BOWLING CREASE.

This is a mark made on the ground at each wicket. It must be in a line with the stumps, six feet eight inches long, with the stumps in the centre; there must be a return crease turning towards the bowler, at right angles.

POPPING CREASE.

This is a mark made on the ground, four feet from the wicket, and parallel to it; the length is not limited, but it must not be shorter than the bowling crease.

SCORERS.

The scorers keep an account of the runs to each striker separately for each innings, the side that has obtained the greatest number of runs wins the game. When the players on each side have all been in and out once, the first innings is completed; it is usual to have another innings, unless one party is beaten into sulkiness.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS.

Cricket is played by twenty-two persons, eleven on each side, and two umpires, with two persons to score and count. Thirteen players play at once, viz: the eleven outside players, and the two strikers, who are of the in-party. This is the number required for a full game, but for practice, a less number is sufficient; it is, however, advisable to have the full number, where it is possible, for the sake of teaching every one his duty.

CHOICE OF THE GROUND.

Where the players have not a regular ground, they should choose the smoothest and flattest piece of ground they can meet with, where there is plenty of room for the disposition of all the forces. The wickets should be pitched where there are no inequalities to divert the ball from its course, at the distance and at the height hereafter stated in the rules.

UMPIRES.

The next point is the choice of umpires, with whom rests the decision of all disputed points, and from whom there is no higher appeal, not even the House of Representatives. As this is an office of considerable importance and responsibility, care should be taken to choose men who are well qualified by a perfect knowledge of the game, and whose characters guarantee that their decision is impartial. One should stand somewhat behind the striker's wicket, so as to have a full view of the players, without interfering with their play. The other should place himself immediately behind the bowler's wicket, where he can see if the striker stop the bowl with his foot.

DISPOSITION OF THE PLAYERS.

The players should be stationed according to the plate; their particular duties are described hereafter. Should the striker be left-handed, it will be necessary to change their position, placing them on the left side, in exactly the same order.

I. THE STRIKERS.

The strikers belong to the in-party. Their first look out should be to keep themselves in; their next, to obtain as many runs as they can for their party; to prevent the ball from hitting the wicket, and to play it where it is least likely to be caught by the other side. The position of the striker should be with one foot behind the popping crease, leaving the wicket clear of all obstruction from foot or knees. The feet should be as wide apart as you can place them without losing your full "purchase," one immediately in front of the other, and the toes rather pointing towards the bowler; the weight of the body should be on the right leg, the top of your bat inclined towards the bowler, and the left elbow, as Nyren says, should be kept "well up." The value of Nyren's maxim will be discovered by all who attempt to play; it may be found rather awkward at first, but " use is second nature," and it is the only position which will give the requisite command over the balls. With regard to the manner of striking at different balls, practice and a quick eye and hand are the surest guides.

The in-player who is not striking should always be prepared for running. He should stand before the popping crease, and as soon as the ball is delivered he may run, but should not follow too

far, for should no runs be obtained he may be put out. Should the players have crossed each other, and a wicket be put down, he who is running to that wicket is out. In running from one wicket to the other, the strikers should take care not to run against each other, and should carry the bat outside. Should the striker leave his place before the ball is delivered, the bowler may knock down his wicket.

II. THE BOWLER.

The bowler belongs to the out-party. His position is immediately behind the wicket; and his duty to bowl the ball so that it may knock down the wicket, or so that the striker may play at it in the least advantageous manner.

The ball should be held so that the tops of the fingers shall cross the seam; this gives certainty to the hold. It should not be grasped too tightly, nor yet too loosely, but just so that you may let it leave the hand freely, and still have perfect control over it; the body should be kept in an erect position. It must be delivered with one foot behind the bowling crease, and within the return crease, and with the back of the hand towards the ground. The hand must not be raised above the shoul der. The aim of the bowler should be to drop his ball at distances of from three to five yards from the wicket, according as he wants a slow or fast ball. The speed of the ball must be regulated by the play of the striker, and the manner of bowling frequently varied with the same player, otherwise where the striker has "got into" your favorite ball, it will be a difficult matter to bowl him out.

