Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1910-10-28
BIBLE AND ALMANAC
Revised Version OF The Story OF The
Symbolic Pack OF Cards
From The New York SUM-

i
Sir:-The quotation given by w.
B." from an alleged diary is q
garbled report of a we'll auhenti-
Gated story The complete version
is as follows:
A private soldier named Richar
Lee was taken before the magis.
trate at GLASGOW, Scotland, for
playing cards during divine service.
A sergeant commanded the soldiers
at the church, and when the parson
had read the prayers he took the
text.
Those who had Bibles took them,
but this particular soldier had Meth
er Bible nor prayer book, but pulled
out pack of cards and spread them
before him. Seeing this, the SER
geant told him to put up the cards as
a place of worship was no place for
them. The remark attracted the at
tent.on of the constable, and as
Richard Lee did not put up the cards
when told to do so he was taken be-
fore the beak.
What is the charger" asked the
magistrate.
Playing cards in church.
Can you offer any excuse for your
conduct" demanded the magistrate.
what have you to say for your
self?"
Il have been," answered the Sold
Ter. "about six weeks on the march,
and having neither Bible nor Com
mon Prayer Book, have been amusing
myself with tracing some resem-
blance in pack of cards, and have
found in them an almanac also.
Indeed" exclaimed the magis-
trate. Explain yourself. "
Spreading out the cards before him,
the soldier began:
when / see the ace it reminds me
that there is but one God. The
deuce reminds me of the Father and
the Son; the trey recalls Father,
Son and Holy Ghost. When l see
the four it reminds me of the four
evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John. When | see the five it
reminds me of the wise virgins that
trimmed their lamps. There were
ten in all, but the five foolish ones
were shut out, leaving only the five.
When see the six it recalls the six
days in which were made heaven and
earth, and the seven reminds me of
the seventh day on which God rested
from His work and hallowed it.
When / see the eight it reminds
me of the eight righteous persons
who were saved when God destroyed
the world-Noah and his wife, his
three sons and their wives. The
nine reminds me of the nine lepers
that were cleansed by our Saviour,
there being nine out of ten that never
returned thanks. When l see the ten
it reminds me of the Ten Command
ments which God handed down to
Moses on tables of stone. When /
see the king it reminds me of King
Solomon, the wisest man that ever
lived. The queen reminds me of the
Queen of Sheba, who visited him, and
who brought with her fifty boys and
fifty girls all dressed as boys, to see
if King Solomon could tell which
were which. Solomon sent for water
for them to wash with after their
journey and the girls washed to the
eIbws, the boys to the wrists, so that
was easy"
Very good indeed for the Bible, !"
emarked the magistrate. "What
resemblance have you traced to the
almanac"
1.-The four suits are the four sea-
sons. The thirteen cards in each
suit are the weeks in quarter. The
fifty-two cards in the pack are the
weeks in a year. The twelve picture
cards are the twelve months, and the
total number of rips on the cards in
the pack are 365, which is the number
of days in year"
VERY good" observed the mag
istrate. Il perceive that there is
one card you have overlooked, and
that is the knave. Of whom or
what does that remind you
"At present of the constable that
brought me here" was the prompt
reply, and the prisoner was imme-
diately discharged.
Brooklyn, October IA. 3. F. F.