Chapter I: Part 1

[Frontispiece: Girl on a swing]

HEALTHFUL SPORTS
FOR
YOUNG LADIES;
ILLUSTRATED BY
ELEVEN ELEGANT ENGRAVINGS, FROM DRAWINGS BY J. DUGOURC,
_Draughtsman to His Majesty the King of France_;
Accompanied by Descriptions,
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF MADEMOISELLE ST. SERNIN,
AND INTERSPERSED WITH
_ORIGINAL POETRY AND ANECDOTES_.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR R. ACKERMANN, REPOSITORY OF ARTS, 101, STRAND.
_BY W. CLOWES, NORTHUMBERLAND-COURT_.

PREFACE.

The most eminent physicians dwell particularly upon the necessity there is for young ladies, as they advance towards womanhood, to take active and regular exercise; and to avoid, as much as possible, all sedentary amusements. That love of variety, however, so natural to the human mind, and which is particularly observable in children, renders it a matter of some difficulty to diversify their sports, so as to discover a sufficient number of games that require exertion: we, however, flatter ourselves that this has been accomplished, in the little Work here presented to the reader in an English dress. They will find in it instructions for playing at a great number of games, of such a nature that they cannot fail of being conducive to their health; and which, while they afford an innocent relaxation from study, will be eminently useful in forming that easy and graceful carriage, which can only result from the free and active motion of the limbs, necessarily produced by frequently playing at these games.

The prose part of the work has been faithfully rendered into English from the French original; but the Proprietor is indebted to the author of the Tours of the original Dr. Syntax, who has enriched this little Repository of Youthful Sports, with some elegant verses, illustrative, in a moral point of view, of the games described.

HEALTHFUL SPORTS

FOR

_YOUNG LADIES_.

THE SWING.

Madame D’Hernilly was accustomed to pass, every year, several of the summer months in the country: a particular circumstance obliged her to go there sooner than usual, and her husband, who was one of the chief magistrates in the capital, was not able to accompany her. Her only companions were her two daughters, both young girls. There was very little society to be met with in that part of the country where Madame D’Hernilly’s castle was situated: the nearest town, which was at a distance of two or three leagues, was a small place, with but few genteel inhabitants; and, even were it otherwise, she would not have been tempted to mix with her neighbours. Solitude was her choice and her device, till the time of the vacation: at that period she expected to be joined by her husband and her only son. The visits she received in the mean time were confined to those of two ladies in the neighbourhood, and their daughters, and these were admitted only on condition that they brought with them no men, not even those of middle age.

Adela and Ernestina, the daughters of Madame D’Hernilly, found this lonely life very dull; in fact it suited ill with the vivacity of their age; and, in order to enliven it, they managed to prevail upon the two ladies, their neighbours, to leave behind them at the castle three young persons who accompanied them there on a visit. This addition to the family was delightful to Adela and Ernestina, for they were equally in want of employment and amusement. They had read over and over all the books they brought with them from Paris. As their masters had not accompanied them, they did not pursue their studies regularly, but only took occasionally a few lessons upon the piano-forte, and of singing, so that a great portion of their time was unemployed.

A moralist has said, with much reason, that the mind requires relaxation; and as it is necessary to seek employment, in order to preserve oneself from the evil habits which are the offspring of idleness, so it is equally requisite to relieve the fatigue of labour by recreation; a proper mixture of both keeps up the spirits, and preserves the health of the mind as well as that of the body. In mixing with society we lose the remembrance of past troubles, and even present ones weigh less heavily upon our spirits. The mind, in short, resembles a fruitful soil, like which it should sometimes be suffered to lie fallow; or rather it may be compared to a farmer with whom a landlord is obliged to act leniently, and to give him time for payment, for fear that by demanding his rent too strictly, the farmer’s resources should fail, and he should be ruined.

Our five young friends were not obliged to rack their brains to find amusement. In the beginning of the visit the youngest, named Adriana, taught the grown-up girls those dances which they had learned in their childish days, but had already forgotten; “_My fine Castle_,” “_We will not go again to the Wood_,” “_The Duke de Bourbon_,” _&c. &c._ These are things out of date, we must allow, but they will always be new for children, and our imitations of them are, after all, lifeless copies; they want the spirit of the originals――“_The Chevalier de la Marjolaine_,” “_The Tower_,” “_Take Care_,” “_Hands Round_,” amused even Madame D’Hernilly, who herself did not disdain sometimes to join in them.

The pleasure which they found in renewing their childish games gave to our young people the idea of taking advantage of a swing, which was already erected in the garden. Persons of a more advanced age, and distinguished by grave occupations, did not look upon it as any disgrace to take the exercise of swinging, during the months of August and September, when the castle was crowded with guests. The posts which supported the swing were a little decayed since the preceding year, but they were soon repaired. Madame D’Hernilly recommended prudence to the young people in partaking of this amusement, and, as an additional precaution, she took care to be present whenever they enjoyed it, and strictly ordered that no one should swing in her absence. They were prohibited standing upon the seat; neither were two persons allowed to get in at the same time; Ernestina, or Aglaé, or another of their friends, placed themselves by turns upon the seat, which was furnished with a soft cushion; and, while the one who took the exercise grasped the cords tightly with her two hands, two or three of her companions pulled the end of the cord, and thus made it go backward and forward.

