Note 7 — LECTURE II. —— THE LEAD. ——

“According to the play that we see, with great weakness the rule is rather to lead strengthening cards. For our own part we should be inclined to say, “Lead from your long suit only when you are sufficiently strong to bring in that suit with the aid of reasonable strength on the part of your partner.”—Westminster Papers.

“When you have a moderate hand yourself sacrifice it to your partner.”—Mathews.

“With a bad hand lead that suit which is least likely to injure your partner. Do not, therefore, lead from four or five small cards.”—Major A.

“A lead from a queen or knave and one small card is not objectionable if you have a miserably weak hand; your queen or knave may be valuable to your partner.”—Clay.

“The rule of always leading from the longest, as distinct from the strongest suit, is a rule which, more frequently than any other, sacrifices a partner’s cards without any benefit to the leader, and is in direct opposition to the true principles of combination.”—Mogul.

Even Cavendish, unless “generally” is synonymous with “always,” admits the expediency of occasionally leading a short suit; “the hand, however weak, must hold one suit of four cards, and this should generally be chosen.”