The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY ETENING, SEPTEMBER 13, 1853.

CRICKET IN IRELAND.

LITERATURE.

AN ELEVEN OF ENGLAND v. TWENTY-TWO
OF THE PHCENIX CLUB AND GROUND.

The Colonel. By the Author of " The Perils of

Fashion." 3 vols. Hurst and Blackett.

By a telegraphic dispatch from Lord Milton an Eleven
of England was hurriedly got together on Tuesday last
and brought to contend against Twenty-two of the
Phoenix Club, which now consists of such good players
that it would require England's best eleven to make a
match with them. In the present case the eleven was
weak, other matches in England requiring the services
of many of their most efficient players, including Mar-
tingell, Sampson, John Lillywhite, Chatterton, Lockyer,
and Grundy, all of whom are first-rate cricketers, and
were very much needed in the present match. The
Phoenix won the toss on Thursday morning,. and imme-
diately sent to the wickets Mr. Dallas and Lawrence.
The former made a two and two singles, and retired
from a ball delivered by Nixon. Lawrence made a very
brilliant innings of twenty-nine, composed of a three,
seven twos, and singles, and at last fell to James Lilly-
white, who had taken up the bowling at Wisden's end.
We may here state that the ground had been got into
prime order for the occasion, which caused the bowling
to be comparatively plain. Captain Thesiger was un-
fortunately run out after makinc, an excellent innings of
ten, comprising a three, a two,' and singles--thus five
wickets were disposed of for sixty-five runs.
In justice to the bowlers we may here state that the
rain at this period prevented their dropping the ball on
" the spot" as surely as they usually can do. The game
was stopped for a short time, and luncheon was got over,
when it was again resumed.
Doyle, like Lawrence, made a very excellent innings,
which was well appreciated by the English players. He
has a good defence, and a very excellent drive ; before
he ran himself out by bad judgment he got, together,
37, by two threes, seven twos, and singles. Mr. Cod-
dington then proved himself " a teazer" to the Eleven,
and seven times caused the bowling to be changed ; he
has a good style, and evidently showed that he has fre-
quently before' handled " the willow." His well-got
innings of 51 was obtained by a fine leg hit for four (one
of the best hits of the match), four threes, seven twos,
and singles ; seven wickets down for 133 runs. Adams
about this period took Nixon's place, and proved a most
effective bowler, 10 of the wickets falling victims to his
tempting but simple bowling. Mr. Norman made a
good stand, and played well for ten by two threes and
singles. Mr. Scott exhibited some of his Rugby cricket,
by making an excellent innings of 20, comprising a very
fine square leg hit for four, three threes, a two, &c.
The innings closed at 12.30 for 200 runs.
The wicket-keeping of England was far from good,
Hunt taking that position in the case of emergency, in
place of Lockyer, who is acknowledged by all to be the
best man that ever stood behind three stumps. The
score might not have been so high had he been to the
fore.

