declare; indeed, it is often the game to hold up scoring cards for some time, so as not to let the adversary know the contents of the hand. A card cannot be led or played to a trick, and at the same time declared. The seven of trumps may be exchanged for the turn up after winning a trick, the seven being put in the place of the turn up, and the turn up being taken into the player's hand. Both sevens may be thus exchanged; but as it would be absurd to exchange one seven for another, the second seven is simply declared, like any other card or combination. It is important to note the following limitations as to the right of declaring. It used to be the game only to allow one declaration to one trick; but now, after winning a trick, the player may declare all he has in hand provided one combination forms no part of the other. Thus, bézique and four aces may be declared at the same time and 140 marked; but king, queen of spades, and knave of diamonds, cannot be all declared together to form marriage and bézique. One combination must first be declared, and then after winning another trick the other combination can be made by putting down the third card. A declaration cannot be made of cards that are already all on the table. Thus, if four queens, including a bézique queen, have been shown, and then four knaves, including a bézique knave, the bézique queen and knave cannot be declared as bézique. In order to score all that can be made of these cards after the queens are declared, the bézique must next be declared, and then after winning another trick, the three knaves in hand can be added to the bézique knave to score four knaves. A card once declared can only be declared again provided the combination in which it afterwards appears, is of a different class. For example, the bézique queen can be declared in bézique, marriage, and four queens; but having been once married she cannot be married again, and having taken part in one set of four queens, she cannot take part in another set. Having been declared in single bézique, she cannot form part of another single bézique. The winner of a trick containing an ace or a ten, at once adds 10 to his score; if the trick contains two aces or two tens, or one of each, he adds 20. There are various ways of scoring aces and tens, but the above is by far the best and simplest. The winner of the last trick scores 10. The last trick is the same as at briscan, viz., the last trick before the stock is exhausted. When two cards of the stock (the trump and another card) remain on the VOL. IV., N. S. 1870. N table, the player winning the trick scores 10. This is called the last trick, or last open trick, though eight tricks remain to be played. Some players make the last trick of all the last trick; but they have been misled by the word "last." The player scoring the last open trick may, at the same time, declare anything in his hand. After this, all declarations cease; the last two cards of the stock are taken, and the play of the last eight tricks commences. All cards on the table that have been declared but not played, are now taken up by the player owning them. The winner of the last trick leads, and now the rules of play alter. The second player must follow suit if he can, and must win the trick if he can. If he holds a trump and cannot follow suit, he must win the trick by trumping. The winner of the trick leads to the next. The tricks are only of value for aces and tens as before. The game is 1000. If a match or partie is played, it is generally the best three games out of five. If one player gets 1000 before his adversary scores 500, the game counts as a double. "CAVENDISH," Author of the "Laws and Principles of Whist," &c., &c. A LAY OF FREEDOM. 00 long uncrowned, fair Freedom, thou hast been, A spectre in the nations far and wide; Thy name has fostered many a bloody scene, And patriots in thy sacred cause have died : Yes, thou art slavery's fierce unconquered foe, With loud acclaim make known thy sovereign will: Proud of thy bravery and thy dauntless skill; And though thou art not throned in every land, Thou shalt be queen where perjured tyrants stand. Thy glorious battles in the days gone by But like the stars in yon eternal sky, Live on to brighten every dawning age : Like lessons read by every eager eye, And loved by every true and righteous sage: For though thy victories have been stained with gore, Thy cause is holy-sacred is thy tongue. That speaks the prayers of every groaning state, In words as tender as a plaintive song, That tells of some poor outcast's tragic fate : For those whom thou art with have suffered long, For justice like imprisoned children wait; Desert them not, but when their hour has come and boldly strike their rulers dumb! Rise up The good of every land, fair Freedom, own Thy worth, and pine to see thy beauteous face, Like culprits chained in some small sunless place; Thy struggles have inspired the weak and low, Thy beauty, virgin-like, has thrilled each heart; Though blood again for thee may freely flow, As in the past, a nobler life will start In nations, as when storms have ceased to blow, And Heaven gleams through the clouds that break and part; Still chainless as the wind that roams the plain, Thou mayst be curbed, but never, never slain! S. H. BRADBURY. ALABAMAS OF THE FUTURE. O feature of our foreign policy possesses at the present time anything like the interest and importance which attach to the "Alabama claims," and there is little likelihood that the name of this ship will be forgotten by future generations, either in England or America, even if it does not become associated with anything more serious than the efforts of the diplomatists of the two countries. We do not in this article propose to say much of her exploits-are they not written in the book of Captain Semmes ?-but to draw attention to some of the lessons in naval policy so forcibly taught by her career, and to describe the attempts made by the Americans and ourselves to profit by the experience thus gained. Looked at from this point of view, her history is soon told. A ship of very moderate dimensions (900 tons burden), of far from high speed under steam-said by Captain Semmes not to exceed ten knots per hour-and with a light armament, but fully rigged and speedy under sail, did much in the course of two years towards destroying the mercantile marine which at the outbreak of the war stood next to our own in the carrying trade of the world. It is true that in performing these services the Alabama had the help of one or two similar cruisers, but to her fell the lion's share both of the service and the fame. The Sumter led the way, and did good service, but she was not at all to be compared to the Alabama; and the names of the Florida and Shenandoah have almost faded out of the public memory, while the mere mention of the Alabama's name brings back to all our minds the vivid recollection of the time when every paragraph of news respecting her doings was eagerly devoured, and when the latest information respecting her whereabouts was looked for almost with as much interest as news from the mighty armies then face to face. In America, as we can well understand, even a deeper interest was taken in her doings, both by the Federals and the Confederates, the one regarding her as a pirate preying upon their unprotected merchant ships, the other as a gallant upholder of the Confederate power. We have no means of judging how great the amount of damage actually done by the Alabama may have been ; but, while Mr. Sumner's late estimate is pro |