Satiety would not have interrupted this amusement, but bad weather came on suddenly, and it was impossible for our young folks to frequent the garden. Thus thwarted in their favourite sport, they set their wits to work to find out some other agreeable pastime.

Adriana regretted the swing less than her play-fellows: a new doll, which had been sent her from Paris, was her faithful companion; and, shall I add, the others envied her happiness? They contrived, however, to participate in it, for, under the sly pretence of amusing little Adriana, they made much of her doll. They took pains to dress her, to curl her hair nicely, and to put on her cap to the best advantage. They made dresses for her, and even pretty little rose-coloured silk slippers. In short, the doll’s drawers were soon completely filled with a very handsome wardrobe.

They were just beginning to tire of the amusement, which making the doll’s clothes had at first afforded them, when one morning, Aglaé, one of the young visitors, happening to open a book by chance, read aloud, that it was by trying the effects of the reflection and the refraction of the light through the fragile partitions of soap bubbles, that the great Newton had discovered the properties of the prism, and decomposed the rays of the sun.

Madame D’Hernilly expressed her admiration of this phenomenon in natural philosophy; but she did not understand the subject sufficiently to give her little auditors much information upon it. “But pray,” cried Adriana giddily, “why should we not try to make some discoveries ourselves, by blowing soap bubbles, they are so pretty?” “Oh fie,” cried the elder girls, very consequentially; but one of them immediately added, “I remember to have read in La Fontaine, this excellent thought――‘Nothing is useless to people of sense.’”

“It is indeed a very just idea,” said Madame D’Hernilly, “and I think, my children, you will do well to take advantage of Adriana’s proposal.” The matter was then put to the vote, much in the same manner as they had learned from the newspapers, the national affairs are decided in the chamber of deputies. Ernestina, and one of the young visitors, ranged themselves on the left, to shew that they rejected a motion for playing at such a childish game; Adriana, and her companions, took the right side, and they were lucky enough to secure the support of the centre, of which Madame D’Hernilly was the only member; they had consequently a majority, and it was decided that they should play at blowing soap bubbles. “Who knows,” said Aglaé, smiling, “whether we shall not, like the illustrious Newton, make some new and great discovery.” This idea raised their impatience to begin, and luckily, the preparations for their experiment were soon made. A chambermaid brought some soap suds, rather thick in a china basin; Adriana chose among some little bits of straw, the one which suited best with her design, and slit the extremity in four parts, then dipped the end she had slit in the soap suds, and blew in the other extremity of the straw. Each blew in her turn, and formed bubbles which reflected all the brilliant colours of the rainbow, but which, unfortunately, were as transient as they were beautiful.

Madame D’Hernilly astonished the young people very much, by explaining to them the process by which enamellers formed the balls of the thermometer: it is done by blowing through a glass tube, the extremity of which is made red hot, and softened by the fire of a lamp. She added, that they had adopted this method also in glass manufactories, and that goblets, bottles, in a word, almost all the utensils which we use in glass and crystal, are blown in a similar manner.

Our little band now struggled with each other, to see who should form the largest bubble, and who should make it rise highest in the air: one of them waved her pocket-handkerchief to make it rise higher and higher, till the bubble burst, and the illusion was destroyed. Madame D’Hernilly, who recollected some verses on the subject of this amusement, took the opportunity of repeating them, and impressing their moral on the minds of her young audience.

BLOWING BUBBLES.

See how the cherub children play
And force the bubbles on their way,
Which, as in various course they sail,
Borne by the zephyr’s gentle gale,
Catch the tints which Phœbus gives
While the aërial globule lives;
But soon it bursts, and all is gone,
The children mourn their pleasure done.
Say, do we not too often see
Mankind in this same sport agree;
Who their intrinsic good forego,
For the bright gleams of outward show.

This amusement did not last longer than the morning, and at night our juvenile group were again at a loss for something to do. Adriana was once more the first to find out a new species of amusement. In hunting about, she, at length, discovered some cards, and immediately began, with great alacrity, to arrange files of soldiers and to build houses with the cards. The elder girls found a malicious pleasure in throwing down her houses, just as she had brought them to the last story; and in blowing upon her soldiers in order to make them fall, just before the file was properly arranged. As Adriana was good-tempered, she put up with their tricks quietly, though she meditated perhaps in her own mind some method of soon taking her revenge.

