Take it as a maxim, unalterable as the laws of the Medes and Persians,
that whenever you are invited to a supper at _Paris_, _Lyons_, or any of
the great cities, where a _little_ trifling play commences before
supper, that GREAT PLAY is intended after supper; and that you are the
marked pigeon to be plucked. Always remember _Lord Chesterfield's_
advice to his son: "If you play with men, know with _whom_ you play; if
with women, for _what_:" and don't think yourself the more secure,
because you see at the same table some of your own countrymen, though
they are Lords or Ladies; a _London_ gambler would have no chance in a
_Parisian_ party.