"As to the hazards, they are frightful, and sufficient to overset the temper of better principled people than gamesters commonly are. Have we not heard of ladies losing hundreds of guineas at a sitting? And others more slenderly stock'd, disfurnish their husbands' studies, and play off the books which, it may be, help'd to feed them. And when the women are thus courageous, the men conclude their own sex calls for a bolder liberty: that they ought to go farther in danger, and appear more brave in the methods of ruin: thus a manor has been lost in an afternoon; the suit and service follow the cast, and the right is transfer'd sooner than the lawyer can draw the conveyance. A box and dice are terrible artillery, a battery of cannon scarcely plays with more execution. They make a breach in a castle, and command a surrender in a little time. " [348]
A curious Rabbinical tract on the subject of Gaming, entitled, סור מרע,—Sûr Mera,—that is, "Depart from Evil," [349] seems to require some notice here. It was first printed at Venice, about 1615; was reprinted at Leyden about 1660; and a third edition, accompanied with a German translation, was published at Leipsic in 1683. None of the editors mention either the name of the author, or the time when he lived. The work is in the form of a dialogue between two young Jews, one of whom, named Medad, maintains the lawfulness of Gaming, and is opposed by the other, named Eldad. The work is divided into six chapters. The first is merely introductory, giving a brief account of the speakers in the dialogue;—Medad, a merchant's son, addicted to play; and Eldad, his friend, who endeavours to reclaim him. The second chapter contains the argument which they had on the subject of gaming and commerce; Medad endeavouring to show that play is commendable and similar to commerce; while Eldad maintains the contrary. In the third chapter, Eldad undertakes to prove from the Scriptures that a gamester breaks all the Ten Commandments, and Medad ingeniously answers him. In the fourth chapter, Eldad, on the authority of the Talmud and other Rabbinical works, maintains that a gamester can neither be a judge nor a witness; and Medad answers him, citing opposite passages from the same authorities. In the fifth chapter, Eldad recites a piece of poetry descriptive of the miserable state of a gamester; and Medad, in return, recites another, wherein the pleasures of a gamester's life are highly extolled. In the sixth and last chapter, Eldad seriously exhorts his friend to assent to truth; Medad yields, and acknowledges that the cause which he had maintained was bad.
The following are a few of the more remarkable passages in the argument of Medad, the advocate of gaming: "Play is commendable, the same as all other human inventions. It is like a bright mirror in which many excellent things are to be discovered, exciting to a sluggish man, and causing him to forget the cares incident to daily life. Though it be undeniable that he whose whole pleasure consists in keeping the commands of the Lord, and who is neither vain nor ambitious, is a better man than he who plays; yet of the various pursuits in which men engage in order to obtain wealth or power, Play is one which may be allowed to those who, without pretending to be absolutely righteous, yet endeavour to be as righteous as they can. Through much trafficking man becomes knowing; and wares are in Hebrew called סחורה—Sechorah—a word which means 'circulation,' or 'that which circulates,' on account of their passing from one person to another by way of barter or sale. Why should Play not be estimated the same as any other business, at which money is sometimes lost and sometimes gained? [350] The determining of matters by lot or chance is even of Divine institution: the high priest's sin-offering was to be determined by lot; the land was to be divided amongst the Twelve Tribes by lot; David, in the sixteenth Psalm, says that the Lord maintains his lot; and in Proverbs, chap. xviii, we are told that 'the lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty.'—It is answered, that traffic or commerce is productive of mutual benefit. But hearken: in anticipation of a dearth you purchase a hundred quarters of corn of your neighbour, and lock it up in your granaries, in the hope of gaining double. You raise your face to Heaven, but it is to look out for the signs of bad weather; and you are content that there should be a famine in the land, provided that you thrive by it. When your wine-vats are full to overflowing, you enjoy the storm of thunder and hail that destroys the vintage of the year; for you will thus be enriched. But is this just? is there any mutual benefit in this? Can you make your profit without the rest of the world being injured? And yet you are held to be an honourable fair-dealing man. [351]—In the third chapter of the tract Sanhedrin, gamesters and usurers are indeed classed together; but it is known that in the Scriptures usury is strongly condemned, while play is not even forbidden. But now, those who live by usury are honoured; and so far from being deprived of the right of acting as judges or of giving testimony as witnesses, they are magistrates and rulers: a word of theirs is worth a hundred witnesses. Gamesters, on the contrary, are unjustly vilified; and he who does not speak evil of play runs the risk of being excommunicated.—Even the losing gamester may derive great advantage from his play: he is thus taught to bear losses with patience; and when in other matters he has been unlucky and has lost much money, he consoles himself with the thought that it is only what has often happened to him at play. He perceives that nothing is stable or perpetual in human affairs, and takes the good and the bad with even temper. From his games he also acquires the elements of science; he learns arithmetic without a master; and also becomes a proficient in logic and rhetoric, from his exercise of those arts on his opponents. From the cards he may acquire a knowledge of painting, and from the dice, which are exactly squared, he may learn mathematics. In short, he who plays at cards and dice, has a hand in all arts. The Hebrew word בכל--Bekol--which signifies 'in all,' is, in its numerical value, equal to 52: that is, ב = 2; כ = 20; and ל = 30: in all 52,--the number of cards in a French pack. The Hebrew word ויד--Va-yod--which signifies 'a Hand,' is, in the same manner, reckoning the word itself as 1, equal to 21: that is, ו = 6; י = 10; ד = 4; the word itself = 1: in all 21,—the number of the spots on a die. Thus, from his play, may a man learn righteousness, and how to conduct himself with moderation."