Madame D’Hernilly seized the occasion which the cards presented to her, to give the young people some account of the manner in which they were first introduced. Almost all historians agree in saying, that they imagine games with cards were first invented in the reign of Charles the Sixth of France, in order to procure that prince some amusement during his long illness. As a proof that this is the fact, they cite the register of the chamber of accounts, in which there is the following passage: “the sum of fifty-six _sous Parisis_, (which was a very considerable sum in those times), was paid to Jacquemin Gringonneur, a painter, for three packs of cards, adorned with gold and divers colours, and different devices.” This passage proves nothing more than that Gringonneur was a card-maker, but not the inventor of any game. In making further researches, we find that Charles the Fifth, predecessor of Charles the Sixth, had prohibited the playing at cards, and that they were already known in Spain towards the year 1330, under the name of _Naipes_.

All the European nations give to the four principal cards of each suit, the names of ace, king, queen, and knave, according to the denominations which correspond in each language; but the names of the four suits vary; hearts and spades are pretty nearly the only ones, the appellations of which are analogous in the different languages. The diamond is called _carreau_ in French, and _oros_, which means jewel, in Spanish. The club called in French _trèfle_, and in Spanish _bastos_, has, like the diamond, a corresponding signification in the Spanish and English languages, because the name in both signifies a stick. In Germany, it was formerly made like a cross, and it still retains the name of _kreuz_. These little hints may be found worthy of the attention of those persons who seek to discover the origin of cards.

The young ladies questioned Madame D’Hernilly about the rules of the different games at cards: but, upon this point, she did not think it right to satisfy their curiosity. “It must be owned,” she said, “that we find fewer examples among women than men, of an inordinary fondness for cards, but we cannot be too much upon our guard against the love of play: recollect, besides, the observation, unfortunately too just, which one of our poets makes upon the avidity with which people sometimes give themselves up to gaming:――‘We begin by being dupes, and end by being cheats.’”

“Long live our childish games!” cried Ernestina, “these at least do not occasion any remorse.”

THE SHUTTLECOCK AND THE SEE-SAW.

The weather cleared up, and the young people resumed their usual walks in the garden. The swing was out of order, and Madame D’Hernilly would not permit them to make use of it till it was repaired. The imagination of our juvenile group quickly suggested something to supply its place. A plank, placed across a very solid marble bracket, which they happened to find on the ground in the middle of the bower, was fastened to it by iron cramps, in order to render it more secure. The gardener, one of those ingenious fellows to whom we give the name of jack-of-all-trades, because he knew a little of every thing, and was besides a very decent mason, smith, and even blacksmith, seconded the impatience of the young ladies: the see-saw was soon ready, and Adriana and Aglaé were the first to spring upon it. They were both of them of the same height, and about the same weight, conditions quite necessary for the players at this game. Madame D’Hernilly watched that their alternate ascent and descent should be managed without any jerk, which might derange the machine, or, which was worse, make the young ladies, who were seated at each extremity, lose their balance.

I recollect at this moment some moral lines upon the game of see-saw; they are rather obsolete, and the versification is not distinguished for its elegance, but the lines contain a maxim well worth remembering, the force of which could not be heightened by the finest language:

Behold the play-game; those who rise
Seem as they would reach the skies;
But soon they find that they descend,
And to the earth as quickly tend.
Thus Fortune guides the rolling ball,
While these ascend, the others fall.

There are some see-saws of a double construction, which are mounted upon a revolving pivot, four persons may balance themselves at the same time upon these machines, two and two; the one who descends touches the ground lightly, with his foot to the right or to the left; it results from this, that the persons who play move continually in rotation in one direction or another; this variety of motion is indispensable, for the head would become giddy if the players moved very long in the same direction.

When Adriana and Aglaé were tired of their new sport, two of the elder girls mounted the see-saw, and while they were enjoying this exercise, two others occupied themselves with a more common amusement; each of them, armed with a battledore, threw to one another a shuttlecock. This game is too well known to our young readers, for any description of it to be necessary.

Such of our little friends as are curious respecting the manners, customs, and amusements of distant countries, may like to know, that in China, and other countries of Asia, they play at shuttlecock with the foot. The Chinese shuttlecock, like ours, is decorated with feathers, but they place at the bottom a small bit of lead, or some pieces of copper money to render it heavier; they make use of the instep to push it, as is frequently done at the game of football. The following verses were written upon the play of shuttlecock by Pannard, and are thus translated:

Reason, whene’er your humour’s gay,
You treat us just as children play,
When with their battledores they force
The shuttlecock in airy course.
About you beat us as you please,
Till tir’d, we wish the game to cease;
And, when we fall upon the floor,
You pick us up to play, as you have done before.

When all the young ladies were tired of the game of see-saw, and that Adriana had taken, or tried in vain to take, a sufficient number of butterflies, the whole party united and continued to play at shuttlecock. It is not impossible for four or five people to amuse themselves together, when they have a sufficient number of battledores, but it is better to do it by turns, or in the following manner. When a player fails to send back the shuttlecock which is sent to her, she should give up her place to another, and if the new player fails, she also should in her turn yield her place to a fresh competitor, and so on, till each enjoys the amusement in rotation. Such was the method pursued by our young players; but we do not know whether disputes might not sometimes have arisen from it, had not Madame D’Hernilly, as we before observed, always mixed in the sports of the children, and, by her presence, prevented squabbles.

