254 The Game Laws relating to Angling, &c. prehended or in cuftody for such offence, or on any other account, who shall make confeffion thereof, and a true difcovery on oath of his accomplice or accomplices, fo as fuch accom. plice may be apprehended, and fhall on trial give evidence fo as to convict fuch accomplice, fhall 'be difcharged of the offence fo 'by him confeffed, /. 1, 2. And if any perfon fhall take, kill, or deftroy, or attempt to take, kill, or destroy, any fish in any river or stream, pond, pool, or other water (not in any park or paddock, or in any garden, orchard, or yard adjoining, or belonging to any dwelling-houfe, but in any other inclofed ground, being private property) he fhall, on conviction before one justice, on the oath of one witnefs, forfeit 1. to the owner of the fishery of fuch river, pond, or other water; and fuch juftice, on complaint upon oath, may iffue his warrant to bring the perfon complained of before him; and if he fhall be convicted before fuch justice, or any other of the county or place, he hall immediately pay the faid penalty of 5 to fuch juftice, for the ufe of fuch perfon as the fame is hereby ap pointed to be paid unto; and, in default thereof, fhall be com mitted by, fuch juftice to the houfe of correction, for any time. not exceeding fix months, unless the forfeiture fhall be fooner paid; or fuch owner of the fifhery may, within fix months, after the offence, bring an action for the penalty in any of the courts of record at Westminster, Same fta. f. 3, 4. Provided, that nothing in this a fhall extend to fubject any perfon to the penalties thereof, who hall take, kill, and carry away, any fish in any river or other water, wherein fuch perfon fhail have a right fo to do. . 5. A conviction on this act was adjudged bad, becaufe the words of the ftatute was not followed in the conviction, as in the cafe of K. v. Corden, H. 9, G. 3. The defendant was convicted on the oath of Martha Buxton, in the penalty of 51. for fifhing with a net in a stream called the Schoo Brook, and taking, killing, and deftroying feveral fish, against the form of the ftatute in that cafe made and provided; the defendant not having any juft right or claim to take, kill, or carry away fuch fish. The defendant indeed confelled the whole charge; but the court was of opinion that this conviction was bad. They thought a ftrict hand ought to be held over these fummary convictions, and that it fhould appear to the court that the juftice hath jurifdiction, which in this cafe does not appear. Here is no complaint from the owner; nor does it even appear to have been without his confent: it ought at least to appear that it was without his con fent. This is plainly implied in the act of parliament; the giving the penalty to the owner fhews it. Here it does not fufficiently appear that this was private property, or who was the owner; The juftice was informed that Mr. Hayne is the owner; but the perfon who gave fuch information was not upon oath, and was therefore no witnefs. The ownership ownership is not fufficiently charged; neither is it confeffed; the confeffion goes no farther than the matter charged. The words in the conviction, having any juft right or claim, to take, kill, or carry away any fuch fifh," are too general. The provifo from whence they are taken, means to except fuch per not fons Account of the Origin of the Game of Chefs. 255 fons who have a fpecial right to fish in the fishery of another. The offence intended in the conviction is, fishing in the fishery of Mr. Hayne, being private property. But all this might be done, for any thing that appears upon this conviction, with the confent of the owner. The fact ought to appear fo that the court may be able to judge whether the conviction be agreeable to law. If the owner had been the complainer, that would have fhewn his diffent; but this conviction is upon the complaint of Martha Buxton; and it does not appear that the defendant has been guilty of fishing in any water being private property, without the confent of the owner. And the conviction was quafhed. Burr. Manf. 2279. &c." The following account, which we have with much difficulty obtained, will fhew the authenticity of our obfervation, and we doubt not afford both amufement and inftruction to the admirers of it. The In the beginning of the fifth century of the chriftian æra, there was in the Indies a very powerful prince, whofe kingdom was fituated towards where the Ganges difcharges itfelf into the fea. He took to himself the proud title of king of the Indies; his father had forced a great number of fovereign princes to pay tribute to him, and fubmit themfelves under his empire. young monarch foon forgot, that kings ought to be the fathers of their people; that the fubjects love of their king is the only folid By the 9 G. 1, c. 22 (ufually fupport of his throne; that his pacalled the