The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-09-29
RELIGION IN A PACK OF CARDS.

A private soldier, by the name of
Richard Lee, was taken before the
magistrate of Glasgow, Scotland, for
playing cards during divine services.
At the church, those who had Bibles
took them out but this soldier had
neither Bible nor prayer book, and,
pulling out pack of cards, he spread
them before him. He first looked at
one card, and then at another. The
Sergeant of the company saw him,
and said:
Richard, put up the cards this is
no place for them"
"Never mind that, said Richard.
When the services were over, the
Constable took Richard a prisoner,
and brought him before the Mayor.
'Well; said the Mayor, "what have
you brought the soldier here for?"
"For playing cards in the church. "
"Well, soldier, what have you to
say for yourself?"
Much, Sir, think"
Every good if not, will punish
you severely"
81 have been," said the soldier,
'about six weeks on the march. l
have neither Bible nor common pray
er book. I have nothing but pack
of cards, and hope to satisfy Your
Worship of the purity of my inten-
tion."
Then, spreading the cards before
the Mayor, he began with an ace:
"When I see the ace, it reminds
me that there is but one God. When
see the deuce, it reminds me of the
Father and Son. When l see the
trey it reminds me of the Father, Son
and IIo1y Ghost. When I sec thc
four evangelists that preached-Mat-
thew, Mark, Luke and John. When
l see the FIVE, it reminds me of the
FIVE wise virgins that trimmed their
lamps. There were ten; but FIVE
were wise, and five were foolish and
were shut out. When see the six,
it reminds me that in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth. When
/ see the seven, it reminds me that on
the seventh day God rested from the
great work He had made, and hal
lowed it. When l see the eight, it
reminds me of the eight righteous
persons that were saved when God
destroyed the world, viz, Noah and
his wife, his three sons and their
wives. When I see the nine, it re-
minds me of the nine lepers that were
cleansed by our Saviour. There were
nine out of ten that never returned
thanks. When I see the ten, it re-
minds me Of the ten commandments
which God handed down to Moses on
the tables of stone. When l see the
king, it reminds me of the great King
of heaven, which is God Almighty.
When 1 see the queen, it reminds me
of the Queen of Sheba, who visited
Solomon, for she was as wise woman
as he man. She brought with her
fifty boys and fifty girls, all dressed
in boys apparel, for King Solomon to
tell which were boys and which were
girls. The King sent for water for
them to wash. The girls washed to
the elbows, the boys to the wrist SO
King Solomon told by that"
"Well," said the Mayor, "you
have described every card in the pack
except one"
"What is thatl"
"The knave," said the Mayor.
"I will give Your Honor desprip-
ton of that, too, if you will not be
angry"
''I will not said the Mayor, "if
you do not term me to be the knave."
"The greatest knave l know of is
the Constable that brought me here. 4"
II do not know" said the Mayor,
eff he il the greatest knave, but l
know he is the greatest foo"
"When / count how many spots
there are in a pack of cards, find
365, as many days as there are in a
year. When count the number of
cards in pack, I find ffty-two-the
number of weeks in year. find
there are twelve picture cards in
pack, representing the number OF
months in a year and, on counting
the tricks, 1 find thirteen, the number
of weeks in a quarter. So, you see,
a pack of cards serves for a Bible, an
almanac and common-prayer book. "
-Exhange. I'm the above article,
which was handed us by reader OF
the Meuy, there is one mistake-the
number of spots on the ffty-two cards
being said to be 365. Such could not
be the case, as the deck is composed
of suits of 13 cards each, and the
number of spots must be multiple
of d. On deck Of ordinary playing
cards there are only 348 spots, Io4 OF
which are marginal indexes. ]-Ceell
| County Meas.