need not take the trouble of scheming a lead | ace and two small ones, with four trumps, of your own. Never lead trumps, even if led first by your partner; it is wasting them, as they might make tricks by trumping. In all other cases, do the best you can.' The only idea of skill possessed by these players, is in recollecting the high cards that are out, and in discovering when the partner is likely to be short of a suit, that they may force him to trump; they are quite indifferent as to the play of sequences and small cards, and wonder at anybody attaching importance to such trifles. This class forms the great mass of domestic players; they are generally very fond of the game, and practise it a great deal; but their mprovement is almost hopeless, as it is so hard to get them to take the first step, i.e. to unlearn everything they already know. The third class are more deserving of respect. They have probably belonged originally to the fourth class, but by reading Hoyle or Matthews, or some of the old books, aided by careful attention, practice, and natural ability, they have risen much above it, and have acquired, in domestic circles, the reputation of being superior players. They are very observant, recollect and calculate well, draw shrewd inferences as to how the cards lie, and generally are adepts in all the accidental features of good play. Their management of trumps is diainetrically opposed to that of the fourth class, as they have a great penchant for leading them, a course almost always advantageous for them with inferior adversaries. gave him credit for the knave, and probably one or two others; he therefore put the ace on the queen, to get it out of his partner's way, then succeeded in drawing all the trumps, and returned the third little spade. The original player had no more, and the adversaries brought in several cards of the suit and won the game. If players of this class knew how easily they might step into the rank of first-class adepts, by simply adopting the orthodox system, they might be induced to devote a few hours to its acquisition; but the great obstacle to their improvement is the pride they take in their own skill, which they object to make subservient to a set of rules, and, perhaps, in some instances to the will of a partner inferior to themselves. The second class are those who play according to correct system, but who, from want either of practice or of talent, do not shine in individual skill. This is generally the case with the young who are properly taught, and their number is happily increasing every day. Two such players would unquestionably win over two much superior adversaries of the third class: and they make such admirable partners, that a fine player, working with one of them, would of himself realize almost the full advantage of the combination of the hands. This class are eminently hopeful; they are already entitled to the name of good, sound players, and if they have only moderate abilities, they must continually improve. The first, or highest class, are those who, to the soundness and system of the second class, add the personal skill of the third. They then become fine players, and, although there may be among them many grades of excellence, they may, as a class, be said to have arrived at the summit of the scale. We may refer to Mr. Clay's book for an exemplification of what a fine player should be. But skilful as these players are, they commit, as Deschapelles says, one long and continual fault which they do not see,' they are 'forts joueurs qui sont de détestables partenaires.' They do not play upon system; they will not conform to the conventional language of the game; and hence they lose the great advantage of the combination of their own with their partners' To improve any larger number of whisthands. They, indeed, usually object to sys- players in the lower classes is more than can tem altogether, arguing that the play should be hoped for; few of the old hands are be dictated by their own judgment. A open to conviction or anxious for instruction. player of this class will often lead from But for the benefit of younger aspirants, short suits, or will lead trumps when weak, and of others who may have the ambition or abstain from leading them when strong, to rise out of the dull ranks of the incapables, or will even refuse to return his partner's we will offer a few words of guidance. lead in them; or, in fact, will adopt any other mode of playing for his own hand alone, the worst fault,' says Mr. Clay, ' which I know in a whist player.' We lately saw a fatal instance of the evil of this style of play. A good player of this class opened by leading the king of spades, which he followed by the queen. His partner, a systematic player, who had originally First then, we say to the student, you must be convinced that you have something to learn. It is the want of appreciation of this truth that accounts for such a general prevalence of bad