, 1889-08-13
OBSERVATIONS ON WHIST.
A Brief History Of the Game-H"w short
Whit Was First Played.

A Brief History Of the GAme-How Short
Whit Was First Played.
1t has takel centuries 20 form the present
game of Whist. The gnme first started, in all
probability us early as the beginning Of the
Sixteenth @ ntury. But the game OF those
days was as different from the game of today
MS black is from white. 1t was first known
as whisk. The name trump also probably
came first from triumph, at least, oil the evil
dence points hat way.
1t was not, however, until the age of Ed
mond Hoyle that the real game of whist can
have been said to be launched forth on the
world. Hoyle was born In 1872, and is said
TO have been educated for tho bar. York
shire has been called tho county of his birth,
but the present representative of tho York
shire Hoyles, who acquired estates near Hall
fax, Mr.. Fretwell Hoyle, has taken great
pains over his genealogy, and has come to
the conclusion that the Edmond Hoyle OF
whist celebrity was not in any way connected
with his family.
II has been stated, again, that Hoyle was
registrar of the p~rerogative court in Dublin
in l742, and that he held property there.
This, however, seems unlikely, though 1t is
certain there was an Edmond Hoyle APP
pointed to that post in that year, but our
Edmond Hoyle was then publishing, and in
all probability living, in London. He lived
hhbtAVhShAl " 1uttl sluhTt,
where he continued to write on games and to
give lessons in whist. The name Edmond Tor
EdmunD was common in both families Of
Hoyle in Yorkshire and in Ireland, so that
one Edmond might easily have been mistaken
for another, In 17i2 our author first pub
lished his "Short Treatise on Whist" 1t was
entered at Stationer's Hall Nov. II, 1912, and
was signed by the author MS the sole proprie-
tor of the copyright. No place of publication
| iS namRl lint nna outbnrftv - Il,,a, {. -. n..a-
1t has been said that he received s., 900 for
his copyright, but this again seems unlikely,
for every copy, long after the first issue, bore
his signature rs the "Proprietor of the Treat
isa.n Hoyle's book brought forth n good
deal of criticism, which took tho shape of
wit in some cases. Here is n piece of verse
published shortly after the book was issued,
which shows whit some people OF those days
thought of the game;
Who would believe that man could here exist,
Who spent near half an ago in studying whistY
Grew gray with calculation Labor hard,
As If lfe's business conferred In a cardg
That such there Ia, let me to those appeal.
Who with such liberal hands reward his zeal.
Loi whist he makes n science, and our peers
Doign TO turn school boys In their ripper years
In 1TG0 the laws of the game were revised,
and after this date the revised laws were
made a part of the standar Hoyle. They
were called Hoyle's laws, and guided all whist
lotteries for l04 years. They were then re.
yised by the Arlington and Portland clubs in
1864, and are now the standard in all whist
circles.
Early in this century the points Of the game
were altered from ten TO five and calling
honors was abolished. Cavendish says that
it is doubtful whether this change was for
the better. In his opinion long whist ren up
is a far finer game than short whist five up.
According to Clay, who was one of the finest
players in his time, and is still n great au-
thority on the game, the alteration took place
under the following circumstances:
"Some sixty or seventy years back, Lord
Peterborough, having one night lost a large
sum OF money, the friends with whom he
was playing proposed TO make the game five
points, instead OF ten, in order to give the
loser n chance, at a quicker game, OF recov-
ering his loss. The new game was found to
be so lively, and money changed hands with
such increased rapidity, that these gentlemen
and their friends, all of them members of the
leading clubs of the day, continued to play
1t 1t became general in the clubs, thence
was introduced in private houses, Travelled
Into the country, went to Paris. and has long
rince entirely superseded the whist of Hoyle's
day. TON LANSING.