The famous Christina, queen of Sweden, was very fond of the game of Shuttlecock. One day, during this queen’s stay in France, in the time of Louis XIV., she asked the learned Bochart, whom she had attracted to her court, to play with her. He did not need much entreaty, but immediately taking off his cloak, began a game with her Majesty. Some of his friends ridiculed his complaisance, but they were wrong; a refusal would have been at once pedantic and ill-bred.

Before we quit this subject, we must say a few words respecting _sognettes_, or, as we call them in English, battledores. They are, as every body knows, little hoops of wood bent in an oval, and the extremities, united to form a handle, are kept together by strips of white leather bound round them. The interior of the battledore is a netting made of catgut, which is stretched lightly.

Those learned people who found fault with Bochart for making use of the battledore, have written several grave dissertations, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the ancients were acquainted with this game; those who are of opinion they were, cite this verse of Ovid:

Reticuloque pilæ leves fundantur aperto.

This passage of the Latin poet evidently means a net-work, upon which not shuttlecocks, but light balls, were tossed backwards and forwards.

As to our young rattle-pates, they were not at all curious to learn whether the amusement was of ancient or modern invention; leaving that to be ascertained by graver heads, they entered with so much ardour into the spirit of the game, that time flew unperceived, till their amusement was at last interrupted by the castle bell announcing the dinner-hour.

On the following day, as there was not a sufficient number of battledores and shuttlecocks for every body, one of the young visitors, named Valeria, contrived a very ingenious means of supplying their place. She took a small hoop, which she had procured from a barrel of oysters, and bound it round with pink and white ribbon; five or six young persons, armed with sticks, stood in a group, one of them threw this hoop to a great height in the air, and each of them caught it and threw it up again in her turn. When any one failed, they were obliged to quit the game for a moment, or to give a forfeit. This is called the game of the “_flying ring_,” it resembles in many respects the play of the “_funnel_,” which we shall speak of by-and-by.

Sometimes, in order to heighten the pleasure of the game, the players added three little bells to the ring, and these bells striking while the ring turned in the air, served to announce its approach.

THE GAMES OF THREAD-MY-NEEDLE, AND THE WOLF.

Madame D’Hernilly’s birth-day was celebrated by her family without parade or ceremony: the offerings upon this occasion were those of the heart alone. The neighbouring farmers, and superior class of peasants, presented themselves at the castle, to offer their congratulations to Madame on the return of the day; their little girls, dressed in white, brought her flowers. Madame D’Hernilly received with pleasure the simple offerings of these worthy people, for whom she prepared pleasures suited to their taste. The court of the castle became the theatre of a _fête champêtre_, which not only lasted the whole day, but was prolonged during the evening, by the light of a number of small lamps. The villagers amused themselves with dancing, and at night they were regaled with a simple collation.

While the villagers were enjoying the dance, their children were diverting themselves in the gardens of the castle with the young ladies and their visitors. As the games which they commonly played would not suffice for the amusement of so many, Ernestina, who had a very ready invention, proposed to them a new game, which she assured them was quite original. We know that children, and particularly young persons who are just past childhood, play sometimes at a game called “_Who will laugh last?_” The mode of playing this game is very simple; they look each other full in the face, using at the same time every effort to preserve their gravity, and the first who smiles, even in the slightest degree, gives a forfeit, or else her companions impose a slight penance upon her.

Ernestina invented a game of this sort, in which a great number of persons might be engaged at once. It was a trial who should remain the longest time motionless in the same place. This play, it must be confessed, did not promise much amusement, but the preparations were entertaining enough. Madame D’Hernilly’s daughters had the greatest trouble to make the young villagers comprehend what they were to do; some of them, as soon as they were placed in proper positions, and desired to remain without moving as long as they possibly could, turned round immediately to the opposite side, and asked, with great simplicity, what they were to do? The confusion which resulted from these blunders was very diverting to the lookers-on. At last every thing was arranged, and the game might have gone on smoothly enough, but for want of patience in the players, who very naturally got tired of this silent amusement as soon as they began it; and, passing at once from one extreme to the other, in which, by-the-by, they resembled many grown people, they adopted the proposal of a pretty little peasant, to play at the game of “_Thread-my-needle_.” They comprehended with great facility the explanation which she gave them of it, and they began to play at it immediately.

The young ladies, their visitors, and the villagers, took each other by the hand, and formed a long file: they arranged themselves in such a manner that the two tallest girls were at the end of this file, and one of the most active at the opposite extremity. The lot fell to Aglaé to conduct the joyous band; and while the two last remained fixed in their places, with their arms raised, she passed under them, and all those who followed her did the same: after making a circuit, Aglaé returned between the second and the third, then between the third and the fourth, and so on, till by coming nearer and nearer, she found herself obliged at last to make a turn under the arm of the young girl who was next her; this is the termination of the game. Each of them took her turn in this manner to pass under one another’s arms, as a thread drawn through a needle, and, directed by a skilful hand, successively runs through all the meshes of a web.

