ancient, and is supposed to have been invented by Xerxes, a
philosopher in the court of Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon. It was
well known in England before the Conquest, and Canute was very fond
of the chessboard. King John was so engrossed in this game that when
some messengers came to tell him that the French king had besieged
one of his cities, he would not listen to them until he had finished
his chess. The complicated movements of the various men seem to show
that the game was developed and improved, and not the invention of
one man, but few changes have been made during several centuries.
Players are checkmated now in very much the same way as they were
five hundred years ago.

Besides chess they had backgammon, or tables, as the game was
called, Merelles, or Nine men's Morris (which also found its way to
the shepherds' cottages), dice, and card games, some of which I have
described before. Gambling was often carried on to a great extent,
but evidently our modern people are not wiser than their ancestors
in this matter; and instead of playing games for recreation, are not
satisfied until they lose fortunes on the hazard of a dice or a
card. Let us hope that men will at length become wiser as the world
grows older.

[Illustration: TWO INDIVIDUALS PLAYING CHESS AS TWO OTHERS LOOK ON.]

Erasmus, the learned Dutchman, in his _Colloquies_ suggests some
curious awards for victors. He represents two youths, Adolphus and
Bernard, who begin to play a game at bowls. Adolphus says, "What
shall he that beats get, or he that is beaten lose?" Bernard
replies, "What if he that beats shall have a piece of his ear cut
off? It is a mean thing to play for money: you are a German, and I a