Whatever faults may be laid to the charge of
this author, the merit of originality cannot cer-
tainly be denied. The chief claim to it lies in the
fact that, throughout two volumes and a half, the
hero, Colonel St. Colmo, is of the age of fifty-five,
and the father of five children. His only son is of
a sufficient age to be a rival to his father. This
circumstance is most objectionable, as are many
other points of the tale. Another of the chief in-
cidents is of a painful nature—that of an impostor,
by an ingenious fraud, passing himself off as the
long-lost brother of an heiress, the heroine, Junie
Mavesyn. The first part of the story relates
to Colonel St. Colmo's early adventures,
and his elopement with his first wife. There
is something very extraordinary after the lapse
of so many years, of which the chief events
vsecrenoef, fai.o3t,oinunagpatriarchal character, but as
are briefly told, to find the Colonel again figuring
lady of twenty-one. The
tolniethloe
authoress gives an argument of two pages to prove
the much greater chance of happiness which such
young ladies possess in a marriage with fifty-five
than twenty-five. The remarks on this subject are
quite in an indignant spirit, and certainly the sam-
ples of young men are anything but favourable spe-
cimens. Eric St. Colmo, the son of the Colonel,
is a contemptible character, and Mr. Colyton
is very singular. There is one serious charge
which we must bring against this author. If
the sacred subject of religion must be touched
upon, and its high and holy things dis-
cussed in the midst of a tale of love and lawsuits,
care should at least be taken to introduce it appro-
priately. If the Mr. Hume the clergyman, and
Junie the simple-minded heiress, for instance, were
the speakers, we might sympathise with them, but
there is something jarring in the most solemn ideas
being discoursed upon by Mr. Daniel Colyton and
Yolande Villaroy, when we find the friendship on
both sides is of a sentimental description. If re-
ligious feelings or opinions are introduced, the
author should be careful to keep the character
at that level, and not tell us of a young lady
eating an " enormous dinner" in one chapter,
and in the ensuing one delivering a lecture
on the Israelites' golden calf. And still more
we should not have that lecture replied to
by a gentleman quoting Scripture, and in
are numerous, and the novel is no improvement on
calarpeta.ge Tohre twfaoultsfiladof hipullottalndg. too oo mu
incidentmuch
the writer's last work, but, without doubt, it is her
judgment and taste which are to blame in the selec-
tion of such subjects, and not her capabilities.
There is no want of power in the style, and the de-
lineation of the characters is good, though some of
them are a little overdrawn. Let us hope, then,
that by an avoidance of theological discussions in
love scenes, by an absence of painful and unpleas-
ing events, and by a hero a little more juvenile, and
sentiment a little more natural, the authoress may
employ her powers to a better purpose, and
give us a novel superior to " The Colonel."

On England's side Dean and Adams put in an appear-
ance to the bowling of Lawrence and Doyle. The field
was excellently arranged, under the management of
Capt. Dickens, W. Adams, Esq., and R. Scott, Esq.
The two batsmen made a good stand, and secured 18
before they were parted, when Lawrence, who was bowl-
ing well to the mark, gave Adams a " trimmer," which
shivered his timbers. Dean soon received another of
the same sort. Mr. Fenn, in his score of seven, made a
brilliant leg hit, for which he ran five. The wickets
from this period fell rapidly. The fielding of the
Twenty-two throughout was first-rate. The long-stop-
ping of Capt. Piper was of a description not to be sur-
passed by any amateur in England. We need only say
that the Eleven were disposed of for 41. Bentley played
as an emergency for Samson, Coates for Chatterton.
According to the laws of cricket, England having
failed to score within 100 runs of their opponents, were
forced to follow their innings, which they did with as
little success as their previous one, scoring only 56. The
Phoenix Club and Ground thus proved victorious in one
innings and 103 runs !
We hear that it is the intention of the club to play
another match next year, when the full strength of the
United will be brought against them, and we have no
doubt that the match will prove an interesting and well-
contested one. We may here state that the warmest
thanks of every cricketer in Ireland are due to Lord
Milton for his exertions on behalf of the game, as yet
only in its youth on this side of the Channel ; and we
hope that soon we may see Ireland under the patronage
of such men rise to contend with England without more
odds than 11 to 15, instead of 22.
The following is the correct score of the second innings
of the Eleven :

C Adams, Doyle 9
B Lawrence 1
B Lawrence 2

Not out 7
B Price 1
Byes, 2; wide, 1 3

Run out
B Lawrence

Total second innings 56
Total first innings 4l

B Price

C Dallas, b Price 7
C Adams, b Doyle 4
B Lawrence

Total 97

The first innings of

she Phoenix told 200.

The return match between the Kilbeggan Border
Union and the garrison of Mullingar came off on the
ground of the former on Thursday, the 25th ult., but
was not played out from the extreme wetness of the
evening and late hour in commencing ; though there is
little doubt but that the Borderers would have reversed
the position they were placed in by the garrison in their
previous matches. The following is the score : Mul
lingar Garrison—First innings, 36 ; second innings,
27 ; total, 63. Kilbeggan Border Union—First innings,
39.

SHAM FIGHT AT ST. GE.RMAIN.

PARIS, SUNDAY, SEPT. 11, 6 P.M.

