The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-01-01 00:00:00

BLACKWOOD'S
E DIN IS L'ICGII MAGAZIN&
The Number for last month was published yestera
day. It IS a very elliertainingssiiscelliniy. though
the arrangement of the essay% is somewhat singular.
The ininsatlions of the Dilethiati Society of
Edinburgh, and Viator's Letters nu the History
anti Provesa of the Fine Art., winch are iiiteresta
lug specimens of the literature and taste of our
northern neighbours, immediately precede the es.
tracts from the pugilistic annals or our comers.
which are developed with complete druriatir .tfect.
'flee name* of Miciniel A ilgtiu. 'lluan.
Leonardo de Vinci, Curreggio, and (LIMN abuse
works are spoken of by Viator. with admirable taste
and judgment, are by the readers turning over •
page, placed as it were in juxtepusiiina with the.
champion Tom Johnson, the Croydon Drover,
Steevy Oliver, Jack Towers, Ryan the Irishman.
and all the worthier of the pugilistic art that have
flourished in our favoured times. 'Chi. happy as-
sociation of trate and prowess, is yet perhaps strictly
clas•ical. Vespirsion's magnificent Coliseum at
Rome, the fimat work of art of which the Rotuma
could boast, was climffy erected to display the
combats of the gladiators. The most splendid
edifices of Greece anti Rome were devoted to that
combats of the Yellin ; but. alas I.uotwithstand-
ing the patronage of the great Duke of,Cumbera
land. and all the other illustrious patrons of leuxing;
thstan to the late Mr. Witsdhsm, our modern alst•
distors must travel. like the followers of 7'hespi).
stopping their waggon whet. Airy eau. sod fisiogr
the pins of their ring upon some common drltitti hr
art or nature the ornament of any more rural .111 k.
As the noble art of poetry in general detatii Its
lustre to the pugilistic art, which by the reality 4
its eaploita inviting all the feats of fiction, so ir is
but fair that history should record its growth and
progress with the due attention becoming what rile,
Jack•on, Air. Cribb, and the historiaa Mr. Egi...
would ,:dll the merus of the •• ennoLhi.lt science:"
81,A-woods Magazine has taken li;' the subjes t
of Barlow can airfare. The following extracts will
skew the force of its erudition and extra,' of its
inquiry. Mr. Egan ought to feel grateful fur such
rits historiographer of his work :
The character of a people is to he sought far
and found iii their amusements. It i. Intlatichol?„
therefore, to reflect hit that of Englishmen, dur-
ing the period that elapsed hortateeh the tlrlest of
Slack, and the first peeling of Tutu Joinison, lilies
Jackling. There was his principle iii the rill!.
Honour bad fled to heaven from fighlia.: men. No
dependence could be placed on tine favourite ac
ptd:::ping or setting-io—and belltyg was 11111 e shoat
of an act of insanity. Bolting was the order addle
and it seemed as if pluck were rooted cat
from the soil of England. This is not the place
to cuter into a review of the governineut of the
country during that disastrous era of our history.
No doubt, the administration must hove been most
corrupt, and a reform wanted in every department
of the state, before the spirit of pugilism could
It ive sunk so low among the most boxing people 111
the oinverse. But this ismisiry would lead us hr.
yomi our limit., nor, vir eimfeas, does it ever please

i

as to dwell on the prospect of ontional riegratiationi.
Soiet us hail the restorer of Isis country's honour
in the champion Tom !
" Johnson'. first set-to, in 1783, was with a
fighting cermet), of the iiasne of Jarvis; and
though Toro was looked upon as a mere novice in
the art, yet he displayed so much superiority over
the carman, that his fame was soon made known.
Jarvis had milled a kw good men himself—but
in the hand. of Johnson he got most dreadfully
beaten, that he was "tweet.), able to walk out of
Lock's-fields, where the contest was decided.
" The Croydon drover, a man of pugilistic no.
toriety, now fought Johnson upon Kennington
Common ; but. Johnson finished Inin in a very
short period.
Steevy Oliver, the noted death, although
growing old fast, and who had been fighting ever
since the days of Broughton, entered the 11,1,, wilt:
Tom Johnson, and proved himself a good bit 4f
strif—but his day was gone by—and Johnson *a*
nut long in getting the victory. Some thousands
of spectators were upon Blackheath to witness this
display of science.
" Bill Love, a tutcher, challenged Johns°, for
fifty guineas, which was decided in Barnet; but
the knight of the cleaver was, in a few nannies, as
completely cat up, as to leave Johnson in posses-
sion of the ground.
" Jack Towers, who had overcome death, thought
he had little more to fear, mid therefore, withunt
hesitation, agreed to fight Johnson at the above
place; but font had likewise got the better of
deatls, and, in a very short time, Towers was com-
pletely satisjed that he stood no chance with John-
son, and so gave
" A man of the name of Fry, offered to fight
Johnson for fifty guineas at Kingston, which Tom
cheerfully agreed to ; but, in less than half an hour,
Fry got so mach broiled, as to be *cry glad tri put a •
an end to 'the contest, and Tom walked off thi
ground not even pinked. •
Johnson shout this priod (1787) punished go
many of the minor cods, that it was degqieduel
crusty, by the sporting world, to look out fur a,
auto/net who might be able to stand sonsethisig likes
a mill with hint. As the metropolis could prodigal.
no such character, Bristol was searched (the hot-
bed for pugilists), when Bill Ward was selected.
as a decent article that could he depended upqn ;,
and accordingly he was backed to fight Johirititi for
two hundred guineas, at Oakingliain, in Berkshire.
In the first round Ward found out that he had
deal with, by • -'

got a tramp to deal with, by receiving new a
doubler from Johuson, mid immediately acted upon
the defensive. In fact, it ass scarccly worthy of
being celled • fight ; and the amateurs werr not
only disappointed, but much displeasyd. Ward
was convinced that he c3ultl not beat Johnson by,
stundiug up to him, and therefore. determined t• try,
wbether he could nut tire hint oat ! And generally
when Tool attempted to put in a good Wow. Ward
was dowu on his knees. Thin Aumbeggise lasted
for nearly Ittl hour and a half—Johnson anteltirit
bring continually frustrated by Ward's d!wisiNg
ea his knees. At length. a. prime-blowayd•
eir-etit "i«Ni." sad he 00010011 M 4.4 "MP •
weed* 41Rteeseesibeeesp of siessilii
rusk sadletsis t t. Jamison was,
establisbld es the disiitios—his fame ma
•