This exercise does not require any particular degree of agility, the main point is to hold each other by the hand firmly, and to take care that you do not lose your hold. Half an hour was long enough to tire our young revellers of this game, and they had recourse to another somewhat similar to it, called _queue-le-leu_, or sometimes more simply termed the _wolf_.

They tossed up to see who should be _wolf_; the chance fell upon Adriana, who stood alone on one side during some time; her companions, holding each other by the tails of their gowns, ranged themselves behind a tall and active female villager, who was to play the shepherdess. It was expressly agreed upon, that Adriana should only take the last of the flock, and the shepherdess took all possible care to prevent her getting at that one. The struggle was a little unequal, because the shepherdess’s movements were quicker and more abrupt than those of the poor little wolf. Fortunately, those girls who formed the tail of the flock, had not so much strength or agility as their shepherdess, they relaxed by degrees in their exertions, and Adriana took advantage of it to catch the last; the file was then thrown into disorder, and they suffered themselves to be taken one after another. As fast as Adriana made a captive, it was placed behind her, and the flock of wolves became at last so formidable, that they completely surrounded the sheep, and not one of them could escape. Valeria, Ernestina, and the others, each in their turn, became the _wolf_; and when they were tired of this game, they divided into groups, and played at “_hide and seek_,” “_puss in the corner_,” “_paquets_,” and other sports, which the villagers delight to play at in their rustic _fêtes_.

THE CUP-AND-BALL, THE DEVIL, THE SOLITAIRE, EMIGRANT, DOMINOS, &c.

The Misses D’Hernilly received from their brother a delightful present, and one worthy of the affection which these amiable children bore to each other. Young D’Hernilly had learned by a letter from Ernestina, that the companions whom his sister met with at the castle, were younger than themselves, and that, in conformity to the taste of their little friends, the Misses D’Hernilly had resumed the trifling and puerile amusements of their childish days. Upon receiving this intelligence, Victor D’Hernilly went immediately to one of the most elegant toy-shops, and purchased a complete collection of all sorts of games, which he sent to his sisters by the first opportunity.

My little readers will easily conceive, that the arrival of this present occasioned a grand rejoicing among the young inmates of the castle. Each vied with the other who should first try the “_cup-and-ball_,” the “_solitaire_,” and the other play-things, some of which were unfortunately gone a little out of fashion, such as the “_Devil_,” and above all, the “_Emigrant_,” the name of which alone is sufficient to indicate its origin.

Madame D’Hernilly who still continued to share in the amusements of the children, was particularly attentive to them while they were engaged in these new games; she made them keep at certain distances from each other, lest they should be hurt by the ball of the _cup-and-ball_, or by the fall of the _devil_.

The cup-and-ball, in the management of which the celebrated Marquis of Bièvre is said to have excelled, is of ancient origin, since mention is made of it in Rabelais. It is composed of two parts, which are united by a small cord, the strongest, and at the same time, the most flexible of its kind that can be procured. One of the parts is a wooden or ivory stick, pointed at one extremity and rounded at the other; the cord fixed in the centre of the stick, supports a large ball, pierced through the middle by a hole, the cord which is passed through the smallest opening, comes out at the large one; then a knot is tied at the end, which secures the ball from falling down.

The player begins by twirling the ball so as to give it a very quick motion in a perpendicular direction; you must wait a few seconds till you feel that the ball begins to move less quickly; this is the moment to throw it up, and if the aim is good, the ball will be caught in the cup, or with a more skilful player upon the point, which is called the spindle. There are some players so clever, that they will catch the ball every time; two people may play at this game by trying in a given number of throws, which will first be able to catch the ball.

An ancient historian, named Estoile, tells us that King Henry the Third of France amused himself very frequently at cup-and-ball. This game came suddenly into very great favour in the middle of Louis the Fifteenth’s reign; it was in fact so much the fashion, that the actresses had the cup-and-ball in their hand even upon the stage.

The _Emigrant_ was at one time quite as much in vogue, and it deserved it, on account of its singular mechanism, which though very simple causes it to remount of itself the whole length of the cord from which it descends. The _Emigrant_ is a double disk, made of ebony or ivory; the two parts of this disk are united in the centre by a ball, which is of the same shape, and which forms a single piece; the ball is pierced with a hole, through which a cord is passed, the cord is knotted at the extremity in the same manner as the string of a cup-and-ball. You wind this cord round the ball, and then raising it by one end, you let the toy drop, retaining only the end of the cord; the toy falls, but it has acquired a force of rotation, which obliges it to roll itself round the cord in an opposite direction, and it thus winds itself up almost to the very end of the cord. It would in fact return of itself into your hand, only that a part of its impulse is destroyed by the friction and the resistance of the air; you are therefore obliged to second its motion by the alternate play of the hand. The _Emigrant_ descends and ascends without ceasing, unless it gets deranged by the string getting out of the rut, which is formed by the middle of the ball.

