we know for
certain is that they were first used in the East. Some think that the
figures at first used on them were of moral import: the Hindoo and
Chinese cards are certainly emblematic in a very high degree; the former
illustrate the ten avatars, or incarnations of the deity Vishnu; and
the so-called 'paper-tickets' of the Chinese typify the stars, the human
virtues, and, indeed, every variety of subject. Sir William Jones was
convinced that the Hindoo game of Chaturaji--that is, 'the Four Rajahs
or Kings'--a species of highly-complicated chess--was the first germ
of that parti-coloured pasteboard, which has been the ruin of so many
modern fortunes. A pack of Hindoostani cards, in the possession of the
Royal Asiatic Society, and presented to Captain Cromline Smith in 1815,
by a high caste Brahman, was declared by the donor to be actually 1000
years old: 'Nor,' said the Brahman, 'can any of us now play at them,
for they are not like our modern cards at all.' Neither, indeed, do they
bear any remarkable resemblance to our own--the pack consisting of no
less than eight sorts of divers colours, the kings being mounted upon
elephants, and viziers, or second honours, upon horses, tigers, and
bulls. Moreover, there are other marks distinguishing the respective
value of the common cards, which would puzzle our club-quidnuncs not a
little--such as 'a pine-apple in a shallow cup,' and a something like a
parasol without a handle, and with two broken ribs sticking through the
top. The Chinese cards have the advantage over those of Hindoostan by
being oblong instead of circular.

It was not before the end of the 14th century that cards became known in
Europe; and it is a curious fact that the French clergy took greatly
to card-playing about that time--their favourite game being the rather
ungenteel 'All Fours,' as now reputed; for they were specially forbidden
that pastime by the Synod of Langres in 1404.

The ancient cards of both Spain and France, particularly the
'court-cards,' exhibit strong marks of the age of chivalry; but here
we may observe that the word is written by some ancient writers,
'coate-cards,' evidently signifying no more than figures in particular
dresses. The giving pre-eminence or victory to a certain suit, by the
name of 'trump,' which is only a corruption of the word 'triumph,' is
a strong trait of the martial ideas of the inventors of these games. So
that, if the Chinese started the idea, it seems clear