black act), if any per-ternal care alone can truly attach fon being armed and difguifed, fhall unlawfully fteal or take away any fish out of any river or pond, or (whether armed and difguifed or not) fhall unlawfully and maliciously break down the head or mound of any fifh-pond, whereby the fifh fhall be loft or deftroyed, or fhall refcue any perfon in cuftody fór fuch offence, or procure any other to join with him therein, he shall be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. the people to the prince who governs them, and that in them confifts all his ftrength and power; that a king without fubjects would only bear an empty title, and would have no real advantage above other men. The Brahmins and Kajahs, i. e. the priests and nobility, re-, prefented all thefe things to the king of the Indies; but he, intoxicated with the idea of his grandeur, which he thought was. not to be fhaken, defpifed their wife remonftrances. Their complaints and reprefentations continuing, he was offended, and to revenge his authority, which he thought defpifed by thofe who dared to difapprove his conduct, he caufed them to be put to death in torments. This example affrighted others. They were filent, and the prince abandoned to himself, and, what was more dangerous for him, and more terrible to his people, given 256 Account of the Origin of the Game of Chefs. himself of the Brahmin's leffons, and now convinced that in the people's love of their king confifted all his ftrength, he altered his conduct, and prevented the misfortunes that threatened him. The prince was fenfibly touch Brahmin the choice of his reward; he defired that the number of grains of corn, which the number of the fquares of the chefs-board fhould produce, might be given him, one for the firft, two for the fecond, four for the third, and fo on, doubling always to the fixty-fourth. up to the pernicious counfels of Batterers, was hurried on to the laft exceffes. The people were oppreffed under the weight of infupportable tyranny; and the tributary princes, perfuaded that the king of the Indies, in lofing the love of his people, had lofted, and gratefully left to the the very effence of his power and Arength, were preparing to throw off the yoke, and to carry the war into his eftates. Then a Brahmin, or Indian philofopher, named Siffa, the fon of Daher, touched with the misfortunes of his country, undertook to make the prince open his eyes upon the fatal effects which his conduct was likely to produce. But, in ftructed by the example of thofe, who had gone before him, he was fenfible his leffon would not prove of any fervice, until the prince fhould make the applica. tion of it to himfelf, and not think it was done by another. With this view, he invented the game of chefs, where the king, although the most confiderable of all the pieces, is both impotent to attack, as well as defend himfeif against his enemies, without the affiftance of his fubjects and foldiers. The new game foon became famous, the king of the Indies heard of it, and would learn it. The Brahmin Siffa, was pitched upon to teach it him, and, under the pretext of explaining the rules of the game, and fhewing him the skill required to make use of the other pieces, for the king's defence, he made him perceive and relih important truths which he had hitherto refufed to hear. The king, endued naturally with understanding and virtuous fentiments, which the pernicious maxims of his flatterers and courtiers could not wholly extinguish, made an application The king, aftonished at the feeming modefty and reafonablenefs of the demand, granted it immediately, and without examination; but when his treafurers had made the calculation, they found that the king had engaged himself in a grant, for the performance whereof, neither all his treasures, nor his vaft dominions, were fufficient. Then the Brahmin laid hold of this opportunity, to give him to underftand, of what importance it was to kings to be upon their guard againft thofe, who are always about them, and how much they ought to be afraid of their minifters abufing their beft intentions. The game of chefs was not. long confined to India, it paffed into Perfia, during the reign of Cofroes. The Perfians looked upon it as a game to be made use of in all countries, to inftruct kings at the fame time that it amufed them, as the name, which they gave it, fignifies fchertrengi, or schatrak. game of fchar, or king. The The names of many of the pieces of this game, which have no reasonable fignification, but in the Eastern languages, confirm the opinion, we propofe, of its Eaftern Account of the Origin of the Game of Chefs. 