RULES.

1. The Association shall consist of such gentlemen as may be willing to becoine members, and whose names shall be duly enrolled accordingly, on payment, in advance, of the annual sum of five shillings.

2. The Association shall meet once in each year, at such town as may be fixed upon at the preceding meeting, and notice of such intended meeting shall be sent to each member of the Association by the secretary for the time being, not less than fourteen days before the holding of such meeting.

3. At each annual meeting, a local secretary shall be appointed by the town at which the meeting of the Association is intended to be held, and such local secretary shall act as the general secretary and treasurer of the Association from the termination of that meeting until the termination of the next annual meeting, when his office shall cease and his duties devolve upon his successor.

4. Previous to the close of each yearly meeting, the accounts of the treasurer shall be audited by the president of the Association for the preceding year, or, in his absence, by his successor in office, and any balance which may at that time remain in the treasurer's hands, shall be paid over by him to his successor.

Chess Club, 5 Upper Parade, Leamington,
October, 1854.

SIR,-We have the pleasure to inform you that the next annual meeting of the NORTHERN and MIDLAND COUNTIES' CHESS ASSOCIATION-the rules and objects of which are set forth above-will take place at Leamington in June, 1855; when many Chess celebrities, both English and foreign, are expected to be present.

The Right Hon. Lord Lyttleton has consented to preside on the occasion; and we, the undersigned, have been named a committee to draw up the necessary arrangements, of which a full programme will be issued in due time, and forwarded to each member of the Association.

We subjoin a list of gentlemen who have kindly undertaken to act in co-operation with us in their respective localities; and our more immediate object in now addressing you, is to ask the favour of your making known the meeting to the friends of Chess around you, and to record the names of such as are disposed to encourage its success by membership, or by subscriptions towards the

expenses.

We contemplate appropriating a part of the fund already raised by the members of the Leamington Club, in the purchase of a few sets of handsome Chess Men, as prizes to be contended for by different Clubs; one moiety of the cost to be contributed out of that fund, the other moiety by the two combatant Clubs jointly; so that the successful Club, in each match, will gain a prize four times the amount of its stake.*

It is proposed also to offer a handsome set of Chess Men for the best Essay on the game, its history, its laws, and its openings, and to bring before the Meeting other matters which we hope will be interesting to Chess players; but as these are not sufficiently matured to be more particularly alluded to at this time, they will be fully set forth in the programme to be issued hereafter.

*One such contest is already arranged between the Birmingham and Edgbaston Club and that of Leamington.

The following gentlemen have consented to co-operate with the Leamington Committee:—

SILAS ANGAS, Esq., Newcastle-on-
Tyne.

J. BEEDHAM, Esq., Kimbolton.

R. B. BRIEN, Esq., St. George's Chess
Club, London.

Rev. J. BURNELL, Warrington.
H. D. CARDEN, Esq., Worcester.
W. CLULEY, Esq., Ashton-under-Lyne.
C. DRAPER, Esq., Kenilworth.
Capt. E. DYER, Chertsey.
W. HODGES, Esq., Reading.

C. M. INGLEBY, Esq., Birmingham.
B. JONES, Esq., Cheltenham.
Rev. Dr. KENNEDY, Shrewsbury.

J. C. KENT, Esq., Upton-on-Severn.
J. KIPPING, Esq., Manchester.

KLYMANN, Esq., Manchester.
J. H. LOWE, Esq., Birmingham.
F. MYERS, Esq., Preston.

Rev. C. RANKEN, Burton-on-Trent.
Rev. G. SALMON, Trin. Col., Dublin.
B. SIMPSON, Esq., Northampton.
A. B. SKIPWORTH, Esq., Cambridge.
MORTON SPARKE, Esq., Liverpool.
G. S. SPRECKLEY, Esq., Liverpool.
Rev. W. G. WILKINSON, York.
R. B. WORMALD, Esq., Oxford.
F. D. ZACHARY, Esq., Kidderminster.

Here follows, in the Circular, a list of Subscriptions.

