James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annnual 1881

T H EL A T E M R. G E O R G EF R E D E R I C KG R A C E. 5 andthe Gentlemenand Players matches have the same keen interest ; but after these there is no such excitement to compare. Therefore , we consider that our Australian competitors are a supply to a most natural demand; and, as such, old prejudices and objections will surely give way. M e nwhorisk a heavyloss of time and money, long and far from home, must be allowed to stand to win as well as lose . Gate-moneybecomes the very condition of their existence . Supposing they comeon the condition of Stephenson's or W .G. Grace's Eleven in Australia , even then gate-moneymust be keenly bargained for by someone. W ehear the Australians said that an invitation with only their actual expenses paid would be readily accepted by a fairly representative eleven. Still , save for some charity to take the profits w e hardly see howthis could be arranged ; and, supposing this plan was approved, somem e nor body of m e nmust take the initiative . There is the difficulty , andsuch a m a nmight be hard to find . Let m ethrow out a hint. M e nworthhundredsof thousandss w a r m. Lookin the obituary and you will see no respectable m a nscarcely thinks of dying worth less than an estate in six ciphers . Will no one of them guarantee and invite our colonials -the proceeds (sure thus to be large ), for the benefit of some charity or fund, poor miners' widows, hospital , or other favourite schemeof his o w n? Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci : here we shall have pleasure andprofit all in one. However, with these visitors wehave all left off with an appetite , and cannot therefore persuade ourselves but that , as ' whenthere is a will there is a w a y; ' in one wayor another we shall see themhere again. C H A P T E RII. The Late Mr. George Frederick Grace . 6 THEREis an untitled dignity to which men in any walk of life attain by great excellence in their pursuits , be they what they may, and that dignity is the being known by their surname only without any prefix , or by a Christian name and surname , and sometimes by a Christian name only , or even a nickname . Soldiers and sailors talk of Wellington ' and ' Nelson; ' literary m e ntalk of Macaulay,' ' Thackeray,' ' Dickens ,' and Theodore Martin ; ' politicians speak of ' Peel ,' and ' Palmerston ,' and ' Russell ; ' old -fashioned cricketers , referring to those who have passed away or retired from the cricket stage , speak of them as ' Bathurst ,' 'A. Mynn,' ' Felix , Charles Taylor ,' ' Harvey Fellows ,' &c., there is no 'Mr.' or 'E s q.' or ' Sir' knownto fame. A n d the chances are that nine cricketers out of ten w h oh a d read the sad n e w sof the sudden death of one of our greatest amateurs, communicatedit to his neigh- bour by the simple words , ' Poor G. F. is dead .' There was only one G. F. in England, just as there is only one ' E. M.,' and one ' W. G. ' in cricket parlance , and the three celebrated brothers were familiarly spoken