play. People fancy they can become good players by mere practice, which is a great mistake; they only move on in one eternal blundering round. The scientific game has the 'It is astonishing in how different a light been the result of years upon years of ela- | When whist playing is studied on system, borate thought and incessant experiment, to use Dr. Pole's words,— and you can no more arrive at it by your own limited experience, than you could become acquainted with scientific astronomy by watching the apparent motion of the stars. And, further, if you have already learnt and practised whist on the erroneous principle of considering merely your own hand, you must wipe out all that, and make a tabula rasa on which true knowledge can be inscribed. The next thing to be done is to make yourself acquainted with the recognized system of modern play, embodying the complete language of the game. This is the all-important thing; the three great points of modern whist are system, system, system. You will be surprised to find, if you approach the subject with a docile disposition, how easy this system is to acquire; the difficulties only arise from its clashing with pre-conceived notions; some dozen sentences embody its chief features, and when their spirit is once well impressed on the mind, the great portion of the learning is done.* 6. Look out for your partner's call for trumps, especially if weak in them yourself. If he calls, and you hold not more than three trumps, lead the highest; if more, the lowest. 7. Second hand, generally play your lowest. 8. Do not trump a doubtful trick second hand, if you hold more than three trumps; with three or less trump fearlessly. 9. Do not force your partner if you hold less than four trumps yourself; but force a strong adverse trump hand whenever you can. 10. Discard from your weakest suit. sequence. 12. Be very careful in the play of even your smallest cards, every one of which will convey information to your partner. Why cannot whist be taught professionally, like chiess and billiards? Hoyle set the example, at a guinea a lesson, and there is now much more scope for instruction than there was in his day, from the game being reduced to so much more systematic and teachable a form. So easy is it, that we know a child, under seven years of age, who, having been properly taught, can go being laborious and repulsive, becomes easy game appears. Its acquisition, instead of and pleasant; the student, instead of being frightened at difficulties, finds them vanish before him; and even those who, having formerly practised without method, take the trouble of learning the system, suddenly see the light break in upon them, and find themselves repaid a hundredfold in the increased enjoyment and satisfaction the game will afford them.' says, Practise as much as possible, with good players, but do not be turned aside from correct play by unsound criticism, or by unfavourable results, both which you will often have to encounter. Neither be discouraged by finding at first your memory at fault. Systematic play aids this largely, by showing to what points it is most important to direct attention; first the trumps, next the higher cards of your own long suit, then those of your partner's, and so on. Trust to your natural memory only, avoiding everything artificial, except carefully sorting and counting your cards at the beginning of the hand. All other mnemonic arrangements do mischief; the practice even of putting the trumps in a particular place is as childish as that of turning the picture cards the right way up, to prevent, as Deschapelles 'the flow of blood to their heads.' When you have become thoroughly familiar with the system, and can speak the language of the game with fluency, then you may turn your attention to the accidents of play, which have the object of taking the best advantage of particular situations. You will find plenty of examples of these in Cavendish's published 'Hands,' and many more in Hoyle and Matthews, which you may at this period study with advantage. And here you will find the field gradually opening for your personal skill; your knowledge of system has already placed you in the second class of players; you have then to advance into the first rank, and to mount as high in it as your ability will allow you. You will encounter difficulties, and must not expect to get on too fast, as you may be years before you really excel; but do not be discouraged, as you are in the right way. Yo y el tiempo,' was Charles V.'s maxim, and your perseverance will be sure to be rewarded. One of the most difficult, but at the same time most frequent cases for the exercise of fine skill is in judging when and to what ex through the formalities of the modern game with tolerable correctness. tent the systematic rules should be departed from. Towards the end of the hand, for example, all rules may often be laid aside; and the state of the score will frequently warrant exceptional