You may play with the _Emigrant_ not only by giving it a vertical motion, but also a horizontal one; and you may make it go, if you choose, like a censer, but this last method is not free from inconvenience, for if the string should chance to break, the disk may hurt the people who are near the player, or it may smash the looking-glasses or china.

The _Devil_ is a toy still more dangerous to furniture; it is indeed so much so, that one cannot without imprudence play with it in a room. Most people remember this noisy plaything, for it was much in vogue a few years ago. It is in some respects, the reverse of the _Emigrant_; but it is moved by the same principle. It consists of two hollow balls, which are cut out of the same piece of wood, and united by a common stalk. Sometimes instead of wood, the toy is composed of tin, pewter, or even crystal; it is hardly necessary to observe that the _Devils_ of this last substance are the most expensive and the most fragile. Each ball is pierced with a hole into which the air enters, and from which it escapes with impetuosity as the instrument turns round; a continual noise results from this, similar to that made by a German top. The rotation of the Devil is kept up by the alternate play of a small cord, suspended between two sticks placed in each hand of the player. You may throw this plaything very high, even to the distance of fifteen or twenty feet, and yet retain it upon the string; but this cannot be done without exposing the poor _Devil_ to the chance of falling every instant; and it does not long survive repeated falls.

It seems likely that this game has been brought from India by the English, for it has been long known in China, and it is represented in some engravings sent from China, by the missionaries thirty years ago.

Adriana, although the youngest of the girls, had seized upon a toy, the use of which requires both stillness and reflection; consequently, she did not expect much amusement from it. It is called the _Solitaire_, because it can be played by a single person.

The _Solitaire_ is a sort of octagon table, in which thirty-seven holes are made in the following order; three upon the first row, five upon the second, seven upon the third, fourth, and fifth, five upon the seventh, and three upon the eighth and last row.

The thirty-seven holes receive little pegs of bone or ivory which are taken out at pleasure; but you must leave one of the holes towards the middle empty. You take the pegs at this game in the same manner as at draughts, jumping in a straight line over those who leave behind them an empty space. You may take away the pegs in whatever way you think proper, but at the end of the game there must remain only one peg; if two or three, or a greater number, should remain so separated, that they cannot be taken one after another, the game is lost.

The combinations of this game are very varied, and after you have won one game, you find it very difficult to play another exactly in the same manner. This difficulty is a good deal increased by the manner in which players exercise themselves, in leaving at different times a hole empty in various parts of the board, first in one place, and then in another.

There was at this time a continued and heavy fall of rain, which obliged our young friends to remain for some days within doors. Fortunately, Victor’s liberality enabled them to amuse themselves as well in the house as in the open air. In the parcel he had sent to them, there were two sorts of shuttlecock; the one we have already described, and another in which the shuttlecock is received on each side in a sort of funnel attached to a long handle. This exercise is less active than battledore and shuttlecock, because it is necessary that both the players should stand in a straight line. The dining-room was sufficiently spacious to admit of their playing this game with perfect convenience[1].

Adela and Ernestina laughed very heartily at seeing Tee-totums among their brother’s presents; even Adriana herself thought that this play was somewhat too childish; nevertheless, after they had ridiculed Victor for sending them Tee-totums, they demonstrated at last by playing with them, that his foresight was not useless. When they had played at this game in their infancy, they had never troubled themselves to seek the signification of the letters marked on each side. All their pleasure consisted in trying who should make the totum spin the longest. Sometimes they themselves made a totum of a button-mould into which they drove a nail, a pin, or a little wooden peg. When Madame D’Hernilly explained to them what was meant by the letters engraved in black on the sides, they conjectured that the amusement had been invented by grave professors of science, or at least by some of their pupils, who had made a certain progress; for each of these letters P. A. D. T. is the initial of a Latin word expressing divers chances of the game. The letter P. is the beginning of the Latin word _pone_, which signifies put down; the person who throws it is obliged to put down a counter to the pool. The letter A. is the initial of _accipe_, that is to say, _receive_; the player who throws it gains a counter. D. the first letter of the Latin word _da_, in English _give_, obliges you if you turn it up, to pay a counter. If T, the first letter of _totum_, which signifies _all_, should turn up, you take all that is in the pool.

We need hardly tell our young readers, that it is from this word _totum_, that the game takes its name. There are some totums that have a greater number of sides than others; this causes an infinite variety in the game, and greatly increases the chances of gain or loss. The totums with twelve sides, do not differ much from a ball in form; but they are not turned upon a pivot, they are only rolled by the hand. The sides are numbered up to twelve, he who gains the highest point wins the game, and as this play does not require any profound combinations, they have given it the familiar name of _Jack_.

“It is a pity,” said Adriana, “that Victor did not send us a _Jack_.” “Oh,” cried Adela, “we may manage to have one with two dice, which will produce the same numbers from two to twelve.” Madame D’Hernilly surprised her daughters very much by proving to them, that at the game of dice, the chances were not equal, and that they would find by calculation, it was probable they might throw one number more frequently than another.

