"It would be difficult," says Mons. Leber, "to name an elementary book of science or art, which had not a pack of cards as an auxiliary. Grammar, Rhetoric, Fable, Geography, History, Heraldry, the principles of Morals and Politics,--all these things, and many others besides, were to be learnt through the medium of play. The game of cards had served for the amusement of a royal lunatic; and similar games were comprehended in the plan for the education of one of our greatest kings.[185]--Though France had a large share in the dissemination of such treasures of knowledge, England showed herself not less diligent in working the same mine; if to us she owes the game of Piquet, it is from her own proper resources that she has endowed the culinary art with a game of a different kind, yet highly interesting considered in its relation to the play of the jaws, the most ancient and highly esteemed of all play. It was in December, 1692, that the London papers first announced to the world the invention of the game of Carving at Table. This precious announcement is conceived in the following terms: 'THE GENTEEL HOUSEKEEPER'S PASTIME; or the mode of Carving at the table, represented in a pack of Playing Cards, with a book by which any ordinary capacity may learn how to cut up, or carve in mode, all the most usual dishes of flesh, fish, fowl, and baked meats, with the several sawces and garnishes proper to each dish of meat. Price 1_s._ 6_d._ Sold by J. Moxon, Warwick Lane.'"[186] In those cards the suit of Hearts is occupied by flesh; Diamonds by fowl; Clubs by fish; and Spades by baked meats. The King of Hearts presides over a sirloin of beef; of Diamonds over a turkey; of Clubs over a pickled herring; and of Spades over a venison pasty. A red stamp on the Ace of Spades belonging to a pack which I have had an opportunity of examining, contains the words "Six pence." If this was the duty on each pack, it was certainly great for the period. In the reign of Queen Anne and that of George I, several packs of satirical and fanciful cards were published. A pack of the latter description, now in the possession of Thomas Heywood, Esq., of Pendleton, near Manchester, relates entirely to the subject of love. Each card is neatly engraved on copper; and, from the stamp on the Ace of Spades, it appears evident that they were manufactured and sold for the purposes of play. The subject of this card is a Cupid plucking a rose, with the inscription "In love no pleasure without pain," and the following verses at the foot: "As when we reach to crop y^e blooming rose From off its by'r, y^e thorns will interpose; So when we strive the beauteous nymph to gain, Y^e pleasures we pursue are mixed with pain."