In case the bowler should not succeed in bowling out the striker, and does not drop the ball in the right place, it is advisable to have some signal, known only to the two bowlers, by which either may be directed where to throw his balls, or how to vary them so as to be least advantageous to the striker.

As there are very few players who have not a favorite bull, the bowler will do well to find this out as soon as may be, and avoid giving him it. After hitting a few balls a striker will very often get so thoroughly into the bowler's way that it is a difficult matter to move him. In these cases it is advisable to change the bowler, even if it be only for a time. Bad bowling that a striker does not understand will often be more effective than good bowling which he is thoroughly up to.

Should the ball be hit by the striker, the bowler must return to his wicket, and hold himself in readiness in the best position to catch the ball if it be thrown up to him.

III. THE WICKET KEEPER.

His duty is to stump out the striker if he should leave his place to meet the ball, and to hold himself in readiness to put him out, if the ball is thrown up to him.

IV.-POINT.

He should stand to the right of the striker, and within the popping crease, so as not to interfere with short slip. He should vary the distance between him and the striker from four to seven yards, according as he may judge the ball will be a full one or a slow one.

V.-LONG STOP.

He must take his station at some distance behind the wicket-keeper; his duty is to stop or bring in all the balls that have passed the striker or the wicket-keeper.

VI.-SHORT SLIP.

His station is a few feet from the wicket-keeper, and rather behind him; he is required to "keep his eyes open," and to lend whatever assistance he can to the wicket-keeper, in stopping the balls, or in taking his place at the wicket, should he leave it to follow a ball.

VII.-LONG SLIP.

He must stand about twelve or fifteen yards from the striker, covering the ground between point and short slip.

VIII.-LEG.

He should stand somewhat behind the line of the popping crease, varying his distance according as the capabilities or play of the striker may direct him.

IX.-COVERPOINT.

He should take his station on the off-side, a short distance behind point, so as to stop any balls that may be missed by him; also to assist middle wicket if need be.

X.-MIDDLE WICKET.

He should stand on the offside at a moderate distance from the wicket of the bowler; should the bowler require to leave his wicket to follow a ball, middle wicket should take his place.

XI–LONGFIELD OFF.

His station is at some distance from the bowler, so as to cover bowler and middle wicket, and to stop long balls.

XII.-LONGFIELD ON.

He should stand about the same distance on the right of the bowler, as longfield is on the left.

XIII-UMPIRES.

One should stand somewhat behind the striker's wicket, the other immediately behind the bowler's wicket. Their duties are numerous and important, and will be found at length in the rules.

SINGLE WICKET.

Single wicket is played by any number from one to six on each side. If there are less than five players, bounds are placed twenty-two yards distant on each side, in a line from the off and leg stump; and no run can be counted unless the ball be hit before the bounds; nor can the striker hit the ball unless one of his feet be on the ground, and behind the popping crease.

The out-players must return the ball so as to cross the ground between the striker's and the bowler's wicket; the striker may run until it is so returned.

When the ball is hit, the striker must run to the bowler's wicket and strike off the ball, and back to his own wicket before he can count one; if he attempt a second run, he must touch the bowler's wicket and turn before the ball has crossed the play, or he is not entitled to another notch. If there are more than four players, no bounds are required. The laws relating to the bowler, and the duties of the out-party, are the same as at double wicket.

The great distance which the striker has to run in playing single wicket has always been an objection; and some modification should be made.

REVIEW OF NEW BOOK S.

Shakspeare and His Friends; or, "The Golden Age" of Merry England. Three volumes. Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia.

