the commission, and put a pack of cards in its place. When the

doctor returned to his apartment, he put the box into his
portmanteau without suspicion, and the next morning sailed for

Dublin. On his arrival he waited on the lord-lieutenant and
privy council, to whom he made a speech on the subject of his

mission, and then presented the box to his Lordship; but on
opening it, there appeared only a pack of cards, with the knave

of clubs uppermost. The doctor was petrified, and assured the
council that he had had a commission, but what was become of it

he could not tell. The lord-lieutenant answered, "Let us have
another commission, and, in the mean while, we can shuffle the

cards." Before the doctor could get his commission renewed Queen
Mary died, and thus the persecution was prevented. We are

further informed that, when Queen Elizabeth was made acquainted
with the circumstances, she settled a pension of L40 per annum on

Mrs Edmonds, for having saved her Protestant subjects in
Ireland.'[62]

[62] The Book of Days, Dec. 28.
All the pursuits of life, all the trades and occupations of men,

have, in all times, lent expressions to the languages of nations,
and those resulting from the propensity of GAMING are among those

which perpetually recur in daily conversation, and with the
greatest emphasis. Thus we have:--'He has played his cards well

or ill,'--applied to the management of fortune or one's interest;
jacta est alea, 'the die is cast,' as exclaimed Julius Caesar

before crossing the Rubicon; 'he has run his RACE--reached the
GOAL' a turf adage applied to consummate success or disastrous

failure; 'a lucky throw or hit;' 'within an ACE,' meaning one
point of gaining a thing; 'he HAZARDS everything;' 'chances are

for and against;' 'he was PIQUED,' from the game of piquet,
meaning, angry at losing something; 'left in the lurch,' from the

French game l'Ourche, wherein on certain points happening the
stake is to he paid double, and meaning, 'under circumstances

unexpected and peculiarly unfavourable;' 'to save your bacon or
gamon,' from the game Back-gammon[63] a blot is hit,' from the

same; 'checked in his career,' that is, stopped in his designs
from the game of chess.

[63] The etymology of the word Back-gamon has been disputed.
Hyde seems to have settled it. A certain portion of the hog is

called in Italian gambone, whence our English word gambon or
gammon. Confounding things that differ, many think that 'gamon'

in the game has the same meaning, and therefore they say--'he
saved his gamon or bacon,' which is absurd, although it is a

proverbial phrase of sufficient emphasis. The word Backgamon
seems to be derived from the very nature of the game itself,

namely, back-game-on, that is, when one of your pieces is taken,
you must go back--begin again--and then game on-- 'Back-game-on'.

The fabrication of cards is a most important manufacture of
France; and Paris and Nancy are the two places where most cards

are made. The annualconsumption of cards in France amounts to
1,500,000 francs, or L62,500; but France also supplies foreigners

with the article, especially the Spanish, American, Portuguese,
and English colonies, to the value of 1,000,000 francs, or

L41,666. The government derives from this branch of French
industry not much less than L25,000 annualrevenue, that is, from

20 to 25 per cent. of the product. The duty on cards is secured
and enforced by severe penalties.

English cards are about a third larger than the French. The
double-headed cards are an English invention, and they are being

adopted by the French. Their advantage is obvious, in securing
the secrecy of the hand, for by observing a party in arranging

his cards after the deal, the act of turning up a card plainly
shows that it must be at least a face card, and the oftener this

is done the stronger the hand, in general. In Germany, a fourth
face-card is sometimes added to the pack, called the Knight, or

Chevalier. The Italians have also in use long cards, called
tarots, which, however, must not be confounded with the French

cards called tarotees, with odd figures on them, and used by
fortune-tellers.

The method of making playing-cards seems to have given the first
hint to the invention of printing, as appears from the first

specimens of printing at Haerlem, and those in the Bodleian
Library.

'The manufacture of playing-cards comprises many interesting
processes. The cardboard employed for this purpose is formed of

several thicknesses of paper pasted together; there are usually
four such thicknesses; and the paper is so selected as to take

paste, paint, and polishequally well. The sheets of paper are
pasted with a brush, and are united by successive processes of

cold-drying, hot-drying, and hydraulic pressure. Each sheet is
large enough for forty cards. The outer surfaces of the outer

sheets are prepared with a kind of flinty coating, which gives
sharpness to the outline of the various coloured devices. Most

packs of cards are now made with coloured backs. The ground-tint
is laid on with a brush, and consists of dis-temper colour, or

pigments mixed with warm melted size. The device impressed on
this ground-tint is often very beautiful. Messrs De la Rue, the

leading firm in the manufacture, employ tasteful artists, and
invest a large amount of capital in the introduction of new

patterns. On cards sold at moderate prices, the colours at the
back are generally two--one for the ground, and one for the

device; but some of the choicer specimens display several
colours; and many of the designs are due to the pencil of Mr Owen

Jones. The printing of the design is done on the sheets of
paper, before the pasting to form cardboard. The pips or spots

on the faces of playing-cards are now spades, clubs, hearts, and
diamonds; but at different times, and in different countries,

there have been leaves, acorns, bells, cups, swords, fruit,
heads, parasols, and other objects similarly represented. In

English cards the colours are red and black; Messrs De la Rue
once introduced red, black, green, and blue for the four suits;

but the novelty was not encouraged by card-players. The same
makers have also endeavoured to supersede the clumsydevices of

kings, queens, and knaves, by something more artistic; but this,
too, failed commercially; for the old patterns, like the old

willow-pattern dinner-plates, are still preferred--simply because
the users have become accustomed to them. Until within the last

few years the printing of cards was generally done by
stencilling, the colour being applied through perforated devices

in a stencil-plate. The colour employed for this purpose is
mixed up with a kind of paste. When there is a device at the

back, the outline of the device is printed from an engraved wood-
block, and the rest filled in by stencilling. The stencilling of

the front and back can be done either before or after the pasting
of the sheets into cardboard. One great improvement in the

manufacture has been the substitution of oil colour for paste or
size colour; and another, the substitution of printing for

stencilling. Messrs De la Rue have expended large sums of money
on these novelties; for many experiments had to be made, to

determine how best to employ oil colour so that the spots or pips
may be equal-tinted, the outline clear and sharp, the pigment

well adherent to the surface, and the drying such as to admit of
polishing without stickiness. The plates for printing are

engraved on copper or brass, or are produced by electrotype, or
are built up with small pieces of metal or interlaced wire. The

printing is done in the usual way of colour-printing, with as