play. With a partner, too, who does not understand the combined system, it would be folly to adhere to it, as you would only be giving information to be used against you. In such a case you have, in fact, three adversaries instead of two, and you must fight your own battle single-handed as well as you can. Your partner's neglect to aid you may, perhaps, lose you the game; but if you exert your skill, you will, like the old French, physician, when his patient died, have toujours la consolation d'avoir fait quelque chose.' Cavendish sums up his work with the following words, which will form an appropriate termination to our own remarks: 8. Elsass und Lothringen, und ihre Wiedergewinnung für Deutschland. Von Prof. Dr. Adolph Wagner. Fünfte Auflage. Leipzig, 1870. 9. What we demand from France. By Heinrich von Treitschke. Professor of History in the University of Heidelberg. Translated from the German. London, 1870. 10. Des Relations de la France avec l'Allemagne sous Napoléon III. Par le Marquis de Gricourt, Sénateur de l'Empire. Bruxelles, 1870. 11. La Prusse devant l'Europe. Par le Comte Alfred de la Guéronnière. Lettre de S. E. le Comte de Bismarck au Comte Alfred de la Guéronnière. La Réponse. Bruxelles, 1870. marck. The former of these works is the THE two works, placed first at the head of the present article, will supply our readThe theory of whist tells you how to players with considerable information respecting your own hand to the greatest advantage, how to assist your partner, and how to weaken and the public and private life of Count BisThis knowledge obstruct your opponents. constitutes a sound player. If to theoretical perfection you add the power of accurate observation, and of acute perception, together with a thorough comprehension of the whist capacities of partners and opponents, you have all the elements necessary to form a master of the science.' ART. III.—1. Les Discours de M. le Comte de Bismarck avec Sommaires et Notes. Vol. I. Berlin (n. d.). 2. Das Buch vom Grafen Bismarck. Von George Hesekiel. In drei Abtheilungen, reich illustrirt von namhaften Künstlern. Bielefeld und Leipzig, 1869. 3. Deutschland am Neujahr 1870. Vom Verfasser der Rundschauen. (Ascribed to Von Gerlach.) Berlin, 1870. 4. Krieg und Friede. Zwei Briefe an Ernst Renan, nebst dessen Antwort auf den ersten. Von David Friedrich Strauss. Leipzig, 1870. 5. Die bundesstaatliche Einigung Südund Nord-Deutschlands unter Preussens Führung als nothwendiges Ergebniss des gegenwärtigen Krieges, und ihre Bedeutung für das Europäische Gleichgewicht. Berlin, 1870. 6. Unsere Grenzen. Von Wolfgang Menzel. Stuttgart und Leipzig, 1868. 7. Elsass und Lothringen. Nachweis, wie diese Provinzen dem Deutschen Reiche verloren gingen. Von Adolf Schmidt, ord. Prof. an der Univ. Jena. Dritte vermehrte Auflage. Leipzig, 1870. first volume of a French translation, which has appeared at Berlin, of Count Bismarck's collected speeches in the Prussian Chambers and in the Parliament of the North German Confederation. They extend at present no further than the Sessions of 1867; but these speeches embrace all the principal questions, foreign and domestic, from that of the military establishments of Prussia to that of Luxemburg, which have given rise to debate between the Prussian Legislature and Government, or between Prussia, and Europe. We understand the proofs for this publication are corrected by Count Bismarck himself, and as he has just now not a little on his hands besides, it is not surprising if the second volume do not follow the first so soon as might otherwise be expected. We have in the 'Discours' before us as much of Count Bismarck's mind as he thought fit to utter on each of the questions which came under discussion, and as much of Count Bismarck's manner as could be preserved in a French translation. The speeches now before us may be divided into two periods-that preceding and that succeeding the Austrian War, and the formation of the North German Confederation. The former of these might be designated-as was a by-gone epoch of German literature-as the Storm and Stress Period;' the latter as a period of comparatively calm weather, condonation and compromise. If, as has been said, a good man struggling with adversity was a spectacle for the gods, an able Minister, struggling for four successive years against majorities in the popular House of Parliament, and, finally, coming successfully out of such a great events of the day before-(vin ordistruggle, is a spectacle so strange to Eng-naire only, say the German chroniclers of lishmen as, for its very strangeness, may the campaign, having previously appeared well engage our best endeavours to under- at the royal table)-and the King proposed stand and explain it. a toast in the following terms: The Book of Count Bismarck,' the title of which stands second in our list, has gone through several German editions, and has been translated into English in a fashion of which we will