THE COUNTRY CLERGYMAN, 



' And Senators at cricket urge the ball.' 



POPE. 



DR. HASTINGS, who was a great encourager of the 

 sports of his village, took his friends the next 

 day to see a cricket-match which was to be played 

 on the village-common. While they were witness- 

 ing the joyous sport which was going on, Dr. Hast- 

 ings introduced them to a gentleman of the name 

 ot Metcalfe, who, although a bookish man, thought 

 cricket no bad companion for criticism, and in the 

 course of the afternoon he gave the following 

 account of the club to which he belonged. We 

 will give it as nearly as possible in his own words. 

 ' It is rather singular that so little should be known 

 concerning the history and origin of this fascinating 

 and fashionable game. The name can be traced no 

 higher up in the language than to a ballad of Tom 

 Durfy's, and its etymology is entirely unknown. 

 There is no plate or drawing resembling it, in Strutt's 

 excellent volumes of Antient Sports and Pastimes ; 

 so we must presume, that skilful and complicated as 

 it is, it must have risen up within the last one hun- 

 dred and fifty years ; and that it is probably formed 

 on a slow and scientific improvement of the old play 

 of club and ball. There is one peculiarity attending 