Messieurs Lea and Blanchard have done a public service in reprinting this work, which will commend itself to all classes of readers, and should be procured forthwith by every person who has a copy of Shakspeare, (that is to say, by the world at large,) as a most valuable running commentary upon the writings of the immortal bard, us well as those of his contemporaries. Most of the illustrious spirits of the "golden age" figure in the pages with a remarkably well sustained life-likeliness; the principal, if not the sole design of the author, indeed, being the crowding into a connected narrative as many as possible of these worthies-with a view of depicting them by aid of the best lights of historical research. This difficult task is well performed—and the book requires no higher praise. We make objection, however, to the author's imbuing his own style-the words in which he personally speaks with the antique spirit of the people and period discussed.

The Canons of Good Breeding; or, The Handbook of the Man of Fashion. By the Author of the "Laws of Etiquette." Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia.

This little book is a curiosity in its way. Indeed, there is something so very singular about it that we have been led to read it through deliberately and thoughtfully, with the view of solving the mystery which envelops it. It is by the author of the "Laws of Etiquette," who is also the author of Advice to a Young Gentleman," a volume which we commended with some warmth in a former number of the Magazine.

In regard to the "Canons of Good Breeding," the critical reader, who takes it up, will, of course, be inclined to throw it aside with contempt, upon perceiving its title. This will be his first impulse. If he proceed so far, however, as to skim over the Preface, his eye will be arrested by a certain air of literature-ism (we must be permitted to coin an odd word for an odd occasion) which pervades and invigorates the pages. Regarding with surprise this discrepancy between preface and title-between the apparent polish of the one, and the horribly ad captandum character of the other-he will be induced to finish the perusal of the book, and, we answer for it, will be thoroughly mystified before he gets well to the end. He will now find an exceeding difficulty, nearly amounting to impossibility, in making up his mind in regard to the merit or demerit of the work. If, however, he be somewhat in a hurry, there can be little doubt that he will terminate his examination with a hearty, perhaps even an enthusiastic, approval.

The truth is that the volume abounds in good things. We may safely say that, in a compass so small, we never before met with an equal radiancy of fine wit, so well commingled with scholar-like observation and profound thought-thought sometimes luminously and logically, and always elegantly, expressed. The first difficulty arising in the mind of the critic is that these good things are suspiciously super-abundant. He will now pass on to the observation of some inaccuracies of adaptation. He will then call to mind certain niaiseries of sentiment altogether at warfare with the pievailing tone of the book—and, finally, he will perceive, although with somewhat greater difficulty, the evidence of a radical alteration and bepatching of the language-the traces of an excessive limae labor. He will thus take offence at the disingenuousness which has entrapped him into momentary applause; and, while he cannot deny that the work, such as the world sees it, has merit, he will still pronounce it, without hesitation, the excessively-elaborated production of some partially-educated man, possessed with a rabid ambition for the reputation of a wit and savant, and who, somewhat unscrupulous in the mode of attaining such reputation, has consented to clip, cut, and most assiduously intersperse throughout his book, by wholesale, the wit, the wisdom, and the erudition, of Horace Walpole, of Bolingbroke, of Chesterfield, of Bacon, of Burton, and of Burdon,-even of Bulwer and of D'Israeli,—with occasional draughts (perhaps at second-hand) from the rich coffers of Seneca, or Machiavelli-of Montaigne, of Rochefoucault, of the author of "La Maniere de bien penser," or of Bielfeld, the German who wrote in French "Les Premiers Traits de L'Erudition

Universelle." We may be pardoned also for an allusion-which is enough—to such wealthy storehouses as the "Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses," the Literary Memoirs of Sallengré, the " Melanges Literaires," of Suard and André, and the "Pieces Interressantes et peu Connues" of La Place. The construction here given is the most obvious, and indeed the only one, which can be put upon the volume now before us, and upon the other efforts of the same pen. They betray the hand of the diligent adaptator of others' wit, rather than the really full mind of the educated and studious man of general letters. True erudition-by which term we here mean simply to imply much diversified reading-is certainly discoverable-is positively indicated-only in its ultimate and total results. The mere grouping together of fine things from the greatest multiplicity of the rarest works, or even the apparently natural inweaving into any composition, of the sentiments and manner of these works, is an attainment within the reach of every moderately-informed, ingenious, and not indolent man, having access to any ordinary collection of good books. The only available objection to what we have urged will be based upon the polish of the style. But we have already alluded to traces of the limae labor-and this labor has been skilfully applied. Beyond doubt, the volume has undergone a minute supervision and correction by some person whose habits and education have rendered him very thoroughly competent to the task.

