unless an apology was made, he should leave the eleven—­no small sacrifice, considering what cricket was to him; but the gentlemanlike and proper feeling of the better style of boys prevailed, and the eleven knew their own interests too well to part with him, so the apology was made, and he retained his position.  The affair came to the knowledge of two of the masters, Mr. Dupuis and Mr. Abraham, and they gratified their warm sense of approbation by giving Patteson a bat, though he never knew the reason why, as we shall see in one of his last letters to one of the donors.

His prowess at cricket must be described in the words of his cousin, Arthur Duke Coleridge, who was at this time in college:  ’He was by common consent one of the best, if not the best, of the cricketers of the school.  The second year of his appearance at Lord’s Cricket Ground was the most memorable, as far as his actual services were concerned, of all the matches he played against Harrow and Winchester.  He was sent in first in the Harrow match; the bowling was steady and straight, but Patteson’s defence was admirable.  He scored fifty runs, in which there was but one four, and by steady play completely broke the neck of the bowling.  Eton won the match easily, Patteson making a brilliant catch at point, when the last Harrow man retired.  Full of confidence, Eton began the Winchester match.  Victory for a long time seemed a certainty for Eton; but Kidding, the Winchester captain, played an uphill game so fiercely that the bowling had to be repeatedly changed.  Our eleven were disorganised, and the captain had so plainly lost heart, that Patteson resolved on urging him to discontinue his change of bowling, and begin afresh with the regular bowlers.  The captain allowed Patteson to have his way, and the game, though closely contested, was saved.  His powers of defence were indeed remarkable.  I saw the famous professional cricketer Lillywhite play once at Eton in his time, and becoming almost irritated at the stubbornness and tenacity with which Coley held his wicket.  After scoring twenty and odd times in the first, and forty in the second innings, (not out), Lillywhite said, ’Mr. Patteson, I should like to bowl to you on Lord’s Ground, and it would be different.’  ‘Oh, of course,’ modestly answered Coley; ‘I know you would have me out directly there.’

The next cricket season this champion was disabled by a severe sprain of the wrist, needing leeches, splints, and London advice.  It was when fixing a day for coming up to town on this account that he mentioned the occurrence of the previous year in a letter to his father:—­

’I have a great object in shirking the oppidan dinner.  I not only hate the idea of paying a sovereign for a dinner, but last year, at the cricket dinner, I had a great row, which I might possibly incur another time, and I wish very much to avoid.’

Then, after briefly stating what had passed, he adds:  ’At this dinner, where the captain of the boats manages it, I should be his guest, and therefore any similar act of mine would make matters worse.  You can therefore see why I wish Tuesday to be the day for my coming up.’