In the first place, you can never throw the simple number 1, because you are obliged to make use of two dice; the lowest number you can produce, must therefore be 2, which is formed by the two aces; there is consequently only one means of producing this number: 3 may be formed in two ways, that is to say, with the ace of one die, and the 2 of another; and then with the 2 of the first, and the ace of the second.

Number 4 may be formed in three ways, by the double 2, by 1 and 3, and by 3 and 1. Number 5 has four chances, namely, 2 and 3, 3 and 2, 4 and 1, 1 and 4.

6 may be thrown in five different ways; first, the double 3; second, 2 and 4; third, 4 and 2; fourth, 5 and ace; fifth, ace and 5.

The chances are most in favour of the number 7; it may be formed first by 6 and ace; second, by ace and 6; third by 5 and 2; fourth, by 2 and 5; fifth, by 4 and 3; sixth, by 3 and 4.

The numbers which follow these, decrease in the same proportion as the preceding ones have augmented; therefore there are five chances for number 8, as there are for number 5; the 9 like the 4 has four chances; the 10 is gained in three ways like the 3; and the 11 is made by two different combinations like the 2; lastly, the number 12 can be produced only by the double 6.

It is very necessary to understand these combinations at the games of tric-trac, or backgammon; the knowledge of them, in fact, constitutes the whole art of placing the men skilfully.

Players at different games, down even to the very game of _goose_, have made use of these combinations in order to calculate the probable chances of the different numbers. There is an infinite variety of drawings upon pasteboard designed for these games. The game of the _goose_, and similar ones, are disposed from 9 to 9; but you cannot stop there, and it is not possible to arrive at the last number 63, till you have surmounted a great number of obstacles. As a proof of this, we need only observe how often it happens, that when a person is nearly at the end of the game, and upon the point of winning it, he throws 6, which is one of the most common throws, and thus going beyond the required number is obliged to begin the game again. The _bridge_, the _well_, the _prison_, and _death_, that is to say, the figures which represent these quicksands, are arranged in such a manner, that one falls into them by the numbers 6, 7, and 8, which come every instant. In speaking upon this subject, Ernestina said facetiously, that a comic poet was not in the wrong in making one of his personages say:――

These games I prefer, which the spirit amuse,
And ’tis a nice game, this same game of the GOOSE.

Adela, who had seen her parents play at tric-trac, asked the meaning of the words carmes, sonnes, &c., which she had heard pronounced at this game. Madame D’Hernilly informed her, that they call the two aces _leset_; the two trays _ternes_; the two fours _carmes_; the two fives, _quines_; the two sixes _sonnez_. There is no particular denomination for the double deuce.

With three dice, the chances are still more multiplied, and it would be very easy to calculate them; three points alike are called _raffle_, that is to say, a raffle of aces, a raffle of trays, a raffle of sixes, &c. &c.

From explaining the chances of the dice, Madame D’Hernilly turned to that of the _osselets_, or knuckle bones, which the ancients used nearly in the same manner as we do dice. They placed two or three in the dice box, and they reckoned a certain number of points according to what was turned up. The game was, however, looked upon only as a childish amusement. Phrates, king of the Parthians, wishing to reproach Demetrius, king of Syria, for his habitual levity, sent him some golden _osselets_.

Our children employed the little bone which is found in the leg of mutton, and which we call cramp-bone, or else small pieces of ivory cut to resemble it. The convex side is called the back, the opposite side which is concave, is called the hollow, and the two other sides are called the flat sides. The _osselet_ is thrown up into the air, and before it falls, the player is obliged to place those which remain upon the tube one after another upon the back, upon the hollow, and upon the concave side; another osselet is then thrown up, and before it returns into his hand, he must successively snatch up all those which are on the table, or else he must make them pass under the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, which is extended; these different combinations are called making the _back_, the _hollow_, the _wells_, the _fricassee_, the _raffle_, &c.

The Misses D’Hernilly, and their young friends amused themselves very little with the _osselets_ which Victor had sent them; they declared that such a fatiguing game was fitter for boys than girls. But though they thought little of the _osselets_, they prized very highly a superb set of dominos, which were made of mother-of-pearl, and had the spots marked with golden nails. Madame D’Hernilly thought that this elegant token of Victor’s affection for his sisters, would not be very long safe in the hands of those little rattle-pates and their giddy associates; she therefore took charge of them herself, and presented the children with a common set in their stead.

Each Domino is divided into two parts, and each part presents seven combinations; namely, the six points of the dice, and the white space: it is for this reason, that the dominos are 28 in number. Each player takes at random a certain number of dominos, which he places before him in such a manner, that his adversary cannot distinguish how many there are. The person who has a double six, or for want of that, a double five, or any other number doubled, begins the game: the others, for three or four may play at it, place by turns, a corresponding domino to one of the extremities of the domino which is put upon the table. If any one has not a domino to correspond with the others, he is passed by, and loses his turn; this is called _sulking_. When there are only two, it is called _fishing_. You take at first very few dominos, for example, three, or at most five. When you _sulk_, instead of letting your adversary play, you draw from the dominos which remain, until you have drawn the required number; in consequence of this, it sometimes happens, that the player draws more than half the set. The game is won by the player who has first used all his dominos. If the game is closed, and that no one can place their remaining numbers either to the right or the left, he who has the smallest number of points, or if the points are equal, who retains the least number of dominos, wins the game. The winner reckons in his favour the number of points which his adversary has not been able to place, and they begin again until one of the players has gained the number 100 as at picquet.

