Return to the Online 'Enquire Within'

Will you do me the favour of meeting here, as a guest, on ------ next, at seven precisely, a few friends who have kindly joined in an attempt to commence occasional pleasant and social parties, of which the spirit and intent will be better understood by the perusal of the few annexed remarks and rules from

Yours sincerely, ------

"They manage it better in France," is a remark to be often applied with reference to social life in England, and the writer fancies that the prevalence here of a few bad customs, easily changed, causes the disadvantageous difference between ourselves and our more courteous and agreeable neighbours.

i. Worldly appearance; the phantom leading many to suppose that wealth is the standard of worth--in the minds of friends, a notion equally degrading to both parties.

ii. Overdress; causing unnecessary expense and a waste of time.

iii. Expensive entertainments, as regards refreshments.

iv. Late hours.

The following brief rules are suggested, in a hope to show the way to a more constant, easy, and friendly intercourse amongst friends, the writer feeling convinced that society is equally beneficial and requisite--in fact, that mankind in seclusion, like the sword in the scabbard, often loses polish, and gradually rusts.

Rule I. That meetings be held in rotation at each member's house, for the enjoyment of conversation; music, grave and gay; dancing, gay only; and card-playing at limited stakes.

Rule II. That such meetings commence at seven and end about or after twelve, and that members and guests be requested to remember that punctuality has been called the politeness of kings.

Rule III. That as gentlemen are allowed for the whole season to appear, like the raven, in one suit, ladies are to have the like privilege; and that no lady be allowed to quiz or notice the habits of another lady; and that demi-toilette in dress be considered the better taste in the family circle; not that the writer wishes to raise or lower the proper standard of ladies' dress, which ought to be neither too high nor too low, but at a happy medium.

Rule IV. That any lady infringing the last rule be liable to reproof by the oldest lady present at the meeting, if the oldest lady, like the oldest inhabitant, can be discovered.

Rule V. That every member or guest, be requested to bring with them their own vocal, instrumental, or dance music, and take it away with them, if possible, to avoid loss and confusion.

Rule VI. That no member or guest, able to sing, play, or dance, refuse, unless excused by medical certificate; and that no cold or sore throat be allowed to last more than a week.

Rule VII. That as every member or guest known to be able to sing, play, or dance, is bound to do so if requested, the performer (especially if timid) is to be kindly criticised and encouraged; it being a fact well known, that the greatest masters of an art are always the most lenient critics, from their deep knowledge of the feeling, intelligence, and perseverance required to at all approach perfection.

Rule VIII. That gentlemen present do pay every attention to ladies, especially visitors; but such attention is to be general, and not particular--for instance, no gentleman is to dance more than three times with one lady during the evening, except in the case of lovers, privileged to do odd things during their temporary lunacy, and also married couples, who are expected to dance together at least once during the evening, and oftener if they please.

Rule IX. That to avoid unnecessary expense, the refreshments be limited to cold meat, sandwiches, bread, cheese, butter, vegetables, fruits, tea, coffee, negus, punch, malt liquors, &c., &c.

Rule X. That all personal or face-to-face laudatory speeches (commonly called toasts, or, as may be, roasts) be for the future forbidden, without permission or inquiry, for reasons following:- That as the family circle includes bachelors and spinsters, and he, she, or they may be secretly engaged, it will be therefore cruel to excite hopes that may be disappointed; and that as some well-informed Benedick of long experience may after supper advise the bachelor to find the way to woman's heart--vice versa, some deep-feeling wife or widow, by "pity moven," may, perhaps, after supper advise the spinster the other way, which, in public, is an impropriety manifestly to be avoided.

Rule XI. (suggested by a lady). That any lady, after supper, may (if she please) ask any gentleman apparently diffident, or requiring encouragement, to dance with her, and that no gentleman can of course refuse so kind a request.

Rule XII. That no gentleman be expected to escort any lady home on foot beyond a distance of three miles, unless the gentleman be positive and the lady agreeable.

Rule the last. That as the foregoing remarks and rules are intended, in perfect good faith and spirit, to be considered general and not personal, no umbrage is to be taken, and the reader is to bear in mind the common and homely saying,--

"Always at trifles scorn to take offence,

It shows great pride and very little sense."

