By the Knaves were designed the servants to knights (for knave originally meant only servant; and in an old translation of the Bible, St. Paul is called the knave of Christ) but French pages and valets, now indiscriminately used by various orders of persons, were formerly only allowed to persons of quality, esquires, (escuiers,) shield or armour-bearers.
Others fancy that the knights themselves were designed by those cards, because Hogier and Lahire, two names on the French cards, were famous knights at the time cards were supposed to be invented.
Explanation of all the Letters on a Guinea.—The Inscription on a Guinea runs thus:—GEORGIUS III. DEI GRATIA, M. B. F. ET H. REX, F. D. B. ET L. D. S. R. I. A. T. ET E.
That is,—Georgius Tertius, Dei Gratia, Magnæ Brittanniæ, Franciæ et Hiberniæ Rex, Fidei Defensor, Brunswicii et Lunenburgi Dux, Sacri Romani Imperii Archi-Thesaurarius et Elector.
In English,—George the Third, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, Arch-Treasurer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire.
CHAP. LXXXII.
CURIOSITIES OF LITERATURE.—(Concluded.)
Curious Address to the late Queen Charlotte—Quaint Lines on Queen Elizabeth—Curious Names adopted in the Civil Wars—Curious Extracts from the Will of an Earl of Pembroke—Curious Letter from Pomare, King of Otaheite, to the Missionary Society—Curious Love Letter and Answer—Creeds of the Jews—The Unbeliever’s Creed—Explanation of the Terms “Whig” and “Tory.”
Curious Address to the Late Queen Charlotte.