" Nowe all this
is to make him to beginne, for they knowe if he be once in, and
be a loser, that he will not sticke at his twelve-pence, but
hopeth ever to get it againe, whiles perhappes he will lose all.
Then every one of them setteth his shiftes abroache, some with
false dyse, some with settling of dyse, some with having
outlandish silver coynes guilded, to put awaye at a time for good
golde. Then, if there come a thing in controversye, must you be
judged by the table, and then farewell the honeste man's parte,
for he is borne downe on every syde.'
It is evident from this graphic description of the process, that
the villany of sharpers has been ever the same; for old Roger's
account of the matter in his day exactly tallies with daily
experience at the present time.
The love of card-playing was continued through the reign of
Elizabeth and James I.,[60] and in the reign of the latter it had
reached so high a pitch that the audiences used to amuse
themselves with cards at the play-house, while they were waiting
for the beginning of the play. The same practice existed at
Florence. If the thing be not done at the present day, something
analogous prevails in our railway carriages throughout the
kingdom.
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