day to play with the queen,
Marie de Medicis, took it into his head to have his carriage
driven into the court-yard of the Louvre, and had himself carried
bodily by his footmen into the very chamber of the queen--under
the pretext of being dreadfully tormented with the gout, so as
not to be able to stand on his legs.'[52]
[52] Mem. Hist. iii.
It is said, however, that Henry IV. was finally cured of
gambling. _Credat Judaeus!_ But the anecdote is as follows.
The king lost an immense sum at play, and requested Sully to let
him have the money to pay it. The latter demurred, so that the
king had to send to him several times. At last, however,
Sully took him the money, and spread it out before him on the
table, exclaiming--`There's the sum.' Henry fixed his eyes on
the vast amount. It is said to have been enough to purchase
Amiens from the Spaniards, who then held it. The king thereupon
exclaimed:--`I am corrected. I will never again lose my money at
gaming.'
During this reign Paris swarmed with gamesters. Then for the
first time were established _Academies de Jeu_, `Gaming
Academies,' for thus were termed the gaming houses to which all
classes of society beneath the nobility and gentility, down to
the lowest, rushed in crowds and incessantly. Not a day passed
without the ruin of somebody. The son of a merchant, who
possessed twenty thousand crowns, lost sixty thousand. It
hundred thousand crowns (L50,000) at a single sitting, from M.
De Guise, Joinville, and the Marechal d'Ancre.
In reading his Memoirs we are apt to get indignant at the
fellow's successes; but at last we are tempted to laugh at his
misery. He died so poor that he did not leave enough to pay the
twentieth part of his debts! Such, doubtless, is the end of most
gamblers.
But to return to Henry IV., the great gambling exemplar of the
nation. The account given of him at the gaming table is most
afflicting, when we remember his royal greatness, his sublime
qualities. His only object was to _WIN_, and those who played
with him were thus always placed in a dreadful dilemma--either to
lose their money or offend the king by beating him! The Duke of
Savoy once played with him, and in order to suit his humour,
dissimulated his game--thus sacrificing or giving up forty
thousand pistoles (about L28,000).
When the king lost he was most exacting for his `revanche,' or
revenge, as it is termed at play. After winning considerably
from the king, on one occasion, Bassompierre, under the
pretext of his official engagements, furtively decamped: the king
immediately sent after him; he was stopped, brought back, and
allowed to depart only after giving the `revanche' to his
Majesty. This `good Henri,' who was incapable of the least
dissimulation either in good or in evil, often betrayed a degree
of cupidity which made his minister, Sully, ashamed of him;--in
order to pay his gaming debts, the king one day deducted seventy-
two thousand livres from the proceeds of a confiscation on which
he had no claim whatever.
On another occasion he was wonderfully struck with some gold-
pieces which Bassompierre brought to Fontainebleau, called
_Portugalloises_. He could not rest without having them. Play
was necessary to win them, but the king was also anxious to be in
time for a hunt. In order to conciliate the two passions, he
ordered a gaming party at the Palace, left a representative of
his game during his absence, and returned sooner than usual, to
try and win the so much coveted _Portugalloises_.
Even love--if that name can be applied to the grovelling passion
of Henry IV., intenselyviolent as it was--could not, with its
sensuous enticements, drag the king from the gaming table or
stifle his despicable covetousness. On one occasion, whilst at
play, it was whispered to him that a certain princess whom he
loved was likely to fall into other arms:--`Take care of my
money,' said he to Bassompierre, `and keep up the game
whilst I am absent on particular business.'
During this reign gamesters were in high favour, as may well be
imagined. One of them received an honour never conceded even to
princes and dukes. `The latter,' says Amelot de la Houssaie,
`did not enter the court-yard of the royal mansions in a carriage
before the year 1607, and they are indebted for the privilege to
the first Duc d'Epernon, the favourite of the late king, Henry
III., who being wont to go every day to play with the queen,
Marie de Medicis, took it into his head to have his carriage
driven into the court-yard of the Louvre, and had himself carried
bodily by his footmen into the very chamber of the queen--under
the pretext of being dreadfully tormented with the gout, so as
not to be able to stand on his legs.'[52]
[52] Mem. Hist. iii.
It is said, however, that Henry IV. was finally cured of
gambling. _Credat Judaeus!_ But the anecdote is as follows.
The king lost an immense sum at play, and requested Sully to let
him have the money to pay it. The latter demurred, so that the
king had to send to him several times. At last, however,
Sully took him the money, and spread it out before him on the
table, exclaiming--`There's the sum.' Henry fixed his eyes on
the vast amount. It is said to have been enough to purchase
Amiens from the Spaniards, who then held it. The king thereupon
exclaimed:--`I am corrected. I will never again lose my money at
gaming.'