PS.--To save trouble to both parties, this invitation be deemed accepted, without the necessity to reply, unless refused within twenty-four hours.

46. Evening Pastimes.

Among the innocent recreations of the fireside, there are few more commendable and practicable than those afforded by what are severally termed Anagrams, Arithmorems, Single and Double Acrostics, Buried Cities, &c., Charades, Conundrums, Cryptographs, Enigmas, Logogriphs, Puzzles, Rebuses, Riddles, Transpositions, &c. Of these there are such a variety, that they are suited to every capacity; and they present this additional attraction, that ingenuity may be exercised in the invention of them, as well as in their solution. Many persons who have become noted for their literary compositions may date the origin of their success to the time when they attempted the composition of a trifling enigma or charade.

47. Acrostics.--The acrostic is a short poem in which the first letters of each line, read collectively, form a name, word, or sentence. The word comes from the Greek akros, extreme, and stichos, order or line. The acrostic was formerly in vogue for valentine and love verses. When employed as a riddle it is called a Rebus, which see.

48. Acrostics (Double).--This very fashionable riddle is a double Rebus, the initial and final letters of a word or words selected making two names or two words. The usual plan is to first suggest the foundation words, and then to describe the separate words, whose initials and finals furnish the answer to the question. Thus:-

A Party to charm the young and erratic--

But likely to frighten the old and rheumatic.

1 The carriage in which the fair visitants came:

2 A very old tribe with a very old name;

3 A brave Prince of Wales free from scandal or shame.

The answer is Picnic.

Sometimes the Double Acrostic is in prose, as in this brief example: A Briton supports his wig, his grandmother, his comfort, and his countrymen. The answer is, Beef--Beer: Bob, Eve, Ease, Fair.

49. Acrostics (Triple) are formed on the same plan, three names being indicated by the initial, central, and final letters of the selected words.

50. Anagrams are formed by the transposition of the letters of words or sentences, or names of persons, so as to produce a word, sentence, or verse, of pertinent or of widely different meaning. They are very difficult to discover, but are exceedingly striking when good. The following are some of the most remarkable:-

51. Arithmorems.--This class of riddle is of recent introduction. The Arithmorem is made by substituting figures in part of the word indicated, for Roman numerals. The nature of the riddle--from the Greek arithmos, number, and the Latin remanere, back again--will be easily seen from the following example, which is a double Arithmorem:-

H, 51 and a tub--a fine large fish.

A, 100 and gore--a sprightly movement in music.

R, 5 and be--a part of speech.

U, 551 and as and--a Spanish province.

To, 201 and ran,--a stupefying drug.

R, 102 and nt--an acid.

OU, 250 and pap--a Mexican town.

The answer is Havanna--Tobacco: Halibut, Allegro, Verb, Andalusia, Narcotic, Nitric, Acapulco.

52. Charades are compositions, poetical or otherwise, founded upon words, each syllable of which constitutes a noun, the whole of each word constituting another noun of a somewhat different meaning from those supplied by its separate syllables. Words which fully answer these conditions are the best for the purposes of charades; though many other words are employed. In writing, the first syllable is termed "My first," the second syllable "My second," and the complete word "My whole." The following is an example of a Poetical Charade:-

The breath of the morning is sweet;

The earth is bespangled with flowers;

And buds in a countless array

Have ope'd at the touch of the showers.

The birds, whose glad voices are ever

A music delightful to hear,

Seem to welcome the joy of the morning,

As the hour of the bridal draws near.

What is that which now steals on my first,

Like a sound from the dreamland of love,

And seems wand'ring the valleys among,

That they may the nuptials approve?

'Tis a sound which my second explains,

And it comes from a sacred abode,

And it merrily trills as the villagers throng

To greet the fair bride on her road.

How meek is her dress, how befitting a bride

So beautiful, spotless, and pure!

When she weareth my second, oh long may it be

Ere her heart shall a sorrow endure.