say no more than that it resembles many manufactures of a similar kind for the London book-market, which would almost justify critics in rendering 'Uebersetzer' by oversetter,' or 'traducteur by traducer' of German or French originals. This 'Book of Bismarck,' without claiming much notice as a literary composition, contributes not a little to our personal acquaintance with the Prussian statesman, not only in the shape of public speeches and documents, but of private correspondence, which, curiously enough, has been frankly confided by the Bismarck family to the book-making discretion or indiscretion of Herr George Hesekiel. It would seem as if Mr. Carlyle's awful Chancellor of the North German Confederation' had no objection that less awful impressions of him should go forth to the reading public. Accordingly we have a self-portraiture of him swimming in the Rhine by moonlight 'with nothing but nose and eyes above water,' and looking up at the Mouse Tower, 'where the bad Bishop came to a bad end,' or, 'throwing himself on the heaving bosom of his old love,' the North Sea at Norderney, or luxuriating in the Atlantic weather' mixed rain and sunshine-in late October at Biarritz. Elsewhere, writing to his sister, Frau von Arnim, with that hearty appreciation of homely national viands, which Jeffrey made fun of long ago in reviewing 'Wilhelm Meister' (provoking from the veteran Goethe an appeal to German judgment, Das heisst in England recensiren), he says he had seldom or never eat such liver and black-puddings as she had sent him, and had breakfasted on them with great content for the last three days. Then again we have him writing home for a French novel while accompanying the campaign of Sadowa, and at another time he is converting a free-thinking friend on an inn-balcony at Rüdesheim, between the whiffs of their cigars, from Rousseauism to Christianity, and flatters himself he has at least reduced him to silence. At the soldierly banquet given by King William I. to his principal officers, on the brief rest-day which followed his 'crowning mercy' of the 2nd of September last, at Sedan, champagne was served in honour of the health of my brave army. You, War-Minister "We must to-day, in gratitude, drink to the Von Roon, have sharpened our sword; you, General Von Moltke, have guided it; and you, Count Von Bismarck, by your direction of the national policy for years, have brought_Prussia to her present pitch of elevation. Let us then drink to the health of the Army-of the three I have named in connexion with that toast-and of every one present who has contributed, according to his power, to the results now accomplished.' or The The qualities which raised Freiherr Otto Von Bismarck-Mad Bismarck, as he was called in early manhood-from the obscure activities, and equally obscure diversions and dissipations of a land-improving, sporting, and deep-drinking Altmark Junker Squire*-to hold the helm of state during eight last eventful years in Prussia, may be regarded as in good measure identical with those which have won for Prussia herself, within half that period, ascendancy over Germany and victory over France. final moral of the great international drama must be left to the future. The end is not yet, but the ends already compassed under Count Bismarck's Ministry, and compassed with the ultimate acquiescence and applause of his strongest popular opponents, suffice to show that the audacious and pugnacious Minister has well understood the instruments he had to use and the parties he had to deal with. Much of what has appeared the astounding audacity of his action in politics has really resulted from his abnormal-sapient' perception that windbags were windbags, and that a very slight prick might cause to collapse a very big bladder. The mistake apt to be made on this side the Channel about the political career of Bismarck is that of unconsciously crediting Prussia with the parliamentary precedents and traditions .* We learn from the Book of Bismarck,' that when the Squire of Schoenhausen, having sown his wild oats, bethought himself at length of taking a wife, he found his character as a marrying man did not stand much higher with prudent parents than probably did that of Ritter Blaubart, after his too frequent conjugal bereavements. The pious and decorous parents of Fräulein von Putkammer were horrified at the announcement of such a suitor; but the Fräulein herself liess sich nicht irre machen-stood firm to her choice. It has never been said since that the lady of Mad Bismarck' has had to suffer anything similar or analogous to what a French critic of Perrault has called 'les angoisses trop méritées de Madame Barbebleu.' of England. But the most cherished Prus- | iron "-that stammerer will be the foremost sian traditions and precedents have always political personage in Prussia, in Germany, been those of military monarchy and aristo- in Europe!' cracy. These have been associated from first to last with