The young neighbours were obliged to absent themselves for a few days from the castle, they soon however returned; and they passed whole evenings in playing at domino. Each of the players marked by means of a card the numbers they had gained. Madame D’Hernilly informed them, that their manner of reckoning up their numbers, by cutting a card in different places, had a great resemblance to the _abacus_, which the ancient Romans made use of in counting; and the _souan-pan_, which the Chinese employ for the same purpose.

On one side is a large hollow, with four slits to mark the units; on the other side is a mark reckoned equal to fifty, and four others, which are each equal to ten. You might by this means, count beyond ninety-nine, but in multiplying the slits, you might go to several millions, or even millions of millions.

This kind of arithmetic is much more expeditious than that of writing down and adding up columns of figures, but it is attended with one very great inconvenience, that of leaving no trace of detached calculations; so that you cannot ascertain afterwards whether you have not committed some error.

The children’s fondness for dominos, subsided at last like their other whims, and they condescended to play with the _onchets_. Adriana deceived by the similarity of sound between this word and _échecs_, the French name for chess, supposed they were the same game; Madame D’Hernilly explained the difference, which was very considerable; but although she was tolerably skilful at chess and draughts, she thought that their combinations were too complicated for young people. “When you are older,” said she, “I will make you acquainted with a charming poem, written by Cérutti on the game of chess; but in order to comprehend the poem, you must be acquainted with the rules of the game. I shall content myself to-day with reading you some verses descriptive of the subject.”

[1] This game and those that follow are represented in the
border of the print.

CHESS.

In order due, the king, the queen,
The knights and other ranks are seen:
A picture true of martial strife,
Such as appears in human life.
The contest of the mind succeeds,
The stratagems, the daring deeds:
Queens yield them to the subtle foe,
And even monarchs are laid low.
The battle’s lost, the battle’s won;
The contest o’er, the game is done.

Kings, queens, knights, pawns, whate’er their name, }
Whate’er is their dignity or fame, }
Are hustled in the bag from whence they came. }

When Madame D’Hernilly had read the verses, they renewed their conversation about the game of _onchets_. “The grand question,” cried Madame D’Hernilly, “is whether these little ivory fish, or these figures of kings, queens, knaves, and horses, should be called onchets, honchets, or jonchets; those who make very laborious researches after the most trifling things, assure us, that we should say _honchets_, because the word may be used to signify little men. I am of the opinion of those who call them _jonchets_, which is derived from the game being originally played with straws, instead of these little sticks of ivory and gold. After all, my children, there is no need to trouble ourselves respecting the name of the game, the only essential thing about the amusement is that it should divert you.”

This game is most amusing when played by two persons only, although it is possible for three or four to join in it. They draw lots to decide who shall begin; the player who gains the chance, holds in his fingers one of these little hooks, the other takes the bundle of fish and figures which he strews over the table; the first then seizes with his hook upon as many of them as he can catch, but it requires a great deal of address to do this according to the rules of the game; for if the pieces in contact with the one which you covet happen to move in the slightest degree, you are obliged to resign your turn to your adversary, and this continues on both sides till all the pieces are taken.

The young people easily comprehended the instructions of Madame D’Hernilly, and soon became proficients in the game; they reckoned the king for fifty, the queen forty, the knave thirty, the horse twenty, and each plain fish for ten. The player who contrives to get together the greatest number of points, wins the game.

In every time, at ev’ry age,
By grave and gay, by fool and sage,
Or more or less, we’re sure to see
The love of dear variety.
The _Cup-and-Ball_ thrown to and fro
The pious game of _Domino_[2]
Amuse by turns, with various games
Of other shapes and other names,
While, without meaning any evil,
Some may prefer to play the _Devil_.

[2] This game was invented by a monk to amuse the monastic
orders, who are forbidden to play at cards.

HIDE-AND-SEEK.

It is still a question among the players of this game in France, whether one should say hide, hide, Mitoubat, or hide, hide, Nicholas? The frolicksome group whose plays we are describing, did not care a jot which was most proper; in fact, they seldom gave themselves the trouble to reason either upon the names or the choice of their diversions. They were induced to engage in this, from a circumstance which we are about to mention. The amusements which were practised at the castle of D’Hernilly, were very much talked of in the neighbourhood, and the fame of their sports drew a number of youthful visitors to the family. We have before observed, that young ladies alone were admitted; among those who presented themselves were several new-married ladies, who did not blush to join again in the innocent diversions of their childhood. The young ladies and their visitors passed a whole day in juvenile sports, without feeling a moment’s uneasiness, except when the hour came which by summoning them to partake of a repast, interrupted their games.