See the glittering gem that shines forth from her hair--

'Tis my whole, which a good father gave;

'Twas worn by her mother with honour before--

But she sleeps in peace in her grave.

'Twas her earnest request, as she bade them adieu,

That when her dear daughter the altar drew near,

She should wear the same gem that her mother had worn

When she as a bride full of promise stood there.

The answer is ear-ring. The bells ring, the sound steals upon the ear, and the bride wears an ear-ring. Charades may be sentimental or humorous, in poetry or prose; they may also be acted, in which manner they afford considerable amusement.

53. Charades (Acted).--A drawing room with folded doors is the best for the purpose. Various household appliances are employed to fit up something like a stage, and to supply the fitting scenes. Characters dressed in costumes made up of handkerchiefs, coats, shawls, table-covers, &c., come on and perform an extempore play, founded upon the parts of a word, and its whole, as indicated already. For instance, the events explained in the poem given might be acted--glasses might be rung for bells--something might be said in the course of the dialogues about the sound of the bells being delightful to the ear; there might be a dance of the villagers, in which a ring might be formed; a wedding night might be performed; and so on: but for acting charades there are many better words, because Ear-ring could with difficulty be represented without at once betraying the meaning. There is a little work entitled "Philosophy and Mirth united by Pen and Pencil," and another work, "Our Charades; and How We Played Them," by Jean Francis, which supply a large number of these Charades. But the following is the most extensive list of words ever published upon which Charades may be founded:-

54. Words which may be converted into Acting or Written Charades:-

55. Chronograms or Chronographs are riddles in which the letters of the Roman notation in a sentence or series of words are so arranged as to make up a date. The following is a good example:-

My Day Closed Is In Immortality.

The initials MDCIII give 1603, the year of Queen Elizabeth's death. Sometimes the Chronogram is employed to express a date on coins or medals; but oftener it is simply used as a riddle:- A poet who in blindness wrote; another lived in Charles's reign; a third called the father of English verse; a Spanish dramatist; the scolding wife of Socrates; and the Prince of Latin poets,--their initials give the year of the Great Plague--MDCLXV.--1665: Milton, Dryden, Chaucer, Lope-de-Vega, Xantippe, Virgil. The word comes from Chronos, time, and gramma, a letter.

56. Conundrums.--These are simple catches, in which the sense is playfully cheated, and are generally founded upon words capable of double meaning. The following are examples:-

Where did Charles the First's executioner dine, and what did he take?

He took a chop at the King's Head.

When is a plant to be dreaded more than a mad dog?

When it's madder.

What is majesty stripped of its externals?

It is a jest. [The m and the y, externals, are taken away.]

Why is hot bread like a caterpillar?

Because it's the grub that makes the butter fly.

Why did the accession of Victoria throw a greater damp over England than the death of King William?

Because the King was missed (mist) while the Queen was reigning (raining).

Why should a gouty man make his will?

To have his legatees (leg at ease).

Why are bankrupts more to be pitied than idiots?

Because bankrupts are broken, while idiots are only cracked.

Why is the treadmill like a true convert?

Because it's turning is the result of conviction.

When may a nobleman's property be said to be all feathers?

When his estates are all entails (hen-tails).

57. Cryptography, or secret writing--from the Greek cryptos, a secret, and graphein, to write--has been largely employed in state dispatches, commercial correspondence, love epistles, and riddles. The telegraphic codes employed in the transmission of news by electric wire, partakes somewhat of the cryptographic character, the writer employing certain words or figures, the key to which is in the possession of his correspondent. The single-word despatch sent by Napier to the Government of India, was a sort of cryptographic conundrum--Peccavi, I have sinned (Scinde); and in the agony column of the Times there commonly appear paragraphs which look puzzling enough until we discover the key-letter or figure. Various and singular have been the devices adopted--as for instance, the writing in the perforations of a card especially prepared, so as only to allow the real words of the message to be separated from the mass of writing by means of a duplicate card with similar perforations; the old Greek mode of writing on the edges of a strip of paper wound round a stick in a certain direction, and the substitution of figures or signs for letters or words. Where one letter is always made to stand for another, the secret of a cryptograph is son discovered, but when, as in the following example, the same letter does not invariably correspond to the letter for which it is a substitute, the difficulty of deciphering the cryptograph is manifestly increased:-

Ohs ya h sych, oayarsa rr loucys syms

Osrh srore rrhmu h smsmsmah emshyr snms.