257 vizir, a first minifter, or a general of an army, we can easily comprehend how a pawn or a fimple foldier, may be elevated to their rank, in recompence of the va Eaftern original. The fecond piece of chefs after the king, is now called the queen. The old French authors call it fierce, fierche and fierge, or fiercir. Corruptions of the Latin fiercia,lour, with which he has pierced derived from the Perfian ferz or firzin, the name of that piece in Perfic; and fignifies a minifter or vizir. Of the word fierge, they have made, vierge virgo, and afterwards lady or queen. The refemblance of the words made this change very eafy, and it feemed fo much the more reafonable, because that piece is placed next to the king, and at its firft moves, like the pawns, could only move two steps, which made it one of the leaft confiderable of the board, as the authors of two antient treatifes of the game of chefs acknowledge. The constraint upon the lady of chefs was difpleafing to our forefathers. They looked upon it as a fort of flavery, more fuitable to the jealoufy of the Eastern people, than to the liberty which ladies have always enjoyed amongst us. They extended therefore the steps and prerogatives of that piece, and in confequence of the gallantry fo natural to the Western people, the lady became the most confiderable piece of all the game. There was still an abfurdity in this metamorphorfis of the firzim or vizier into queen, and this incongruity remains yet to this day, without our taking notice of it.. When a pawn, or a fimple foldier has traverfed through the enemies' battalions, and penetrated fo far as the laft line of the board, he is not allowed to return back, but is honoured with the step and prerogatives of the queen. If the ferzin or the fierge be a through the enemies' battalions. But if the fierge be a lady, a queen or the king's wife, by what odd metamorphofis does the pawn change his fex, and become a woman that was a foldier before? And how do they make him marry the king, in recompence of that valour, of which he has given fuch proofs? This abfur- ̧ · dity proves that the fecond piece of chefs has been mal-apropos called lady or queen, for what king ever became fo enamoured of his first minifter, as to marry him, and take him for better for worse, until death do them part. The third piece of chefs which we call the bishop; the French, fool; the Spaniards, alferez; and the Italians, alfiere; ferjeant, in the Eaft, was of the figure of an elephant, and whofe name fit it bore. The king, which is the fourth piece, has the fame name and figure every where. fifth piece, which we call the rook, and the French, tour, is called by the Eastern people, the rokh, and the Indians make it of the figure of a camel, mounted by an horfemen with a bow and arrow in his hand. The This name of rokh, which is common both to the Perfians and Indians, fignifies in the language of the laft, a fort of camel ufed in war, and placed upon the wings of their armies by way of light horse. The rapid motion of the piece, which jumps from one end of the board to the other, agrees fo much the better, with this idea of it as at firft it was the only piece who had that motion. The 258 Remedy for the Bite of a Mad Dog. The king, queen, and pawn, made but one ftep, the bishop but two, as well as the knight, neither of them going farther than the third fquare, including that which they quitted. The rook alone was unbounded in his course, which may agree to the lightness of the dromedary, but in no ways to the immobility of towers, or fortreffes, the figures, of which, we, generally give to thofe pieces. The fixth and last piece is the pawn or common foldier, which has been fuffered to change. The Chinese have made fome alterations in this game, they have introduced new pieces under the name of cannons or mortars, the ufe of artillery and powder hav. ing been long known to them, before it was difcovered by the Europeans. Tamerlade made yet greater changes in this game, and by the new pieces, which he invented, and the motions he gave them, he encreafed the difculty of a game, already too much complicated, to be looked upon as an amusement, but thefe additions have not been approved of, and the antient manner of playing, each with fixteen pieces only, and upon a board of fixtyfour fquares, has taken place again. brute creation, that I have great I am, Gentleman, August 2, 1794. A. B. Take primrofe roots, ftar of the earth, dry moufe ear, and green moufe ear, of each a handful, cut fmall, and well boiled in a quart of milk; add the black of one crab's claw finely powdered, fweeten it well with Venice or London treacle. A drench for one dog, &c. to be repeated three mornings fucceffively, fafting; the fooner the better; for after the creature is once mad, notwithstanding what has been repeatedly advanced to the contrary, I believe there is no cure. Star of the earth is generally found in old dry clay ground, that has been feldom or never ploughed; dry moufe ear, in old hedges or walls: green moufe ear is an herb that refembles the form of a moufe's ear, and is hairy on one fide. |