We should recommend all Chess-players who are desirous of supporting this valuable Association to forward their Names and Subscriptions to the Rev. W. S. TEMPLE, Leamington, who is making the arrangements with unexampled tact and energy. The Subscription being so trifling, we believe that very few amongst the members of our Chess circles will be found wanting in the matter.-ED.

CHESS: A POEM IN FOUR PARTS.

London: THOMAS HARRISON, 59, Pall Mall.

THE author of this little work has divided his poem into four parts :(1.) The spirit of Chess; (2.) The practice of Chess; (3.) The victim of Chess; and (4.) The employment of leisure. Under these heads he has opened to us many a vein of serious thought, and we sincerely hope that he may effect the moral good which he has so much at heart. On this subject we shall say nothing now, but in the present number content ourselves with making such extracts as may best show the poetical ability of the author. And, first, we will give his description of the goddess Cäissa:

"Her graceful form, dark eyes, and olive skin,
Beauty without, concealing fire within,

Bespeak her ancestors' Italian clime.

Her glossy raven hair falls loosely down
Beneath the fleurys of a golden crown,
Such as Cellini had design'd and chas'd,
Gracing her tresses, by her tresses graced;
Luxuriant ringlets fall on either side,
They fall in beauty, and some beauties hide.
No other ornaments her locks enfold,

For woman's hair 's more beautiful than gold.
Gold and enamell'd serpents brace her arm;
Show off its roundness, and increase its charm;
The serpent's eyes are form'd of precious stone,
Only excell'd in brightness by her own.

Her hands wear rings, which flash out mystic fires;
Attract the eye; the eye the hands admires.
Her voice is like the sound of silver bell,
Vibrating soft and clear, and heard as well.
The varying lines of her expressive face
Reveal a soul where passions passion chase,
Increase the force, but dim the woman's grace
Of that expression; changeful like the beam
Which shines through foliage on a winding stream,
Revealing now the conflict brief or long,
The weak opposing or opposed by strong;
Or, wearing now the aspect of regret,
As if some happy memory linger'd yet.
Now all expression from that face is fled,
As if the ruling passions were all dead;
Calmer on calm, like landscape ere the storm
Bursts on the hills. Another change in form:
Her straight-lin'd eyebrows meet, and looking down,
Her dark eyes pierce between a smile and frown,
Her lips and hand compress'd; expression fit
For one combining malice with much wit."

The first line of the description of Cäissa's robe,

“Her robe, dazzling like humming-birds in flight,”

on the first reading, appears somewhat inharmonious, but is, we suspect intentionally so constructed, in order to convey the meaning better. The idea contained in it is beautiful, and will remind the classical reader of the epithet kopvlaιóλos, applied by Homer to Hector. Our author is very successful in his treatment of a part of his subject that we should have thought too prosaic for insertion in a poem-the enumeration of the different Chess circles.

"The London and St. George their forces bring:
Ries's Divan, the modest room of Kling.
Hermes, from Oxford, wears the classic gown;
The "Three Cups Tavern" represents the town.
The blended town and gown of Cam we see,
In its own strength the club of Trinity.
Scotland, as strong in clubs, as strong in fight,
By "Gamma" represents Auld Reekie's might.
The lively "Delta" speaks in Glasgow's praise,
And claims for men of Wanlockhead Chess bays.

Cupar, in Fife, Falkirk, and Aberdeen,
Elgin, and Perth, fam'd for her meadows green,
Are represented in Caissa's court;

Men who love Chess, but love it as a sport.
When work is done they blend in friendly strife,
But make not Chess the business of their life.
Hull, famous port, "land of green ginger," meets
Her friendly rivals from the neighbouring seats.
Leeds, Huddersfield, and merry Wakefield too,
Sheffield Lyceum, Athenæum new.

