they might have been called Chatur-Nawaub—the Four Viceroys, as the cognate game of chess was called the Four Kings—and that this name subsequently became changed into Chartah-Naib, is, at least, as probable as the derivation of Naipes from N.P., the initials of Nicolas Pepin, their supposed inventor. Though this last etymology has very much the appearance of a conundrum, propounded in jest for the purpose of ridiculing a certain class of etymologists who always seek for roots at the surface, it is nevertheless that which received the sanction of the royal Spanish Academy, and which is given in their Dictionary. [31] Several Spanish writers, however, of high reputation for their knowledge of the formation of their native language, have decidedly asserted that the word Naipes, signifying cards, whatever it might have originally meant, was derived from the Arabic; and if the testimony of Covelluzzo, a writer quoted in Bussi's History of the City of Viterbo, could be relied on, the question respecting the word Naibi or Naipes, and cards themselves, having been brought into Europe through the Arabs, would appear to be determined. His words are: "Anno 1379, fu recato in Viterbo el Gioco delle Carte, che venne de Seracinia, e chiamisi tra loro Naib." [32] That is, "In the year 1379, was brought into Viterbo the game of cards, which comes from the country of the Saracens, and is with them called Naib." It may be observed, that the very word here given as the Arabic name for cards still signifies in Arabia a deputy of the Sultan. Even though it may not be a word of Hindostanee origin, it may have been introduced into that language when a great portion of Hindostan was subjected to the Mahometan yoke, and when many of the Rajahs of native race were superseded by the Naibs or deputies of a Mahometan sovereign. [33] There appears reason to believe that the word Naipe or Naipes, as applied to cards, did not primarily signify cards generally, but was rather a designation of the game played with cards; in the same manner as "the Four Kings" signified the game at cards, in consequence of a king being the chief of each of the four suits. In Vieyra's Portuguese Dictionary, 1773, one of the explanations of the word "Naipe" is, "a Suit of Cards;" and the phrase, "Náo tenho nenhuma daquelle naipe," is translated, "I have none of that suit."

It is not unlikely that the Greek word χαρτης,—Latin, Charta, paper,—was derived from the East, and that it was originally associated with the idea of "four," as expressive of a square—quarré—of paper, in contra-distinction to a long strip of paper or parchment, which, when rolled up, formed an ενειλεμα, or volume. In middle-age Greek, the word χαρταριον, or χαρτιον, [34]—which is unquestionably derived from the same root as χαρτης,—appears to have been used to convey the idea of a square, or four-sided piece of wood, and to have specifically signified a square wooden trencher: the top of the trencher-cap worn at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and at some of our public schools, may be considered as a representative of the general form of the thing. It is curious to trace how a word primarily expressive of the number four has, in Greek, Latin, French, and English, been employed to signify either paper generally, or a portion of paper. From the French Cahier or cayer [35] —which may be traced through carré or quarré, to the Latin quartus, from quatuor—we have the old English quair, a little paper book consisting of a few sheets; and the modern quire, now signifying a definite number of sheets of paper.

In Hindostanee the word chit signifies, I believe, a note or letter, and is in this sense synonymous with the Latin Epistola, and the German Briefe. Should it also signify paper, [36] either in general, or of a particular kind, and be cognate with chahar, chatur, or chartah, [37]—"four,"—* the preceding speculations on the primary meaning of χαρτης, charta, and cards, will be materially corroborated. I leave, however, the investigation of this point to those who understand the Hindostanee language, as all the knowledge that I have of the word in question, is derived from one of Theodore Hook's tales, Passion and Principle, in the first series of 'Sayings and Doings.' Wherever he might have picked it up, the effect with which he uses it is peculiarly his own.

Breitkopf, who is decidedly of opinion that cards are of Eastern invention, and of great antiquity, considers that the name Naibe, or Naipes, by which they were first known to the Italians and the Spaniards, is derived from an Arabic word—Nabaa—signifying divination, foretelling future events, fortune-telling, and such like. In this opinion he says he is confirmed by the exposition of the Hebrew word Naibes, which he seems to think cognate with the Arabic Nabaa. [38] He, however, produces no evidence to show that cards were known either to the Arabians or the Jews by the name of Naibe, and from a subsequent passage in his work, it is evident that the conjecture was suggested merely from the circumstance of cards being occasionally employed for the purposes of fortune-telling.

Heineken, who contends that cards were invented in Germany, alleges the name—Briefe—given to them in that country in support of the presumed fact. "Playing Cards," he observes, "were called with us Briefe, that is letters, in Latin, Epistolæ, and they are called so still. The common people do not say, 'give me a pack of cards,' but 'a Spiel Briefe' (un jeu de lettres); and they do not say 'I want a card,' but 'I want a Brief' (a letter). We should, at least, have preserved the name cards, if they had come to us from France; for the common people always preserve the names of all games that come from other countries." [39] This