J. Bayard Henry to James Hugh Moffatt

Philadelphia, PA., Sept. 6th, 1900.

Mr. James Hugh Moffatt, Princeton, N.J.

Dear sir:-

Your favor of August 29th was forwarded to me in Maine, and this is the first opportunity I have had to reply. I do not know of any one who played upon the Princeton Cricket Eleven in 1857. The reorganization in 1874 was effected my Fred. Marquand '76, Robert W. Johnson '76, Henry B. Thompson '77 and myself. As the first Bric-a-Brac showed, we played several games and the game with Harvard fell through because of the inability of the fellows to leave Princeton on account of examinations. Cricket was too slow for Princeton, and we were unable to secure decent grounds with a good piece of turf, suitable for the game. Whether cricket can ever be revived at Princeton, the future alone will determine. It takes so much time, and as it is only played in one or two of our preparatory schools, I doubt very much if it will ever have any great hold in any of our colleges, excepting possibily Haverford and the Univeristy of Pennsylvania. There are a few who play at Harvard, but the Harvard Eleven has never amounted to very much, and has mainly been composed of fellows who have gone from Philadelphia or St. Paul's School.

Congratulating the Alumni and University upon the valuable work which you are about to take up, I am, Yours truly, J. Bayard Henry