In the time of Pitt, 1789,
L9000 were to be raised by an additional duty of sixpence on
cards and dice, consequently there must have been no less than
360,000 packs of cards and pairs of dice stamped in the year
1788, to justify the calculation--a proof that gaming in England
was not on the decline. In the year 1790, the duty on cards was
two shillings per pack, and on dice thirteen shillings per pair.
This duty on cards went on increasing its annual addition to the
revenue, so that about the year 1820 the monthly payments of Mr
Hunt alone, the card-maker of Picadilly, for the stamp-duty
on cards, varied from L800 to L1000, that is, from L9600 to
L12,000 per annum. In 1833 the stamp-duty on cards was 6d., and
it yielded L15,922, showing a consumption of 640,000 packs per
annum. Much of this, however, was sheer waste, on account of the
rule of gamesters requiring a fresh pack at every game.
In the Harleian Miscellany[65] will be found a satirical poem
entitled 'The Royal Gamesters; or, the Odd Cards new shuffled for
a Conquering Game,' referring to the political events of the
years from 1702 to 1706, and concluding with the following
lines--
'Thus ends the game which Europe has in view,
Which, by the stars, may happen to be true.
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