Men, from St. George of Halifax, appear,
And from the town, while York brings up the rear.
Each rival town of Mersey's stream, a band
Blends with the forces of Northumberland:
And busy Manchester thinks Chess no sin,
Their men can play, and not forget to spin.
Town and suburban clubs from Birmingham
Send up to court some men well known to fame,
Who play at Chess, and still are busy men;
Numbers advance, and numbers still remain :
Worcester and Kidderminster men move on,
Follow'd by players from gay Leamington;
Bradford and Nottingham, great seats of trade,
Find time to lend to Chess their potent aid.
Southampton, Plymouth, Cheltenham men advance,
Followed by players from remote Penzance.
The Dublin warriors pass in merry mood,
Then mingle with their foes of Saxon blood;
Kilkenny follows, and the Bristol band,
Renown'd as any regiment in the land.

The new-form'd club from Bath, gay fashion's seat,
Presents its ranks which those of Brighton meet.
Preston, Northampton, Shrewsbury, and Stour,
Rockferry, Richmond, well-train'd soldiers pour:
Folkestone, and Stratford, and Kimbolton hail
The Aylesbury branch, and Eastern Counties' rail.
Lincoln and Guernsey forces slow advance,
Then come a few ambassadors from France:
Turkey and Russia here unite their fates,

Where battles end in well-concocted mates.

Hungary, Germania, the United States,

Allegiance own: widely Cäissa's sway

Extends through realms of intellectual play."

99.66

This catalogue is altogether well managed, and the only exception we should take to it is, that occasionally the same word is used in lines too near one another. We may notice, as instances of this trifling verbal fault, the use of the words "blend,” “unite,' "united," "follow," &c. A very slight alteration would remove these imperfections from a second edition of the little poem. Our next extract will easily be understood by the readers of this Magazine :

"A murmur rose amid the Chess Divan,
And many spake against one absent man,
Long chief supporter of Caissa's throne,
Surpass'd in play and authorship by none-
Who knows the worth of Chess and of its fame-
Knows how to use, and not abuse, the game.

A many-headed, many-voic'd complaint,
In accents loud or low, bold, timid, faint,
Rose against him from some, who feel offence
That his attack o'ermatches their defence;
Or, that in printing them his praise he stints,
And others lauds; or, that he never prints;
Or, that his analytic lance is keen;

Or, that at shilling play he's never seen;

Or, for some points of manner, speech, or dress,
Humour satiric, and exclusiveness;

Or mere dislike, because they mix with those
Who choose to be his self-elected foes."

The goddess Cäissa calms the storm by the relation of a fable:"The Lion long among the beasts was king,

All seemed t'obey, and some would tribute bring;

A few there were his title to the throne

Would fain dispute, and substitute their own.

The Gallic Cock, invincible before,

Who loudly crow'd o'er us, soon crow'd no more,

When once he felt the paw, and heard the lion roar.

A gallant Dog of German breed next fought,
Nor soon forgot the dressing which he caught.
The wily Fox next took up the dispute,
With half a paw the Lion laid him mute.
Thus many a year King Leo held his own,
And, though not undisputed, kept his throne.
One year the king proclaim'd a tournament,
To test the strength of those on conflict bent;
And that he might enact the worthy host,
A special tax was levied for the cost-

The great ones grudg'd, or paid it not at all,

And what the great ones did, of course did all the small.
Badly supported, with half-empty till,

Leo got worried, angry, and then ill.

No wonder, then, that in the mimic fight,

He should display not half his 'custom'd might.

He did his best, e'en kings can do more,

But he was vanquished by a German Boar.

Nor singular the unexpected fate,

For strong from weaker foes receiv'd a mate.
'Twas badly manag'd, tournament and feast;
Bones of contention anger'd many a beast;
And, when 'twas over, and the guests dispers'd,
At Leo's court the thing was oft rehears'd.
The beasts, unmindful of their former knocks,
Chose to rebel-chief rebel was the Fox.
'In former fights with Leo I was young,
My wisdom-teeth uncut, my nerves unstrung;
But now I've strength to be the champion beast,
No more will I of mighty foes be least-
I dare him to the fight!' So Vulpes spake.
The Lion rose and gave his mane a shake,
Then bade his Tiger-Hungary Tiger he-
Punish the Fox for his temerity.

The Fox his friends in warlike council met,
And many a parley held ere terms were set.