[106] "It has been conjectured that the art of wood-engraving was employed on sacred subjects, such as the figures of saints and holy persons, before it was applied to the multiplication of those 'books of Satan,' playing cards. It, however, seems not unlikely that it was first employed in the manufacture of cards; and that the monks, availing themselves of the same principle, shortly afterwards employed the art of wood-engraving for the purpose of circulating the figures of saints; thus endeavouring to supply a remedy for the evil, and extracting from the serpent a cure for his bite."--A Treatise on Wood Engraving, Historical and Practical, p. 58. Published by Charles Knight and Co. London, 1839. [107] Father Tommaso Buoninsegni, in his 'Discorso del Giuoco,' p. 27, Florence, 1585, thus refers to the opinion of St. Bernardin and others on the subject of gaming. "Sono stati alcuni tanto scrupolosi e severi, i quali hanno detto, che non solo quegli che giuocano à restituire tenuti sono, ma di più li heredi, e quei che prestano dadi, tavole, carte, e chi vende, e compera baratterie e bische, ed inoltre li artefici, i quali fanno e vendono carte, e dadi, ed altri strumenti da giuocare; e di più li Ufficiali, Rettori, Magistrati e Signori, i quali potendo prohibire cotali giuochi, non li proibiscono." In the notice of the life of St. Bernardin, in the Acta Sanctorum, cited by Peiguot, he is said to have required that cards [_naibes_], dice, and other instruments of gaming should be given up to the magistrates to be burnt. The anecdote of the card-painter is given in Bernini's Histoire des Hérésies, tom. iv, p. 157. Venise, 1784. Thiers, in his Traité des Jeux, pp. 159-161, gives an extract from a sermon of St. Bernardin against gaming: his reference to the works of St. Bernardin is "_Serm. 33, in Dominic._ 5, _Quadrag_. 1 _part. princ_." but he does not mention the edition. It may here be observed that the opinion of Dr. Jeremy Taylor on this subject is opposed to that of St. Bernardin. See his discussion of the Question on Gaming: "Whether or no the making and providing such instruments which usually minister to it, is by interpretation such an aid to the sin as to involve us in the guilt?" [108] Geschichte der Holzschneidekunst von den ältesten bis auf die neuesten Zeiten, nebst zwei Beilagen enthaltend den Ursprung der Spielkarten und ein Verzeichniss der sämmt xylographischen Werke, von Joseph Haller, s. 313. 8vo, Bamberg, 1823. CHAPTER III. THE PROGRESS OF CARD-PLAYING. Having now shown at what period cards were certainly well known in Europe, and at what period card-making was a regular business in Italy and Germany, I shall proceed to lay before the reader a series of facts showing the prevalence of the game in various countries, both among great and little people.