PUBLIC LIBRA 158135A ASTOR, LENGS AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R 1924 L LONDON: PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET THIS ESSAY was originally published in December 1864, as a Second Part to the Sixteenth Edition of the well-known work Short Whist, by Major A.' Since its appearance it has been honoured with the commendation of some of the most eminent authorities on Whist; and it is now reprinted in a separate form. It is believed that the manner herein adopted of treating the Theory of the game is, in a great measure, new. Some of the later works published on Whist have been more explanatory than the early ones, but still they have consisted at best of merely practical rules, without reference to their theoretical basis; and the Author is not aware that the attempt to trace the whole practice of the modern scientific game back to one grand fundamental principle, namely, that of the combination of the hands of the two players, has ever before been made. It has often indeed been said that each player must endeavour to play his partner's cards as well as his |