The translation of this can be made only by the possessor of the key.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
hushmoneybycharleshrossesq

"Hush Money, by Charles H. Ross, Esq."--twenty-six letters which, when applied to the cryptograph, will give a couplet from Parnell's "Hermit":-

"Far in a wild, unknown to public view,

From youth to age a reverend hermit grew."

The employment of figures and signs for letters is the most usual form of the cryptograph. From the following jumble we get a portion of Hamlet's address to the Ghost:-

9a62x?9a1|3a3?2!?*76!9521272a1;?
428*;?(3!3,*7820x,1*!6*4x3a19|a21

With the key--

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
945127683+-x|a*()!?,;:.oS/

it is easy to write and not very hard to read the entire speech. The whole theory of the cryptogram is that each correspondent possesses the key to the secret. To confound an outside inquirer the key is often varied. A good plan is to take a line from any ordinary book and substitute the first twenty-six of its letters for those of the alphabet. In your next cryptogram you take the letters from another page or another book. It is not necessary to give an example. Enough will be seen from what we have written to instruct an intelligent inquirer.

58. Decapitations and Curtailments are riddles somewhat of the nature of the Logogriph, which see. In the first, the omission of the successive initials produces new words, as--Prelate, Relate, Elate, Late, Ate. In the curtailment the last letter of the word is taken away with a similar result, as--Patent, Paten, Pate, Pat, Pa. Of like kind are the riddles known as variations, mutilations, reverses, and counterchanges. A good example of the last-named is this:-

"Charge, Chester, Charge: on, Stanley, on!

Were the last words of Marmion.

Had I but been in Stanley's place,

When Marmion urged him to the chase,

A tear might come on every face."

The answer is onion--On, I, on.

59. Enigmas are compositions of a different character, based upon ideas, rather than upon words, and frequently constructed so as to mislead, and to surprise when the solution is made known. Enigmas may be founded upon simple catches, like Conundrums, in which form they are usually called Riddles, such as--

Though you set me on foot,

I shall be on my head."

The answer is, A nail in a shoe. The celebrated Enigma on the letter H, by Miss Catherine Fanshawe, but usually attributed to Lord Byron, commencing:-

"'Twas whispered in heaven, 'twas muttered in hell,

And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell;"

and given elsewhere in this volume (See par. 215, page 77), is an admirable specimen of what may be rendered in the form of an Enigma.

60. Hidden Words.--A riddle in which names of towns, persons, rivers, &c., are hidden or arranged, without transposition, in the midst of sentences which convey no suggestion of their presence. In the following sentence, for instance, there are hidden six Christian names:- Here is hid a name the people of Pisa acknowledge: work at each word, for there are worse things than to give the last shilling for bottled wine.--The names are Ida, Isaac, Kate, Seth, Ethel, Edwin. Great varieties of riddles, known as Buried Cities, Hidden Towns, &c., are formed on this principle, the words being sometimes placed so as to read backwards, or from right to left. The example given will, however, sufficiently explain the mode of operation.

61. Lipogram.--from leipein, to leave out, and gramma, a letter--is a riddle in which a name or sentence is written without its vowels, as Thprffthpddngsthtng,--The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Whnhnorslst ts--rlfld,

Dths bt--sr rtrt fm nfmy.

"When honour's lost 'tis a relief to die,

Death's but a sure retreat from infamy."

This riddle sometimes appears as a proverb.

"Fear's the white feather all cowards wear."

-----s th wht fthr ll cwrds ----

62. Logogriph.--This is a riddle (logos, a word, and griphos, a riddle) in which a word is made to undergo several changes. These changes are brought about by the addition, subtraction, omission, or substitution of a letter or letters. The following, by the late Lord Macaulay, is an excellent example:-

"Cut off my head, how singular I act!

Cut off my tail, and plural I appear.

