The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-26 00:00:00

Arrival of Lord Lyons.

LIVERPOOL, DEC, 25.
Tne royal mail stenm-ship Uhina, from Nsw Yolk
on the 14th inst., arrived here at 10 a.m. today.
Lord Lyons, who was a passenger on board,
lauded here in a special tender.

Professor Gold Win Smith is also one of the Pas"
sengers by the China.

A Catholic Cry,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—The poor of my mission are in extrant
distress, suffering from hunger and cold at this sea'
son, which ought not to be. My funds are
exhausted. Will any of your kind readers remetn"
ber my poor?--Your obedient servant,
F. OAKELEY.
39, Dancan-terrace, N., Christmas Eve.

The Biography of Whist.

Whist is unquestionably of English origin, though
as to the time and place of its birth we do not pos..
Bess any precise evidence. Whist is not mentioned
by Shakspere, nor by any writer of the Elizabethan
era, from whicn we may infer that the game was
then scarcely in existeece. All that we knout
about the extreme childhood of whist is, that it
was spent in the servants' hall. Its associates
there, we are informed on the authority of Daiues
Barrington, were " put "and " allsfours." The gave
seems soon to have manifested seductive powerst
for as early as 1630 Taylor the Water Poet, mentions
whist as inducing the prodigal to "fling his money
free with carelessuesse.'' We cannot deny that at
this period the character and friends of whist were
decidedly low. Whist even appears in a lock-up in
the questionable company of Mr Jonathan Wild, The
great Fielding records that when the ingenious
Count la Ruse was domiciled with Mr Geoffrel
Snap (who enjoyed office under the sheriffs of Len'
don and Middlesex), his countehip sought to be'
guile the tedium of his indoor existence by re'
course to the amusements of the day. Mr Snap a
two daughters benevolently aided him, and chase
Wild to make up their parties. Whist and swabbers
(which is only whist under an alais) was then (1862)
greatly in vogue, and the ladies were conseqeuntlf
obliged to look out for a fourth person. In the
" Memoirs of the Lives, Intrigues, and Comical Ad'
ventures of the most Famous Gamesters" from the
time of Charles 11, to that of Queen Anne, we come
across a sharper named Johnson, whose last advert'
tare was that he was hanged in 1690. Of him it it:
written that he excelled in the art of " sectiring4
honours for himself and partner when playing
at whist, We next hear of whist frequenting publif,
houses in the City. " The Compleat Gamester,
originally published in 1674, does not mention
whist at all; but in later editions we are told that
whist was a tavern game, and that sharpers gene:,
rally took care to put about the bottle before
business began. For all this, whist never accort4
modated itself easily to the designs of card legs. 'lt
never took to them kiadly, but, like Oliver Twig'
it was the victim of circumstances and of its a
oic"._
inexperience. Whist was more sinned against Os:
sinning. Accordingly it contrived, after a timetiL
escape from its tavern acquaintances; and earl)?
in the eighteenth century, though not as Ye;
fashionable, it had, at least, become respectahle,
Its principle friends at this epoch were country
squires and country parsons. In the " It°x to
Strategem," by Farquhar (1707), Squire Sullen
said to fond of whist, and Mrs. Sullen, who was a
fine lady from London, refers to her husband's Prn,
o
dilection in terms which imply that whist was 1%,
classed with rural rather than west-end accomPl
meats, Pope also, about this time (1715)1 aliases"
04
to whist in coejunetion with the squirearcny ; ll
Swift, in his "Essay on the Fates of Clergymen,ed
(1728), says that the clergy occasionally indeig_ot
so the society of whist. This patronage does
vll_,
seem to have been equal to the task of retrie_:7
whist from the character of vulgarity. Bstter J' tie;
however, were in store for it. About this time
4,1130
ComplratGamester"became amalgamated with 4_
to
Court Gamester," and whist was admitted ihte_to.
first, and courtly division of the work, in corprolo
with " otubre, quadrille, quintille, picquet, and
royal game of chess." About 1730, a party or go7e,
tlemen, of whom the first Lord Folkestone was o°
frequented the Crown coffee-house in Bedfor
_we,
and there introduced whist, studied the g
rl7O.
and, it is believed, discovered some of its.u3Pocad
&pies. Ia 1743, whist was adopted by cler, of
Hoyle, who is to this day called the farrier
the
the game. Under his auspices, whilst niu.clei,eg,
acquaintance of all the rank and fashion or
I,ahned,Aaongdiomtraanvieallewdhi
the latter part of the eighteenth century
te:
at
acchrospsrevthaeiledChiaonneradnuer,'llte;
Baron de V-- says, "It was even represented
svasaby
Versailles, hut I cannot affirm whether
remainder
the English ambassador in person." 1"
It was Wel:
000foitheed catoreeralolf
twahoistchisoowoeialltok.
the lion of 01°
fashionable assemblies. It becamewritten about. °nee
day. It was talked about sad a
universa Finiteurite)
really known, it was esteemed; ;
__A it 0f e
edmirsd and sesp,,cied by aremuie7L,a—rouvl
'Vith
the
-t
Phas retained its saes
illa°ouw:e;3, clubs, aes•
land, some 30 years back,
,42fon/ ~
Zon n
dandy until now•—