Messrs. Arkwright, Cunliffe, and Warner have received their blues from the Captain of the Oxford University Eleven. In other words, these gentlemen will help to represent their University in the cricket match against Cambridge. My congratulations, though they come late, are none the less hearty and sincere. Can any years of success in after life efface the memory or outrival the delight of that crowded moment of glorious life which comes to a young man when his Captain tells him he may get his blue? Thenceforward he is made one with the great company of old blues, who year by year meet and exchange reminiscences, the honour of his University is in his hands, his father becomes less rigorous in his financial views, and his mother is confirmed in her opinion that her darling is the brightest and best and handsomest of created beings. These keen joys come but once in a lifetime, and only to a few.
That man's a good bat who can time, judge, and mark right
The ball as it flies from the right hand of Arkwright.
And the Oxford men cheer as they see the stumps fall
When the Magdalen bowler delivers the ball.
"My team," said G. Mordaunt, "requires only one lift;
If I get it the Cantabs may go and be Cunliffed."
And I think he was wise in awarding, don't you,
To this tricky left-handed young bowler his blue.