Cut off my head and tail--most curious fact,

Although my middle's left, there's nothing there!

What is my head cut off?--a sounding sea!

What is my tail cut off?--a flowing river!

Amid their mingling depths I fearless play

Parent of softest sounds, though mute for ever!

The answer is cod. Cut off its head and it is od (odd, singular); its tail, and it is Co., plural, for company; head and tail, and it is o, nothing. Its head is a sounding C (sea), its tail a flowing D (river Dee), and amid their depths the cod may fearless play, parent of softest sounds yet mute for ever.

63. Metagram, a riddle in which the change of the initial letter produces a series of words of different meanings; from meta, implying change, and gramma, a letter. Thus:-

I cover your head,; change my head, and I set you to sleep; change it again and again, and with every change comes a new idea.--Cap, Nap, Gap, Sap, Hap, Map, Lap, Pap, Rap, Rap, Tap. This kind of riddle is also known as word-capping.

64. Palindrome, from the Greek palin-dromos, running back again. This is a word, sentence, or verse that reads the same both forwards and backwards--as, madam, level, reviver; live on no evil; love your treasure and treasure your love; you provoked Harry before Harry provoked you; servants respect masters when masters respect servants. Numerous examples of Palindrome or reciprocal word-twisting exist in Latin and French; but in English it is difficult to get a sentence which will be exactly the same when read either way. The best example is the unpleasant one from Gascoigne, the sixteenth century poet, the old spelling of the word dwell readily aiding the line:-

"Lewd did I live & evil I did dwel."

65. Puzzles vary much. One of the simplest that we know is this:-

Taken away half of thirteen and let eight remain.

Write XIII on a slate, or on a piece of paper--rub out the lower half of the figures, and VIII will remain.

Upon the principle of the square-words, riddlers form Diagonals, Diamonds, Pyramids, Crosses, Stars, &c. These specimens will show their peculiarities:-

66. Oblique Puzzle.--Malice, eight, a polemical meeting, a Scottish river, what I write with, a decided negative, the capital of Ireland. The initials downward name a celebrated musician.

67. Diagonal Puzzle.--A direction, a singer, a little bird, a lady's ring, a sharp shaver. Read from left to right and right to left, the centrals show two famous novelists.

The following are answers to these two puzzles, and afford good examples of their construction to any one who wishes to try his hand at their manufacture.

R E V E N G E
O C T A V E
S Y N O D
S P E Y
I N K
N O
I

L A B E L
T E N O R
D I V E R
J E W E L
R A Z O R

68. Diamond Puzzle.--The head of a mouse, what the mouse lives in, the county of calves, the city of porcelain, a German town, a Transatlantic stream, a royal county, a Yorkshire borough, Eve's temptation, our poor relation, myself. Centrals down and across, show a wide, wide, long river.

The construction of the Diamond Puzzle is exhibited in the following diagram, which is, at the same time, the answer to it.

Diamond

M
A I R
E S S E X
D R E S D E N
G O T T I N G E N
M I S S I S S I P P I
B E R K S H I R E
H A L I F A X
A P P L E
A P E
I

69. Rebuses are a class of Enigma generally formed by the first, sometimes the first and last, letters of words, or of transpositions of letters, or additions to words. Dr. Johnson, however, represents Rebus to be a word represented by a picture. And putting the Doctor's definition and our own explanation together, the reader may glean a good conception of the nature of the Rebus of which the following is an example:-

The father of the Grecian Jove;

A little boy who's blind;

The foremost land in all the world;

The mother of mankind;

A poet whose love-sonnets are

Still very much admired;--

The initial letters will declare

A blessing to the tired.

Answer--Saturn; Love; England; Eve; Plutarch. The initials form sleep.

The excellent little work mentioned at page 21, entitled "Philosophy and Mirth united by Pen and Pencil," has this novelty, that many of the Enigmas are accompanied by enigmatical pictures, so that the eye is puzzled as well as the ear.

