BANKRUPTCY IN 

 AECADIA. 



It is the nature of man always to talk of the " good old 

 times," and so it will be, I suppose, to the end of the world. 

 Goldsmith, in his " Deserted Village," sings the same tune, 

 and Nyren, in his immortal " Cricketer's Guide," deplores 

 the glorious times of the old Hambledon Club, contrasts the 

 superiority of the ales and the punch then with those of 

 the day on which he writes, and the superior excitement in 

 the matches of the past compared with those of his own 

 time. I am by no means sure that the name of laudator 

 temporis acti is not more a term of honour than of reproach, 

 as being convicted of the failing of looking back on the 

 happy days long since past simply proves that those to 

 whom it is applied enjoyed their boyhood and their youth. 

 I hope I am thankful for those halcyon days which bring 

 back pleasant memories of great events, such as a pair of 

 shoe-stirrups for my donkey-pad for learning the multipli- 

 cation table ; my first watch, my first pony, my first gun, 

 my first match, and, in looking back on the dear old 

 governor's judgment, I now see how just and wise he was 

 In not letting me go up to Lord's when I was first in the 

 eleven, keeping me back for another year, as an inducement 

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