all her modern advances in the scale of nations. When Oliver Cromwell made his first appearance in the House of Commons, Lord Digby, according to the rather apocryphal parliamentary legend, asked Hampden Who that sloven was?' and received for answer That sloven whom you see before you, hath no ornament in his speech: that sloven, I say, if we should ever come to a breach with the king (which God forbid !), in such a case, I say, that sloven will be the greatest man in England.' When Otto von Bismarck-to compare a smaller, though still a very considerable, man with a greater-made his first appearance as deputy from the Saxon Provincial Ritterschaft in the Prussian United Diet, convoked under the (soon repealed) provisions of the late well-meaning Frederick William IV.'s patent of February, 1847, he presented the aspect of a man of powerful build of some three or four-and-thirty, thick head of hair short-cropped, ruddy and healthy countenance, bright eyes rather prominent à fleur de tête as the French say,-and strong reddish beard. The new speaker stood bolt upright, looked his audience in the face for a moment, and then addressed them in a plain, unadorned, and occasionally hesitating manner, with a sharp, and not exactly agreeable, accent:-'I feel myself constrained to contradict what has so often been asserted, as well in this assembly as out of doors, whenever the popular claims for a constitution have come under discussion, viz. that the national movement of 1813 was made for that object, or from any other motive than to deliver our country from the disgrace of a foreign yoke.' As might be anticipated, these few words of truth, delivered against an assumption as unfounded in historical fact as unnecessary to the practical objects of rational reformers, raised a storm of indignation in the impatient Liberal majority of that day against the unlucky Deputy of the Saxon Provincial Ritterschaft. Amidst the hubbub of articulate and inarticulate protests which saluted the new and unpractised speaker, if any one had asked, after the fashion of Lord Digby, 'Who is that stammerer?' would there have been a voice found to answer, as the story goes Hampden did for Cromwell, That stammerer, who hath no ornament in his speech-if it ever comes in the course of events (which God forbid!) to cement the future unity of Fatherland by "blood and Von Bismarck's first speech in the United Diet of 1847 struck the keynote of all his subsequent utterances in the Second Prussian Chamber, under the revolutionary and counter-revolutionary order of things which followed in rapid succession the Berlin émeute of March, 1848, to which the weakness of Frederick William IV. gave for the time all the effects of a revolution. A military retreat before a metropolitan populace made the days of March memorable-a military rally in the face of the same populace reversed the situation by November. After the dissolution of the Chambers elected under the immediate effect of the events of March, and the issue of the octroyée constitution of December, Von Bismarck was elected as deputy for West Havelland to the new Second Chamber. The rejected offer of the German Imperial Crown to Prussia by the Frankfort Assembly which had substituted itself by the grace of the people, for the old Diet of the Confederation in the Revolution year 1848, and the alternative propositions for German Union which found a mouthpiece in Von Radowitz, were strenuously combated by Von Bismarck with all the determined outspokenness of his Prussian Junker-Politik.' But there were hints in his language that he, too, had in petto an alternative policy, which might possibly take a substantive shape at some future day, when arguments more cogent than parliamentary rhetoric should be available to support it: 'I deny,' he said, 'that there exists anywhere among the Prussian people any felt need for national regeneration after the Frankfort pattern. Much has been said here about Frederick the Great; and his policy has even been identified with these projects for German union. I am rather disposed to believe that Frederick the Great would have addressed himself, in these circumstances, to the distinctive characteristic of Prussian nationality-to the warlike element which forms so marked a character of it-and would have addressed that character not without effect. He would have known that, in these days, as in those of our fathers, the trumpet-sound summoning Prussians under the banner of the Lord of their Land has not lost its charm for their ear, whether the cause contended for be the defence of our frontiers, or the power and glory of Prussia. He would have felt that he had the choice either of allying himself with our old comrade Austria, for lution, or of singly dictating to Germany what the annihilation of the common enemy, Revoshould be her future constitution, at the risk of having to throw his sword in the scale. Either of these courses might have furnished |