70. Square Words.-- A comparatively modern sort of riddle, in which the letters of each word selected reads both across and down. With four letters the making of the riddle is easy, but with five or six the difficulty increases. We give an example of each.

i. Inside, a thought, a liquid gem, a timid creature.

ii. To run out, odour, to boil, to loosen, unseen essence.

iii. Compensations, a court favourite, to assist, to bite slightly, Spanish money, sarcasms.

i. P I T H I D E A T E A R H A R E		ii. I S S U E S C E N T S E E T H U N T I E E T H E R
iii. A M E N D S M I N I O N E N A B L E N I B B L E D O L L A R S N E E R S

With seven or eight letters the riddle becomes exceedingly difficult, especially if the selected words are of like character and syllables.

71. Chess, Laws of.--The rules given below are those which are now universally accepted by English players.

i. The board is to be so placed as to leave a white square at the right hand of the player.

ii. Any mistake in placing the board or the men may be rectified before the fourth move is completed, but not after.

iii. The players draw lots for the first move, and take the move alternately. [When odds are given, the player giving them moves first. White generally moves first; therefore, if black win the move, the board is turned. It is usual to play with the white and black men alternately.]

iv. The piece touched must be moved. When the fingers of the player have once left the man, it cannot be again removed from the square it occupies. [Except the move be illegal, when the opponent can insist on the piece bring moved in the proper manner, or for the opposing King to be moved.]

v. In touching a piece simply to adjust it, the player must notify to his adversary that such is his intention. [It is usual, in such a case, to say J'adoube (I adjust); but he may not touch a piece with the intention of moving it, and then, when he discover his mistake, say, J'adoube. The phrase is simply intended to be used when a pice is displaced or overturned by accident.]

vi. If a player take one of his own men by mistake, or touch a wrong man, or one of his opponent's men, or make an illegal move, his adversary may compel him to take the man, make the right move, move his King, or replace the piece, and make a legal move.

vii. A pawn may be played either one or two squares at a time when first moved. [In the latter case it is liable to be taken en passant, with a pawn that could have taken it had it been played only one square.]

viii. A player cannot castle under any of the following circumstances:- 1. If he has moved either the King or the Rook. 2. If the King be in check. 3. If there be any piece between the King and the Rook. 4. If the King, in moving, pass over any square commanded by any one of his adversary's forces. [You cannot castle to get out of check.]

ix. If a player give a check without crying "check", the adversary need not take notice of the check. But if two moves only are made before the discovery of the mistake, the pieces may be replaced, and the game properly played.

x. If a player say check without actually attacking the King, and his adversary move his King or take the piece, the latter may elect either to let the move stand or have the pieces replaced, and another move made.

xi. If, at the end of the game, the players remain, one with a superior to an inferior force, or even if they have equal forces, the defending player may call upon his adversary to mate in fifty moves on each side, or draw the game. [If one player persist in giving perpetual check, or repeating the same move, his opponent may count the moves for the draw; in which case touching a piece is reckoned a move.]

xii. Stalemate, or perpetual check, is a drawn game.

xiii. Directly a pawn reaches its eighth square it must be exchanged for a piece. [It is usual to change the pawn for a Queen, but it may be replaced by a Rook, Bishop, or Knight, without reference to the pieces already on the board. In practice it would be changed for a Queen or a Knight, seeing that the Queen's moves include those of the Rook and Bishop. Thus you may have two or more Queens, three or more Rooks, Bishops, or Knights on the board at the end of the game.]

xiv. Should any dispute arise, the question must be submitted to a bystander, whose decision is to be considered final.

*.* For information as to the best modes of play, the Openings and Endings of Games, &c., read The Book of Chess, by G. H. Selkirk, published by Messrs. Houlston and Sons.

