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The Gaming Table-Vol.2-Part28_Andrew Steinmetz(1816-1877)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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'Quadrille succeeded Ombre, but for a curious reason did not



reign so long as its predecessor. From the peculiar nature of

Quadrille, an unfairconfederacy might be readily established, by



any two persons, by which the other players could be cheated.

'While the preceding games were in vogue the magnificent temple



of Whist, destined to outshine and overshadow them, was in course

of erection.



"Let India vaunt her children's vast address,

Who first contrived the warlike sport of Chess;



Let nice Piquette the boast of France remain,

And studious Ombre be the pride of Spain;



Invention's praise shall England yield to none,

When she can call delightful Whist her own."



'All great inventions and discoveries are works of time, and

Whist is no exception to the rule; it did not come into the world



perfect at all points, as Minerva emerged from the head of

Jupiter. Nor were its wonderful merits early recognized. Under



the vulgar appellations of Whisk and Swobbers, it long lingered

in the servants'-hall ere it could ascend to the drawing-room.



At length, some gentlemen, who met at the Crown coffee-house, in

Bedford Row, studied the game, gave it rules, established its



principles, and then Edward Hoyle, in 1743, blazoned forth its

fame to all the world.



'Many attempts have been made, at various times, to turn playing-

cards to a very different use from that for which they were



originally intended. Thus, in 1518, a learned Franciscan friar,

named Murner, published a Logica Memorativa, a mode of teaching



logic, by a pack of cards; and, subsequently, he attempted to

teach a summary of civil law in the same manner. In 1656, an



Englishman, named Jackson, published a work, entitled the

Scholar's Sciential Cards, in which he proposed to teach reading,



spelling, grammar, writing, and arithmetic, with various arts and

sciences, by playing-cards; premising that the learner was well



grounded in all the games played at the period. And later still,

about the close of the seventeenth century, there was published



the Genteel Housekeeper's Pastime; or the Mode of Carving at

Table represented in a Pack of Playing-Cards, by which any one of



ordinary Capacity may learn how to Carve, in Mode, all the most

usual Dishes of Flesh, Fish, Fowl, and Baked Meats, with the



several Sauces and Garnishes proper to Every Dish of Meat. In

this system, flesh was represented by hearts, fish by clubs, fowl



by diamonds, and baked-meat by spades. The king of hearts ruled

a noble sirloin of roast-beef; the monarch of clubs presided over



a pickled herring; and the king of diamonds reared his battle-axe

over a turkey; while his brother of spades smiled benignantly on



a well-baked venison-pasty.

'The kind of advertisements, now called circulars, were often,



formerly, printed on the backs of playing-cards. Visiting-cards,

too, were improvised, by writing the name on the back of playing-



cards. About twenty years ago, when a house in Dean Street,

Soho, was under repair, several visiting-cards of this



description were found behind a marble chimney-piece, one of them

bearing the name of Isaac Newton. Cards of invitation were



written in a similar manner. In the fourth picture, in Hogarth's

series of "Marriage a-la-Mode," several are seen lying on the



floor, upon one of which is inscribed: "Count Basset begs to no

how Lade Squander sleapt last nite." Hogarth, when he painted



this inscription, was most probably thinking of Mrs Centlivre's

play, The Basset Table, which a critic describes as containing a



great deal of plot and business, without much sentiment or

delicacy.



'A curious and undoubtedlyauthentichistoricalanecdote is told

of a pack of cards. Towards the end of the persecuting reign of



Queen Mary, a commission was granted to a Dr Cole to go over to

Ireland, and commence a fiery crusade against the Protestants of



that country. On coming to Chester, on his way, the doctor was

waited on by the mayor, to whom he showed his commission,



exclaiming, with premature triumph, "Here is what shall lash the

heretics of Ireland." Mrs Edmonds, the landlady of the inn,



having a brother in Dublin, was much disturbed by overhearing

these words; so, when the doctor accompanied the mayor



downstairs, she hastened into his room, opened his box, took out




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