The
latter, perceiving that he was losing the game got into a
passion, and calling Henry the son of a bastard, flung the chess-
board into his face. Henry took the chess-board and struck Louis
with it so violently that he drew blood, and would have killed
him if his brother, who happened to come in, had not prevented
him. The two brothers took to flight, but a great and lasting
war was the consequence of the gambling fracas.
A gaming quarrel was the cause of the slap in the face given by
the Duc Rene to Louis XII., then only Duc d'Orleans. This slap
was the origin of a ligue which was termed 'the mad war.' The
resentment of the outraged prince was not appeased until he
mounted the throne, when he uttered these memorable words:--'A
King of France does not avenge insults offered to a Duke of
Orleans.'
Many narratives of suicide committed by desperate gamblers are on
record, some of which I now adduce.
SIR JOHN BLAND, OF KIPPAX PARK.
Sir John Bland, of Kippax Park, flirted away his whole fortune at
Hazard. 'He, t'other night,' says Walpole, 'exceeded what was
lost by the late Duke of Bedford, having at one period of the
night (though he recovered the greater part of it) lost two and
thirty thousand pounds.
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