72. Draughts, Rules of the Game.--The accepted laws for regulating the game are as follows:-

i. The board is to be so placed as to have the white or black double corners at the right hand of the player.

ii. The first move is taken by chance or agreement, and in all the subsequent games of the same sitting, the first move is taken alternately. Black generally moves first.

iii. Any action which prevents your adversary from having a full view of the board is not allowed, and if persisted in, loses the game to the offending player.

iv. The man touched must be moved, but the men may be properly adjusted during any part of the game. After they are so placed, if either player, when it is his turn to play, touch a man, he must move it. If a man be so moved as to be visible on the angle separating the squares, the player so touching the man must move it to the square indicated. [By this it is meant that a player may not move first to one square and then to another. Once moved onto a square, the man must remain there.]

v. It is optional with the player either to allow his opponent to stand the huff, or to compel him to take the piece. ["Standing the huff" is when a player refuses to take the offered piece, but either intentionally or accidentally makes another move. His adversary then removes the man that should have taken the piece, and makes his own move--huff and move, as it is called.]

vi. Ten minutes is the longest time allowed to consider a move, which if not made within that time, forfeits the game.

vii. It is compulsory upon the player to take all the pieces he can legally take by the same series of moves. On making a King, however, the latter remains on his square till a move has been made on the other side.

viii. All disputes are to be decided by the majority of the bystanders present, or by an umpire.

ix. No player may leave the room without the consent of his adversary, or he forfeits the game.

x. A false move must be remedied as soon as it is discovered, or the maker of such move loses the game.

xi. When only a small number of men remain toward the end of the game, the possessor of the lesser number may call on his opponent to win in at least fifty moves, or declare the game drawn. With two Kings to one, the game must be won in at most twenty moves on each side.

xii. The player who refuses to abide by the rules loses the game. In the losing game a player must take all the men he can by his move.

73. Whist.--(Upon the principle of Hoyle's games.)--Great silence and attention should be observed by the players. Four persons cut for partners; the two highest are against the two lowest. The partners sit opposite to each other, and he who cuts the lowest card is entitlrd to the deal. The ace is the lowest in cutting.

i. Shuffling.--Each person has a right to shuffle the cards before the deal; but it is usual for the elder hand only; and the dealer after.

ii. Cutting.--The pack is then cut by the right hand adversary; and the dealer distributes the cards, one by one, to each of the players, beginning with the player on his left, until he comes to the last card, which he turnd up for trump, and leaves on the table till the first trick be played.

iii. First Play.--The elder hand, the player on the left of the dealer, plays first. The winner of the trick plays again; and so on, till all the cards are played out.

iv. Mistakes.--No intimations, or signs are permitted between the partners. The mistake of one party is the profit of the adversary.

v. Collecting Tricks.--The tricks belonging to each player should be turned and collected by one of the partners only. All above six tricks reckon towards game.

vi. Honours.--The ace, king, queen, and knave of trumps are called honours; and when either of the partners hold three separately, or between them, they count two points towards the game; and in case they have four honours, they count four points.

vii. Game.--Long Whist game consists of ten points, Short Whist of five points.

74. Terms used in Whist.

i. Finessing, is the attempt to gain an advantage; thus:- If you have the best and third best card of the suit led, you put on the third best, and run the risk of your adversary having the second best; if he has it not, which is two to one against him, you are then certain of gaining a trick.

ii. Forcing, is playing the suit of which your partner or adversary has not any, and which in order to win he must trump.

iii. Long Trump, the one or more trumps in your hand when all the rest are out.

iv. Loose Card, a card of no value, and the most proper to throw away.

v. Points.--Ten make the game; as many as are gained by tricks or honours, so many points are set up to the score of the game.

vi. Quarte, four successive cards in suit.

vii. Quarte Major, a sequence of ace, king, queen, and knave.

viii. Quinte, five successive cards in suit.

ix. Quinte Major, is a sequence of ace, king, queen, knave, and ten.

x. See-saw, is when each partner trumps a suit, and when they play those suits to each other for that purpose.

xi. Score, is the number of points set up. The following is a good method of scoring with coins or counters:-

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
O	OO	OOO	OO OO	O OO	O OOO	OO O	OOO O	O O

For Short Whist there are regular markers.

xii. Slam, is when either side win every trick.

xiii. Tenace, is possessing the first last and third best cards, and being the player; you consequently catch the adversary when that suit is played: as, for instance, in case you have ace and queen of any suit, and your adversary leads that suit, you must win two tricks, by having the best and third best of the suit played, and being the last player.

xiv. Tierce, three successive cards in a suit.

xv. Tierce Major, a sequence of ace, king, and queen.