argument is contradicted by the fact of cards having been called Karten in Germany, before they acquired there the name of Briefe; and this very word Briefe, which is merely a translation of the Latin Chartæ, is presumptive evidence of the Germans having obtained their knowledge of cards from either the French or the Italians, with whom the name cards, when "done" into Latin, had the same meaning as the German word Briefe.

With respect to the term Naibes, or Naipes, there are two etymologies which seem deserving of notice here; the one propounded by Bullet, in his 'Recherches Historiques sur les Cartes à jouer;' and the other by Eloi Johanneau, in his 'Mélanges d'Origines Etymologiques.' Mons. Bullet thinks that cards are of French origin, and that they were not invented before the introduction of linen paper,—his chief reason for fixing this epoch as a ne-plus-ultra being evidently founded on their Latinised name, chartæ. From France he supposes that they passed into Spain by way of Biscay, and acquired in their passage the name of Naipes. This word, according to Mons. Bullet, is derived from the Basque term napa, signifying "plat, plain, uni," which very properly designates cards, and corresponds with the Latin charta. This etymology is fanciful rather than felicitous; if charta were synonymous with mensa,—a table,—the Basque term napa would appear to correspond more nearly with it. But the Basque language, like the Celtic, is one peculiarly adapted for etymological speculation; a person who understands a little of it, may readily grub up in its wild fertility a root for any word which he may not be able to supply with a radical elsewhere. [40]

Mons. Eloi Johanneau is of opinion that cards are of much higher antiquity than they are generally supposed to be; and with respect to their Spanish name, Naipes, the origin of it, is, to him, too plain and simple to require the aid of any scarce or voluminous works to prove it; it is, in short, one of those truths which, to be perceived, requires only to be enounced. This incontestable truth is, that the word naipe, a card, comes from the Latin mappa, the m being merely changed into an n. Of this antithesis, or change of a letter, several examples are produced; as the French nappe, a table-cloth, also from mappa; nefle and neflier from mespilum and mespilus; and faire la Sainte Mitouche, for faire la Sainte Nitouche. Then naipe and mappa have an analogous meaning. Naipes, Playing Cards, scarcely differ from a map,—which is a geographic card,—or, except in point of size, from a nappe, which is spread like a chart on the table. In ancient times, too, mappa signified the tessara, or signal, which was displayed at the games of the circus. Tertullian, speaking of those games in his 'Diatribe De Spectaculis,' says: "Non vident missum quid sit. Mappam putant; sed est diaboli ab alto præcipitati gula,"—"They perceive not what is displayed. They think it the mappa, but it is the jaws of the devil." It is evident from this, that in Tertullian's estimation, there was something very wicked in the mappa; and the bad odour which, even at that early period, the word was in, appears to have been retained by its presumed derivative, naipes, ever since: Servavit odorem diu. But then for the grand discovery: Mons. Johanneau finds, in Ducange's Glossary, a passage cited from Papias, a lexicographer of the eleventh century, which proves that the word mappa then signified a Playing Card, and that the game of cards was known at least three centuries previous to the period assigned to its invention by the Abbé Rive. [41] "Mappa," according to Papias, "is a napkin; a picture, or representation of games, is also called mapa; whence we say mapa mundi,"—a map of the world. An ancient Latin and French glossary, also cited by Ducange, explains the passage from Papias to the following effect: "Mapamundi, a mapemunde (or geographic map); and it is derived from mapa, a nappe, a picture or representation of games." [42] Though it may be admitted that nappe, a table-cloth, or napkin, is derived from mappa, and that the latter word was sometimes used to signify a picture of some kind of game; it yet does not appear to be incontrovertibly true, either that mappa, as explained by Papias, signified a card, or a game of cards, or that the word naipes was derived from it. What Mons. Johanneau considers to be a self-evident truth, appears in reality to be no better than one of those confident assertions entitled, by courtesy, moral truths, in consequence of the sincerity of the author's belief. A great many truths of this kind pass current in the business of life, and maintain their nominal value, long after their real character is known, upon the credit of the indorsers.

Wherever cards may have been first invented, and whatever may be the etymology of the words chartæ and naipes, or naibi, it is certain that cards are now well known in Hindostan, where they form the amusement of the natives, both Hindoos and Moslems. That they were invented there, may be a matter of dispute; but that they have been known there from an early period, and were not introduced there from Europe, appears to be undeniable. The Hindoo cards are usually circular; the number of suits is eight, and in some packs ten; and the marks of the suits, though in some instances showing an agreement with those of European cards, are evidently such as are peculiar to the country, and identified with the customs, manners, and opinions of the people. They coincide with the earliest European cards in having no queen, the two coat cards—being a king and his principal minister or attendant—and in the suits being distinguished by the colour as well as by the form of the mark or emblem.

It appears necessary here to notice an objection, which readily suggests itself to the supposed derivation of chartæ, cards, from a word of eastern origin, signifying "four." It is this: if the ancient Hindoo pack consisted of eight or even ten suits, would it not be preposterous to derive the European name from a word which implies that there were only four. Facts most assuredly are stubborn things, and no speculation, whether lame of a leg, or going smoothly on "all fours," can stand against them. It is not, however, proved that the most ancient Hindoo cards consisted of eight or ten suits; and till this be done, the speculation must just pass for what it is worth. Whether there were eight, ten, or twenty suits, the derivation of χαρτης, charta, paper, from a word of Eastern origin, would still be unaffected. If the game of cards were suggested by that of chess, I am inclined to think that the earliest pack would consist of only two suits, and that more were subsequently added to satisfy the wants of "busy idleness," for a more complicated game. Be this as it may, cards did not arrive at Europe from Hindostan "per saltum;" it is probable that their progress through the intervening countries was comparatively slow;