One of the oldest rosaries consists of two Latin verses, every word in each of which represents one of the fifty-two cards of a pack—

Unus, quinque, novem, famulus, sex, quatuor, duo,
Rex, septem, octo, fœmina, trina, decem;

which may be translated thus:

Ace, five, nine, knave, six, four, two,
King, seven, eight, queen, three, ten.

These thirteen cards are also arranged according to their suits, namely—spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds, as follows:

and so on, by following the words of the rosary and the suit, to the last card.

I will now give a sentence or rosary, for the thirty-two cards used in the game of Piquet—

Le Roi dix-huit ne valait pas ses dames;

Or—