wheel or a ball, to signify her instability. The contrary idea was necessarily attached to the figure of a square or a cube, considered as a firm and immoveable base. It was for this reason that the ancients placed the figure of Wisdom and Firmness on a cube; and Aristotle speaks in the same sense when he informs us that a true philosopher ought to be square,--carré--that is to say, immoveable in courage and virtue. Heraldry has also admitted the square, placed lozenge-wise, as an emblem of Constancy and Firmness; and the Squares of cards, called Carreaux, can only be supposed to have the same signification. As to the _Pique_, there can be no doubt with respect to its meaning. It represents the head of a lance, and is thus an emblem of military force. The Germans, however, seem to have misconceived the character of this figure, which they converted into a Leaf,--_Grün_;[294]--but this mistake, or rather this difference, may be ascribed to the imperfection of the painting in ancient cards; and more especially to the coarseness of the first essays of wood-engraving, in which it was almost impossible to distinguish the figure of a leaf from that of a pike-head. On comparing the earliest German cards with shields of arms, of the same period, and with old wood-engravings which contain trees, it will be immediately seen how easy it was to confound the two forms. There is no difference between the Piques of cards and the leaves of the tree on the right of the woodcut of St. Christopher of the date 1423; and the _Crequier_[295] of heraldry is precisely the same as the seven of Pique[296] in German cards of the fifteenth century. But whatever may have been the cause of this anomaly, it is generally admitted that the Pique in French cards is the figure of a weapon; and it can scarcely be doubted that it was the equivalent of the Sword in the Tarots. In this respect the Spanish and Italian nomenclature is in perfect accordance with our own. In the southern parts of Europe the French _Pique_ is _La Picca_ or _La Spada_." Thus, according to Mons. Leber, the four suits of French cards have the following signification: CŒUR, valour, greatness of soul; TRÈFLE, wisdom and justice united with power; CARREAU, firmness, stability, constancy; PIQUE, physical force, or the power of the military. The suits, again, may be considered as representing four monarchies, or political societies; namely, CŒURS, governed by a generous and courageous prince; TRÈFLES, by a sovereign just, wise, and powerful; CARREAUX, by a king consistent in principle, and decided in action; and PIQUES, by a warlike prince, who owes his power to his arms.