The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-11-30 00:00:00

A BOOK FOR FIRESIDE PARTIES. *

We have received a neat little volume, which offers a
diverting and instructing exercise for the amusement and
ingenuity of the public during the evenings of the ap-
proaching winter season. The following extract from the
preface sufficiently explains the nature of the game sug-
gested.—" It happened some short time since, that, being
one of a small party assembled at the house of a friend,
we agreed to play at bouts rime's. But the due number of
syllables would not come pleasantly—the poems, when
complete, were uninteresting—and altogether our game at
bouts rime's did not turn out well. Upon this I proposed
that we should try a new exercise for our wits. This was
to consist of various definitions of some word fixed upon
by general consent. Each of the company was to be pro-
vided with a slip of paper and a pencil. Three words for
definition being chosen, they were to be written down by
every person on his, or her, slip of paper, and—the defi-
nition of each word having afterwards been written under
it—all the papers were to be handed to some one gentle-
man, who was to act as Reader. This gentleman was then
to read out aloud the contents of the papers ; giving all
the definitions of one word before he proceeded to the
next. As the anonymous was to be strictly preserved,
here was a capital opportunity for the expression of
opinion—for jokes—or for anything, indeed, which the
temptation of being able to write, without chance of being
convicted as the author of the matter written, could
inspire. The first round of definitions went off so satis-
factorily, that we took three more words to define—than
three more—then three more. In short, our new game
of Definitions' on this, and on following, occasions, was
declared to be no bad method of passing the time. We
had made away with many slips of paper, when it occurred
to us that other people might like to play, as well as our-
selves. To instigate them to do so, and to offer; at the
same time, a prospectus and a specimen, three friends and
myself engaged to meet on successive evenings, and to
define one hundred words. We now present the result of
our meetings. One of the party nicknamed us ' The
Council of Four.' We have accepted the designation,
and made it the title of our little volume."

CANDLE.—A mild domestic sun, which rises and sets
to order. A martyr to the darkness existing around him.
A quiet friend in the evening. One whose fate is to die
of consumption, but who constantly makes light of his
misfortune.

NAPOLEON.—A human comet, whose tail was extin-
guished before his head disappeared. The European
gravedigger. A naughty boy, who was put in fr corner
because he wanted the world to play with. A heartless
gambler, who ruined himself and all his friends, and died
in the King's Bench prison.
NEWSPAPER.—Times' pupil, and times' teacher. The
fulcrum which Archimedes longed for. A general who
marshals events as they arrive, to fight the battles of in-
telligence. A winding sheet in which parliamentary
speeches are interred.
REVENGE.—Bitter sweets plucked from the Devil's
garden. The recoil of a poisoned arrow. A child of hate
who never survives its pareut. The only debt which it is
wrong to pay.
PRIDE.—SeIf viewed through a microscope. A mental
pedestal, raised by self, for the exaltation of her own
image. A house of shelter for ignorance and for know-
ledge. Something deducted from your estimate of others
to add to your estimate of yourself.
L x.w.—A reputed daughter of justice, sometimes mis-
taken for her mother. An instrument made by man,
which measures his social progress. A fool-trap, baited
with promises of profit or revenge. Justice in fetters.
PARLIAMENT.—Wise men who meet in solemn con-
clave to represent themselves. An ill-constructed grate,
which gives out smoke enough to fill a nation, but not
heat enough to warm two rooms. The only shop where
bad " Imperial measures" are legal. A number of men
assembled to prevent each other from doing anything.
IGNORANCE.—The leaden sword with which the mass
of mankind are compelled to fight the social battle. The
barren country of which all are natives, and from which
all are emigrants. A serpent which many foster, because
they suppose it to be harmless. A dark place, where poor
people are allowed to grope about till they hurt them-
selves or somebody else.
POLITICS.—The quarrels of the workmen whilst they
lay the foundation of sociology. The alchemy of the mo-
derns which can effect the transmutation of principles in
the place of metals. Imagination and passion attempting
the work of reason. A national humming top, which
spins the least when it hums the most. _ _

METAPHYSICS.—Words to stay the appetite till facts
are ready. The art of stirring a fire so as to increase its
smoke and diminish its brightness. Mists thrown up by
ignorance under the heat of curiosity. Feeling for a
science in the dark.
* The Council of Four : A Game of Definitions. Edited by
Arthur Wallbridge, author of Torrington Hall, &c. London :
J. 011ivier, 59, Pall Mall, and Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.,
Stationers, Hall Court, Ludgate Hill.