e des cardinaux_ (Paris,
1856). (A. Bo.*)

CARDINAL VIRTUES (Lat. _cardo_, a hinge; the fixed point on which
anything turns), a phrase used for the principal virtues on which
conduct in general depends. Socrates and Plato (see _Republic_, iv. 427)
take these to be Prudence, Courage (or Fortitude), Temperance and
Justice. It is noticeable that the virtue of Benevolence, which has
played so important a part in Christian ethics and in modern altruistic
and sociological theories, is omitted by the ancients. Further, against
the Platonic list it may be urged (1) that it is arbitrary, and (2) that
the several virtues are not specifically distinct, that the basis of the
division is unsound, and that there is overlapping. It is said that St
Ambrose was the first to adapt the Platonic classification to Christian
theology. By the Roman Catholic Church these virtues are regarded as
_natural_ as opposed to the _theological_ virtues, Faith, Hope and
Charity. Some authors, combining the two lists, have spoken of the Seven
Cardinal Virtues. In English literature the phrase is found as far back
as the _Cursor Mundi_ (1300) and the _Ayenbite of Inwit_ (1340).

See B. Jowett, _Republic of Plato_ (Eng. trans., Oxford, 1887, Introd.
p. lxiii); Plato, _Protagoras_ (329-330); Aristotle, _Nicomachean
Ethics_, vi. 13. 6; Th. Ziegler, _Gesch. d. chr. Eth._ (2nd ed.); H.
Sidgwick, _History of Ethics_ (5th ed.), pp. 44, 133, 143; and
_Methods of Ethics_, p. 375.

CARDING, the process of using the "card" (Lat. _carduus_, a thistle or
teasel) for combing textile fibrous materials. The practice of carding
is of such great antiquity that its origin cannot be traced. It consists
in combing or brushing fibres until they are straight and placed in
parallel lines; in doing this, imperfect fibres are separated from
perfect ones, all impurities are removed, and the sound fibres are in
condition for further treatment. The teasels once used have long given
place to hand cards, and these in turn to what, in the rudest form, were
known as "stock cards," namely, two wire brushes, each 4 in. broad by 12
in. long, and having teeth bent at a uniform angle. One was nailed upon
a bench with the teeth sloping from the operator, the other was
similarly secured upon a two-handled bar with the teeth sloping towards
the operator. The material to be treated was thinly spread upon the
fixed card, and the movable one drawn by hand to and fro ov