Ombre continuing the fashionable game in England, down
till after the expiration of the first quarter of the last century.

'Quadrille succeeded Ombre, but for a curious reason did not reign
so long as its predecessor. From the peculiar nature of Quadrille, an
unfair confederacy might be readily established, by any two persons, by
which the other players could be cheated.

'While the preceding games were in vogue the magnificent temple of
Whist, destined to outshine and overshadow them, was in course of
erection.

"Let India vaunt her children's vast address, Who first contrived the
warlike sport of Chess; Let nice Piquette the boast of France remain,
And studious Ombre be the pride of Spain; Invention's praise shall
England yield to none, When she can call delightful Whist her own."

'All great inventions and discoveries are works of time, and Whist is
no exception to the rule; it did not come into the world perfect at
all points, as Minerva emerged from the head of Jupiter. Nor were its
wonderful merits early recognized. Under the vulgar appellations of
Whisk and Swobbers, it long lingered in the servants'-hall ere it could
ascend to the drawing-room. At length, some gentlemen, who met at the
Crown coffee-house, in Bedford Row, studied the game, gave it rules,
established its principles, and then Edward Hoyle, in 1743, blazoned
forth its fame to all the world.

'Many attempts have been made, at various times, to turn playing-cards
to a very different use from that for which they were originally
intended. Thus, in 1518, a learned Franciscan friar, named Murner,
published a Logica Memorativa, a mode of teaching logic, by a pack of
cards; and, subsequently, he attempted to teach a summary of civil law
in the same manner. In 1656, an Englishman, named Jackson, published a
work, entitled the Scholar's Sciential Cards, in which he proposed to
teach reading, spelling, grammar, writing, and arithmetic, with various
arts and sciences, by playing-cards; premising that the learner was well
grounded in all the games played at the period. And later still, about
the close of the seventeenth century, there was published the Genteel
Housekeeper's Pastime; or the Mode of Carving at Table represented in a
Pack of Playing-Cards, by which any one of ordinary Capacity may learn
how to Carve, in Mode, all the most usual Dishes of Flesh, Fish, Fowl,
and Baked Meats, with the several Sauces and Garnishes proper to Every
Dish of Meat. In