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.