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Show CARDS AND THE ! BIBLE. Although said to be more than 200 years old, the following story, recently recent-ly republished by the Pathfinder, may be of interest to those who have not seen it: 1 Richard Land, a private in the 42nd foot troops of the "Black Watch" of the British army early in 18th century, cen-tury, was brought before the mayor and lord protector of Glasgow charg-' ed with playing cards during divine service. He said he had no Bible or prayer book and was using his pack 1 of cards instead. When asked to explain ex-plain what he meant, he answered: j 1 "When I see the ace, it reminds me of the one God; the deuce recalls the ' Father and the Son; the trey, the three persons of the Trinity; the four-spot reminds me of the four evangelists; the five, the five wise virgins; the six, of the days of creation; crea-tion; the seven, of the seventh day or Sabbath; the eight recalls the righteous persons in the Ark; the nine, the ungrateful lepers; the 10, the Commandments. The king suggests sug-gests the King of Heaven; the queen, the Queen of Sheba who sought wisdom wis-dom from Solomon. The knave (jack)" here he hesitated, but on being urged, went on: "The knave stands for the constable who arrested me" The mayor interrupted to remark that the constable seemed to have been a fool, even though not a knave. Then the soldier continued: "There are 365 pips (spots) in the pack, which recall the days of the year; 52 cars, one for each week; 12 face cards, one for each month, and the 13 tricks represent the number of weeks in a quarter. Thus the pack of cards serves as a B'ble, a prayer book, and an almanac." |