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for they were afterwards finally expelled from France by King Pepin and his son and successor Charlemagne. Charles Martel, on the death of Eudes, in 735, annexed to his own dominions the dukedom of Acquitaine as far as the Pyrenees. I think, then, the inference which I have here drawn, is quite satisfactory viz., that Chess was introduced by the Arabs from Spain among the people of Acquitaine. These on becoming the allies and subjects of the Carlovingian princes, communicated the game to the Franks; and from the latter, in the course of another century, it found its way northwards as far as Scandinavia, and thence to the Hebrides, and the Anglo-Saxon court, as we shall see further on. The soundness of this inference is much strengthened by the names of some of the pieces which prevailed in Spain, France, and Italy, for several centuries after the period here mentioned. I allude more especially to the King, the Queen, the Bishop, and the Rook, on each of which let me here offer a few remarks.

1ST.-OF THE KING.

When the Arabs received the game from the Persians they adopted the original word Shah, "King," which they have all along retained, applying the same word both to the piece which we call King, and to the term check. The original Persian word for what we call mate was mand, from the verb mandan "to be exhausted," or "to be helpless." The Arabs changed mand into māt, which last in their language signifies "he is dead,” an expression less applicable than the original, because

fifteen hundred men! Here, now, is one of our strong facts; the good father is somewhat partial to the marvellous; but this is no invention of his own, for he refers us to very grave and pious authorities in proof of his assertion. The graceless philosopher Voltaire would here say, "N'en croyez rien." I more prudently say nothing let the reader judge for himself.

strictly speaking the King at Chess is neither slain nor captured, he is merely "driven to his last resource, which is the precise meaning of mand. When the Arabs introduced the game among the people of Southern Europe, the word Shah denoting the piece was by the latter literally translated into their own various languages and dialects under the forms of Rey, Rei, Roy, Koenig, King, &c. At the same time the word Shah in every nation gave rise to the name of the science itself, as well as to the term check. This is evident from the words Scacco, Eschecs, Skak, Schach, Chess, and Check, &c., &c. Again, the Persi-Arabian term Shah-mat, "the King is dead," was adopted untranslated, and still continues in use, more or less modified, in every country of modern Europe. All this clearly indicates that we must have received the game itself as well as the appellation given to it, together with the term denoting checkmate, from the Saracens.

Ponziani asserts that the Italian term Scaccomatto is derived from the Latin verb mactare. The derivation at first sight appears very plausible, and had we not a far more rational and satisfactory one, we should be content to let it pass. The term Scaccomatto is evidently the Arabic Shāhmāt slightly modified so as to suit Italian ears and organs of enunciation. That the Italian verb mattare as well as the Spanish matar to kill, come from the Latin mactare, we readily allow, because it is all in perfect accordance with the soundest rules of philological deduction; but the matto of the Chess board is simply the mat of the Arabic, a language of a totally different family from that of the Latin and its modern dialects. We have seen, however, some crazy derivators who will have it that both the Italian mattare and the Spanish matar and matador are derived from the Arabic māt, as

if the Italians and Spaniards either knew not the art of killing, or possessed not in their dialects a verb expressive of the deed, till they learned the same from the Arabs.

2nd. Of the Queen.

The Persian term for this piece is Farz or Firz, which, as an adjective, signifies "wise" or "learned;" and, as a substantive, it denotes a "Counsellor," a "Minister," or a "General." The forms Farzān, Farzīn, and Farzi are also in use, but less frequently. In this latter sense, viz., that of General, the Arabs adopted the word on receiving the game itself from the Persians; and conveyed it unaltered to Western Europe, where it was Latinized into Farzia, or Fercia. The French slightly altered the latter form into Fierce, Fierge, and Vierge. This last appellation was probably conferred on it in honour of the "Blessed and Holy Virgin," whence naturally came the modern terms Dame, Dama, and Donna, &c. I do not, however, agree with the ordinary herd of writers, who, merely repeating each other, will have it that our Queen originated from the word Vierge or Dame. On the contrary, we know it as a fact, that the Queen was introduced on the board as far back as the reign of Charlemagne at least; hence the terms Ferzia and Regina are used as synonymous in our early Latin manuscripts, such for instance as that quoted by Hyde (p. 179), said to be as old as the time of the Anglo-Saxons. It is highly probable that the Byzantines were the first people who substituted the Queen for the original " Minister" or " General," as we shall observe hereafter.

3rd. Of the Bishop.

This piece was by the Persians called Pil, "an elephant," which the Arabs, not having the letter P in their

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language, write Fil, (with an F), or, with their own definite article, Al-Fil. This last term they introduced into Western Europe, where it was Latinized into the forms Alphilus and Alfinus; and by gradual corruption, it became in the Roman dialects, Alfieres, Alfiere, Alfino Aufin, &c., &c. Its Arabic origin is unquestionable, as is fully indicated from a piece of absurdity peculiar to the people of the South in their appropriation of words from the Arabic language. They almost invariably incorporate the article al with the substantive, so as to form one single word, such as Alcoran, Alchymy, Alcohol. Now, in all of these the first syllable, on which we ridiculously place the full emphasis, is merely the article al; and to this already articled word we very preposterously prefix our own article, and say, "the Alcoran,” and “the Alcohol," instead of "the Kuran," &c. It would appear, however, that the French, at some period or other, Heaven knows how, got rid of the article al, or rather, had not adopted it, in the term al-Fil, which they must have called le Fil, whence came le Fol and le Fou, which last term is still in use. Upon the whole, I cannot help thinking that the French must have all along retained the Arabic word Fil, "pur et simple," as they received it from the Saracens, in the days of the good Prince Eudes of Acquitaine.

4th. Of the Rook,

This is the only Chess piece that has for countless ages preserved, with but little alteration, its original Sanskrit name, Roka, "a boat," or "ship." The Persians slightly modified the Sanskrit term into Rukh, which in their language denotes "a hero," or "champion." The Arabs received the word unaltered from the Persians, and brought the same along with them to

Western Europe.

Thence came the Latinized form Rochus, as well as the more modern forms, Roc, Roque, Rocco, Roch, Rock, and Rook. It so happens that the Italians have in their own language a word somewhat similar in sound and spelling, which signifies "a fortress," or castle;" and this gave rise to their Torre or Castello, thence came the Tour, Thurm, Tower, and Castle, now to be met with in most European languages. Yet there be some wise men who will have it that the Castle originated from the hauda, (vulgarly howdah), carried on the back of the elephant; a speculation that speedily falls to the ground, for the piece called the Elephant by the Persians and Arabs, was, and still is, the same as our Bishop, and never meant our Rook. I consider, then, that the only inference to be drawn from what I have just stated respecting the King, Queen, Bishop, and Rook, is, that Western Europe received the Game of Chess from the Saracens, and not from the Greeks of the Lower Empire.

I have said nothing of the Knight and Pawns, as their names, moves, and powers have remained unaltered in all lands ever since the first time they were arranged on the board, near the banks of the "Sacred Ganga,' some 5,000 years ago. The Sanskrit Asva, the Persian Asp, and the Arabic Faras, all denote "a Horse;" but not "a Rider," "Cavalier," or "Knight," as in modern Europe. The Italian Cavallo and the Russian Kōnie, however, are true and literal translations of the Oriental terms, both meaning merely a "Horse." The original Sanskrit for the Pawn is Padata, Padāti or Vätika, which simply means a "pedestrian," or "foot soldier." The Persian term is Piyada, which is of a similar signification, and closely allied to the Sanskrit. The Arabs modified the word into Baidak, which signifies in their language