Those who have even but once visited St. Ger-
main must have been struck vith the magnificent
coup d'ceil from the lofty aid spacious terrace
which rises on the very edge of its old forest.
With the advantages of a beautiful promenade,
where those who drive, or ride, or walk are equally
gratified, it possesses those which few others can
boast. Nothing can well be conceived more im-
posing than that majestic sweep of ground which
begins at the pavilion of Henri IV., and stretches
far away, taking in the most picturesque and the
most varied points of scenery. Le Notre, who
planned it, seems to have exhausted all his skill
in this work of art. It commands a verdant valley,
as well as the heights which vary its surface. A
forest lines it ; a forest stretches out at its feet ;
and through the wide and smiling valley the Seine,
fringed with foliage, winds like a serpent, and steals
softly away to the rich fields of Normandy. To
the left and right are towns, with their steeples
. rising from amid the trees—Chaton, Rueil, and
Asnieres ; full in front Mont Valerien, glittering
in the sun, veiled in the mists of morning, or with
its sharper outline softened in the moonlight, rises
at one extremity of the plain ; while, far away, the
noble arch of the Barriere de l'Etoile raises its
graceful form to the sky, and marks the boundary
where, five leagues distant, Paris begins.
As a princely residence St. Germain is long
fallen, but nothing can change the beauty of its
site, of its valley, its picturesque slopes, its stream,
its terrace, and its forest. It would not be easy to
select a spot more admirably adapted for a display
such as was witnessed there yesterday and the day
before—the representation of the capture of a town
by assault. To exercise the troops in a series of
military manoeuvres on an extensive scale, and thus
appropriately close the camp of Satory, was, no
doubt, the object of the Commander-in-Chief. The
point, as originally suggested, was the debarkation
of an army on the coast of Normandy, supposed to
march on Paris, and which had occupied St. Ger-
main by force ; and to repel the invasion and drive
out the hostile troops from St. Germain was the
duty of the troops of Satory and Versailles. With
that view, two plans of operation had been drawn up.
One was to march by Roquencourt and Port Manly,
gain the left bank of the Seine, and attain St. Ger-
main by the Paris road, by Fourqueux and the
Tasmories. This was subsequently rejected, owing
to the narrowness of the defiles. The second was to
push on by the Seine, along the Celle St. Cloud
and Bougival, to Malmaison and Rueil, by Vau-
cresson and Garches ' • to march on Chaton, and
take possession of the bridge which was held by the
enemy. In case of the failure of this opera-
tion, a bridge was to have been thrown
in front of Bougival, and the army was
to pass the night in the little island of La Loge.
The day following another bridge was to be thrown
from that isle to complete the communication with
the right bank ; then the troops were to move on
to the wood of Vesenit ; and the result expected
was that the enemy would be dislodged from
Chaton, and forced to fall back on St. Germain.
A reason which would have had no weight were
the war real instead of fictitious—namely, the state
of the crops on the ground intended to be tra-
versed, and the fear of injuring them—prevented
the execution of the plan; and the operation finally
determined on, and actually followed out, was one
rather adapted to an army coming from Paris than
Versailles.