We have spoken somewhat at length in regard to the authorship of "The Canons of Criticism," because ingenuities of this species are by no means very common. Few men are found weak enough to perpetrate them to any extent. We have said little, however, in respect to the book itself, as it stands-and this little has been in its favor. The publication will be read with interest, and may be read, generally speaking, with profit. Some of the niaseries to which we alluded just now are sufficiently droll-being even oddly at variance with the assumed spirit of the whole work. We are told, among other things, that the writer has employed throughout his book the words "lady,” and "gentleman," instead of the words "woman," and "man," which "are more correct expressions, and more usual in the best circles,"-that "when you lay down your hat in a room, or on a bench in a public place, you should put the open part downwards, so that the leather may not be seen which has been soiled by the hair,"-that "you should never present yourself at a large evening party without having your hair dressed and curled,”—and that since "the inferior classes of men, as you may see if you think fit to take notice of them, only press the rim of the hat when they speak to women of their acquaintance," you should be careful" when you salute a lady or gentleman, to take your own entirely off, and cause it to describe a circle of at least ninety degrees." The effect of such fine advice can be readily conceived. It will be taken by contraries, as sure as dandies have brains. No one of that much-injured race will now venture to say " lady," or "gentleman," or have his hair curled, or place his hat upside-down upon a table, or do any other such unimaginable act, lest he should be suspected of having derived his manners from no better source than the "Canons of Good Breeding." We shall have a revolution in such matters-a revolution to be remedied only by another similar volume. As for its author-should he write it-we wish him no worse fate than to be condemned to its perpetual perusal until such time as he shall succeed in describing with his hat one of his own very funny eircles—one of those circles of just ninety degrees.

The Damsel of Darien. By the Author of The Yemassee," etc. Two volumes. Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia.

The author of "The Damsel of Darien" is also the author of "Atalantis, a Story of the Sea;" "Martin Faber, the Story of a Criminal;" "Guy Rivers, a Tale of Georgia;" "The Partisan, a Tale of the Revolution;" and "Mellichampe, a Legend of the Santee." Of these works, " Martin Faber" passed to a second edition, (and well deserved a permanent success,) "Guy Rivers," and "The Yemassee," each to a third. What fate "Mellichampe" met with, or what "The Partisan," we are not so well prepared to say. In the latter work, with many excellences, were to be found very many disfiguring features, and, upon the whole, we thought it hardly worthy the literary reputation of Mr. Simms. The novel now published is, in our opinion, a much better book; evincing stricter study and care, with a far riper judgment, and a more rigidly-disciplined fancy. The path of the writer appears to be still onward-although he proceeds somewhat slowly along that path, to be He is thinking of Festina lente, perhaps. We sincerely wish him all the success to which his talents entitle him, and which his persevering efforts most assuredly deserve.

sure.

Vasco Nunez de Balboa is the hero of the "Damsel of Darien ;" and the narrative, which of course has no plot, is occupied with his dreams, difficulties, adventures, (and, finally, his death, through the jealous tyrany of Pedrarias,) in the pursuit of that darling object of his heart, the discovery of the Southern Sea; of which he had obtained some indefinite knowledge from the Indians of Darien, during his voyage under Rodrigo de Bastides. As these things are all matters of history, and as Mr. Simms has adhered for the chief part to the ordinary records, it will be unnecessary to dwell upon them here. In the first volume we have the most of pure romance; in the second, more of fact. The passages which, as mere specimens of good writing, we prefer, are to be found in the