Though the game of cards has not been so elaborately moralised as the game of Chess, yet the Pack has not wanted spiritual expounders, who have ingeniously shown that it might serve, not only as a perpetual almanack, but also as a moral monitor, and a help to devotion. The most popular and best known of such expositions, or rather applications, is that entitled 'The Perpetual Almanack, or Gentleman-Soldier's Prayer Book;' which has been long circulated in this country as a penny chap-book. Mons. Leber says that it is an imitation of a French tract on the same subject, entitled 'Explication morale du Jeu de Cartes, anecdote curieuse et intéressante, sous le nom de Louis Bras-de-fer, engagé au service du roi,' which seems to have been first published at Brussels, in 1778. The history of Bras-de-fer is referred to by Breitkopf; and Mons. Renouard, speaking of Singer's 'Researches into the History of Playing Cards,' in the Catalogue of his Library, observes, "Cet auteur, qui a tout recherché, n'a probablement pas tout rencontré, car s'il l'eut seulement entrevue, auroit-il laissé échapper l'explication morale du jeu de cartes par le soldat Bras-de-fer, l'une des pièces le plus notables de la bibliothèque à deux sols?" In order that a similar objection may not be brought against the writer of this work, the whole of the Perpetual Almanack is here given, verbatim, from a broadside, "printed by J. Catnach, 2, Monmouth Court, Seven Dials."
"The Perpetual Almanack; or Gentleman-soldier's Prayer Book: shewing how one Richard Middleton was taken before the Mayor of the city he was in for using cards in church during Divine Service: being a droll, merry, and humorous account of an odd affair that happened to a private soldier in the 60th Regiment of Foot.
"The serjeant commanded his party to the church, and when the parson had ended his prayer, he took his text, and all of them that had a Bible, pulled it out to find the text; but this soldier had neither Bible, Almanack, nor Common-Prayer Book, but he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a pack of cards, and spread them before him as he sat; and while the parson was preaching, he first kept looking at one card and then at another. [352] The serjeant of the company saw him, and said, 'Richard, put up your cards, for this is no place for them.'—'Never mind that,' said the soldier, 'you have no business with me here.'
"Now the parson had ended his sermon, and all was over: the soldiers repaired to the churchyard and the commanding officer gave the word of command to fall in, which they did. The serjeant of the city came, and took the man prisoner.—'Man, you are my prisoner,' said he.—'Sir,' said the soldier, 'what have I done that I am your prisoner?'—'You have played a game at cards in the church.'—' No,' said the soldier, 'I have not play'd a game, for I only looked at a pack.'—'No matter for that, you are my prisoner.'—'Where must we go?' said the soldier.—'You must go before the Mayor,' said the serjeant. So he took him before the Mayor; and when they came to the Mayor's house, he was at dinner. When he had dined he came down to them, and said, 'Well, serjeant, what do you want with me?'—'I have brought a soldier before you for playing at cards in the church.'—'What! that soldier?'—'Yes.'—'Well, soldier, what have you to say for yourself?'—'Much, sir, I hope.'—'Well and good; but if you have not, you shall be punished the worst that ever man was.'—'Sir,' said the soldier, 'I have been five weeks upon the march, and have but little to subsist on; and am without either Bible, Almanack, or Common-Prayer Book, or anything but a pack of cards: I hope to satisfy your honour of the purity of my intentions.'
"Then the soldier pulled out of his pocket the pack of cards, which he spread before the Mayor; he then began with the Ace. 'When I see the Ace,' said he, 'it puts me in mind that there is one God only; when I see the Deuce, it puts me in mind of the Father and the Son; when I see the Tray, it puts me in mind of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; when I see the Four, it puts me in mind of the four Evangelists, that penned the Gospel, viz. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; when I see the Five, it puts me in mind of the five wise virgins who trimmed their lamps; there were ten, but five were foolish, who were shut out. When I see the Six, it puts me in mind that in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth; when I see the Seven, it puts me in mind that on the seventh day God rested from all the works which he had created and made, wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. When I see the Eight, it puts me in mind of the eight righteous persons that were saved when God drowned the world, viz. Noah, his wife, three sons, and their wives; when I see the Nine, it puts me in mind of nine lepers that were cleansed by our Saviour; there were ten, but nine never returned God thanks; when I see the Ten, it puts me in mind of the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses on Mount Sinai on the two tables of stone.' He took the Knave, and laid it aside.—'When I see the Queen, it puts me in mind of the Queen of Sheba, who came from the furthermost parts of the world to hear the wisdom of King Solomon, for she was as wise a woman as he was a man; for she brought fifty boys and fifty girls, all clothed in boy's apparel, to show before King Solomon, for him to tell which were boys, and which were girls; but he could not, until he called for water for them to wash themselves; the girls washed up to their elbows, and the boys only up to their wrists; so King Solomon told by that. And when I see the King, it puts me in mind of the great King of Heaven and Earth, which is God Almighty, and likewise his Majesty King George, to pray for him.'
"'Well,' said the Mayor, 'you have a very good description of all the cards, except one, which is lacking.'—'Which is that?' said the soldier.'—'The Knave,' said the Mayor.—'Oh, I can give your honour a very good description of that, if your honour won't be angry.'—'No, I will not,' said the Mayor, 'if you will not term me to be the Knave.'—'Well,' said the soldier, 'the greatest that I know is the serjeant of the city, that brought me here.'—'I don't know,' said the Mayor, 'that he is the greatest knave, but I am sure that he is the greatest fool.'—'When I count how many spots there are in a pack of cards, I find there are three hundred and sixty-five; there are so many days in a year. When I count how many cards there are in a pack, I find there are fifty-two; there are so many weeks in a year. When I count how many tricks in a pack, I find there are thirteen; there are so many months in a year. You see, sir, that this pack of cards is a Bible, Almanack, Common-Prayer Book, and pack of cards to me.'