During this reign Paris swarmed with gamesters. Then for the
first time were established _Academies de Jeu_, `Gaming
Academies,' for thus were termed the gaming houses to which all
classes of society beneath the nobility and gentility, down to
the lowest, rushed in crowds and incessantly. Not a day passed
without the ruin of somebody. The son of a merchant, who
possessed twenty thousand crowns, lost sixty thousand. It
- striking [´straikiŋ]
a.显著的，明显的 (初中英语单词) - astonishment [ə´stɔniʃmənt] n.吃惊；惊异 (初中英语单词)
- account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)
- monsieur [mə´sjə:] n.先生 (初中英语单词)
- driven [´driv(ə)n] drive 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- commit [kə´mit] vt.犯(罪)；把…判处 (初中英语单词)
- description [di´skripʃən] n.描写 (初中英语单词)
- admission [əd´miʃən] n.接纳；承认 (初中英语单词)
- journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
- readily [´redili] ad.乐意地；容易地 (初中英语单词)
- triumph [´traiəmf] n.胜利 vi.得胜，战胜 (初中英语单词)
- curiously [´kjuəriəsli] ad.好奇地；稀奇古怪地 (初中英语单词)
- passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)
- player [´pleiə] n.游戏的人；选手 (初中英语单词)
- italian [i´tæliən] a.意大利 n.意大利人 (初中英语单词)
- resolve [ri´zɔlv] v.决心 n.决心；刚毅 (初中英语单词)
- lawyer [´lɔ:jə] n.律师；法学家 (初中英语单词)
- permission [pə´miʃən] n.允许；同意；许可 (初中英语单词)
- extent [ik´stent] n.长度；程度；范围 (初中英语单词)
- evidently [´evidəntli] ad.明显地 (初中英语单词)
- thereby [´ðeəbai] ad.因此，由此 (初中英语单词)
- doubtless [´dautlis] ad.无疑地；大概，多半 (初中英语单词)
- enormous [i´nɔ:məs] a.巨大地，很，极 (初中英语单词)
- advanced [əd´vɑ:nst] a.先进的；高级的 (初中英语单词)
- reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)
- dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)
- offend [ə´fend] v.犯错误；违犯；犯罪 (初中英语单词)
- minister [´ministə] n.部长；大臣 v.伺候 (初中英语单词)
- ashamed [ə´ʃeimd] a.惭愧；不好意思 (初中英语单词)
- anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)
- absence [´æbsəns] n.不在，缺席；缺乏 (初中英语单词)
- violent [´vaiələnt] a.强暴的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)
- princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)
- absent [´æbsənt, əb´sent] a.不在的 vt.使缺席 (初中英语单词)
- privilege [´privilidʒ] n.特权 vt.给….特权 (初中英语单词)
- dreadfully [dredfuli] ad.可怕地；糟透地 (初中英语单词)
- immense [i´mens] a.广大的，无限的 (初中英语单词)
- amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)
- stifle [´staifəl] vt.(使)窒息，闷死 (高中英语单词)
- strain [strein] vt.拉紧 vi.拖 n.张力 (高中英语单词)
- ridiculous [ri´dikjuləs] a.荒谬的；可笑的 (高中英语单词)
- distinguished [di´stiŋgwiʃt] a.卓越的，著名的 (高中英语单词)
- finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)
- subsequent [´sʌbsikwənt] a.其次的；其后的 (高中英语单词)
- courtier [´kɔ:tiə] n.朝臣；奉承者 (高中英语单词)
- extravagant [ik´strævəgənt] a.奢侈的；过度的 (高中英语单词)
- greatness [´greitnis] n.巨大；高尚；卓越 (高中英语单词)
- whilst [wailst] conj.当…时候；虽然 (高中英语单词)
- chamber [´tʃeimbə] n.房间；议院；会议室 (高中英语单词)
- nobility [nəu´biliti, nə-] n.高贵；贵金属性 (高中英语单词)
- humbly [´hʌmbli] ad.恭顺地，谦卑地 (英语四级单词)
- passionately [´pæʃənitli] ad.多情地；热烈地 (英语四级单词)
- galley [´gæli] n.单层甲板大帆船 (英语四级单词)
- winning [´winiŋ] n.&a.胜利(的) (英语四级单词)
- artisan [,ɑ:ti´zæn] n.手艺人；技工 (英语四级单词)
- indignant [in´dignənt] a.义愤的，愤慨的 (英语四级单词)
- incapable [in´keipəbəl] a.无能力的；不能的 (英语四级单词)
- wonderfully [´wʌndəfuli] ad.令人惊讶地；奇妙地 (英语四级单词)
- intensely [in´tensli] ad.激烈地；热切地 (英语四级单词)
- anecdote [´ænikdəut] n.轶事；趣闻 (英语四级单词)
- pernicious [pə´niʃəs] a.有害的；有毒的；致命的 (英语六级单词)
- dexterity [dek´steriti] n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 (英语六级单词)
- forcibly [´fɔ:səbli] ad.强行地，强烈地 (英语六级单词)
- respecting [ri´spektiŋ] prep.由于；鉴于 (英语六级单词)
- infamous [´infəməs] a.声名狼藉的 (英语六级单词)
- beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (英语六级单词)
- exacting [ig´zæktiŋ] a.苛求的；严格的 (英语六级单词)
- applied [ə´plaid] a.实用的，应用的 (英语六级单词)
- indebted [in´detid] a.负债的；感恩的 (英语六级单词)
- incessantly [in´sesntli] ad.不断地，不停地 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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