About 12 o'clock on Thursday the operations
commenced with the movement of two regiments,
one of the line, the other of light infantry, with a
battery of artillery, which arrived at St. Germain
to join the 12th Regiment of Dragoons and the
troops of the garrison, who, under the command of
General Dubreton, were to defend the place, and
where they passed the day and night ; while the
attacking army, the division of General Levasseur,
quitted their encampment on Friday morning, and
proceeded to Rueil, which was the point where the
operations were to commence. The first brigade
took the road of St. Cloud, turned aside and
, marched on Rueil with a battery of artillery. The
second brigade, also with artillery, moved by the
Petit Chenay, and the Celle St. Cloud, and de-
bouched on the high road to Bougival ; it proceeded
to Rueil, where it occupied the plain and the sides
of the road ; and two brigades of cavalry, under
General Korte, took possession of the high road to
Paris by Roquencourt and Courvolant, about the
same time that the division of Levasseur issued
there. In the meantime the pontoons and the
parks of artillery had quitted Paris under a strong
escort of cavalry, and reached Nanterre, where
they took position on the road point of the Pari,
and St. Germain road ; and a brigade of light ca-
valry, under General Foray, occupied the sides of
the road and communicated with the infantry in
position at Rucil. At 1 o'clock all the troops were
in position, and Marshal Magnan, who directed
the operations, gave the order for the advance on
St. Germain. A brigade under General Alphonse,
with a battery, quitted Rueil by the road to
Chaton, passed along the causeway over the rail-
road, and, supported on the right and left by the
two brigades under Repond and Carbuccia, opened
a fire on the bridges, which they took after a des-
perate resistance by the enemy, who were extended
en echelon between the town and St. Germain ;
and the enemy, whose attempt to defend the vil-
lage was useless, were forced to abandon defini-
tively their position, and commence a retreat by the
road from Chaton to the Pecq, and were vigorously
pursued. The enemy retreated without confusion,
and several times turned round to dispute the vari-
ous positions. They again made a stand at the
bridge which crosses the railroad, but the artillery
poured in upon them on all sides, and they were
forced to abandon the point. They were pursued
by the two brigades of Repond and Carbuccia ;
and the latter attempted to follow them on the
bridge of the Pecq. The enemy's artillery, how-
ever, which was in position on the opposite bank
of the river, kept back the heads of the columns,
and the attacking force, in spite of a vigorous can-
nonade and of incessant musketry, was forced to
suspend its forward movement. The columns of
infantry yet remained in the skirts of the wood ;
and a regiment of light cavalry (the Chasseurs),
who had, under their cover, marched by the road
of Croissy, advanced to protect the pontoniers who
were coming up from the Chaton road. The pon-
toons were brought up under their protection to a
short distance from the river ; and Gen. Levasseur,
after having established his outposts on the skirt s
of the wood, ordered that preparations should be
made for the troops to bivouack. Every soldier had
the necessary material for the purpose, and in a
few minutes the whole of the ground was covered
with small tents formed of four encamping sacks
each, supported on three slight pieces of wood.
Some of the men went to fetch water, others lighted
fires, others made preparations for their comrades'
supper. In the meantime the artillery and cavalry
took up the cantonments assigned them in the
neighbouring villages, and strong outposts were
placed in various directions to guard against a
surprise. _ _ _

Before night fell all was quiet. The smoke of
the artillery that had hung heavily over the banks
of the river cleared away, and except a low murmur
or hum of voices, and a few occasional shots between
the outposts, nothing was heard. The weather was
beautiful during the day, and the thousands of
spectators who had come out from Paris and from
the towns in the vicinity of the scene of action,.
witnessed the battle from the terrace of St. Germain
and the heights and slopes in front.
Marshal Magnan, who bivouacked with the troops,
as also the superior foreign officers who witnessed
the operations, availed themselves of the brief in-
terval to dine at the Chateau of Croissy, where they
were entertained by the directors of the St. Germain
Railroad.
The next morning, at daybreak, the fires of the
bivouack were extinguished, and the movement on
both sides of the river showed that preparations
were making to renew the battle and push on the
assault of the town, whose gloomy castle frowned
over the plain. During the night precautions
had been taken by the general commanding the
assault against any sudden coup de main on the
bridge of the Pecq. Artillery in sufficient force was
deposited at it, in the direction of St. Germain,
both banks of the stream were covered with clouds
of skirmishers, and the village itself was occupied
with a force strong enough to defend it, or to hold
it till such time as reinforcements could be got up.
The strictest watch was kept up by the outposts
in both armies, and, as I have already mentioned,
some shots were exchanged whenever the slightest
stir was observable. When the first rays of morn-
ing broke over Mont Valerien the order was given
to strike the tents, and in a few minutes the ground
was clear ; but the division of General Levasseur,
under shelter of the wood, still occupied the ground
where the camp had been established. The attack
was resumed soon after, and a brigade of light ca-
valry, under General Foray, which had been can-
tooned in the villages on the right, formed in the
road from Houille, to Maisons, appeared to menace
the bridge of the latter village, and only waited to
pass it till a corresponding movement in support
was made by the infantry. In the meantime the
pontooniers, aided by a body of engineers, com-
menced the operation of passing the river, between
the old bridge of the Pecq, and that which baffled
the attack of General Levasseur with his division
the day previous. The engineers were frequently
interrupted in their work by two batteries of the
enemy's artillery on the opposite bank, which
opened a tremendous fire, and was supported by
the musketry of a strong detachment of infantry.
In a few minute& the bridge of the Pecq, with the