Page:The Hambledon Men (1907).djvu/181

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FENNEX'S TRICK
131

Then the trick he played Butler Danvers, when he came into the field dressed as a countryman, and was taken in unconsciously, merely to fill up the eleven;—the sly look of Lord Winchelsea, as sly and as black as a gipsy's (the Finches were all black), (it had been planned between them); his delight, when they sent him down to the tent, to select whatever dress he chose to wear: his joy, when he heard 'Countryman, you take the bat to begin with', and the consternation among the enemy's forces, when eighty notches were scored by him. You should hear of the day, when Manchester saw the flower of youth fall before him; when he might have won thousands, if he had had them to stake. Or that single combat (nor Europe nor Asia ever beheld such, never seen from the Sigaean promontory, or on the banks of Simois) that even now (twice twenty years have passed since) will alone immortalize the plains of Wisbech. Midnight sounds in vain. Politics, scandal, Tories, Whigs, my Lord Grey, and the Bishop of Peterborough, and the last story about the Maids of Honour, and Lady Farquhar's splendid breakfast, and the unknown tongues, all solicit attention in vain; they seem as nothing, idle all and without interest; one wonders how the world can trouble itself about such toys. We fill the tumblers anew; and for the hundredth time I ask, 'What was young Small's favourite hit? How did John Wells get his runs?' Behold the advantage, ye parents, of bringing up your sons (why not your daughters?) to the love of subjects which cannot be exhausted, which never tire.

But we must hasten on.—The first time I see Lord Fred. Beauclerk's name, is on the 2nd June, 1791. He played with Marylebourn against Kent. Fennex and his Lordship bowled, and they beat their adversaries by one innings and 113 runs; in fact, it appears by the score, that Fennex, Beauclerk, and Beldham, got out the whole field between them. For thirty years after this, his Lordship stood as the most accomplished cricketer in England. In batting he was brought up in the