608 ifctngs of tbe 1Rofc, IRffle, an& (Bun 



was open to every call. I have already mentioned his 

 generosity in throwing open his beautiful gardens and 

 grounds at Enville Hall to the public for five days in 

 the week. And he also admitted the public to the 

 charming cricket-ground, which he had laid out at 

 great expense the prettiest and most perfect pitch in 

 England. There his neighbours of all classes had the 

 opportunity given them of seeing matches in which 

 the finest professional cricketers in the kingdom took 

 part. Jackson, Bickley, Tinley, Brampton, Willsher, 

 Brown, George Parr were for years practically re- 

 tainers of Lord Stamford's, and old Lillywhite had 

 his home at Enville during the latter part of his life, 

 with a handsome pension from the Earl. In fact, Lord 

 Stamford was the Maecenas of cricket in the Midlands, 

 as Lord Sheffield has been in the South of England ; 

 and not by any means the least enjoyable part of the 

 delightful matches at Enville Hall was the genuine 

 enthusiasm which the Earl's tremendous slogging used 

 to evoke when he handled the willow, for, as I have 

 said, there was no cleaner and harder hitter among 

 the amateurs of his day. 



But the Fates were unkind to Lord Stamford towards 

 the close of his life. He was struck down with illness 

 when he was but little over fifty, and though a prolonged 

 tour abroad restored his health to a certain extent, he 

 was never the same man again. Amongst all the 

 splendours of Enville and Bradgate he lived the life of 

 an anchorite, and his handsome face wore a tinge of 

 melancholy and depression which was too surely the 

 index of his mind. His natural reserve, always more 



