The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-10 00:00:00

VISIT TO THE IRISH CHAM-
PION'S TO.
TO THE EDITOR OFMB
THE SUN.
SlR—Shakspeare has observed, and, I believe, there
are few persons to be found at the present period, who
would dispute his authority, when the traits of nature
are illustrated, that
" Cowards die many times before their death,
The brave but once."
On reading with great pleasure, that justice had been
done at last to departed greatness, in the splendid return
of the remains of Napoleon from St. Helena to Paris, the
thought flashed across my mind, that being within two
or three miles of the spot, I would pay my respects to
the tomb of another hero—but one of a different class—
most certainly eomparisons between them are not to be
called into question ; nay, more, there is an immeasur-
able distance between the above great master of the art
of war, and the subject to whom I allude. The latter
was an old acquaintance of mine, whose prowess I had
witnessed in the field of glory, whose " bunch of fives" I
had often grasped in the cause of true courage and friend-
ship, and who acted under the advice of the poet of a
thousand years—that
" Honor and shame from no condition rise,
Act well your part, there all the honor lies."
'I felt determined to visit the grave of the late Cham-
pion of Ireland, Dan Donnelly, of whom it was said,
when George the Fourth was Prince Regent, he
knighted the pugilistic hero for his " striking" qualities.
I have, Sir, something like a precedent or two before
me for visiting the graves of those persons we may have
had some attachment or friendship for in their lifetime.
The late Mr. Hardy, who was tried some years ago for
high treason at the Old Bailey, whose wife died during
his incarceration, immediately on his acquittal, almost
ran to pay respects to the grave of his partner before he
returned to his dwelling ; and Lord Cornwallis, who un-
fortunately experienced defeat in America, on his land-
ing, in England, the first place that claimed his most
sacred and devoted attention was the tomb of Lady Corn-
wallis. Such visits, in my humble opinion, are calcu-
lated to revive feelings of the most grateful description,
either on account of the virtues, the integrity, or
splendid talents which may have been possessed by the
deceased, and the irreparable loss perhaps to his friends
and society-in general.
The late Irish Champion, it must be admitted, was a
feature of some importance in his own country. Dan left
his native sod to gather laurels for it ; and Ido really
think that if Donnelly had been " stalled off" by death
during his milling career in England, the " Irish Fancy,"
whose warm hearts tell so much in favour of country
and their countrymen, would have had his remains
brought over to Ireland (not, perhaps, at the expense of
Government, but in one of the primest steamers on the
station), to receive the funeral honours due to the Cham-
pionship in his own country.
Bully's Acre is the name of the place where the last
remains of the Irish Champion are deposited, and it is
said to have taken its name from a celebrated counsellor
at the Irish bar, called (from the ground belonging to
him) Bully Egan, who, in a law contest with that great
wit and eloquent pleader, the Master of the Rolls, Mr.
Grattan, observed, " if the latter did not leave off his
abuse he would put him in his pocket," in allusion to his
being a small man. "If you do so," replied Grattan,
"you will then have more law in your pocket than you
ever had in your head."
Bully's Acre was a piece of free burying-ground, near
Kilmainham, and any person might bury their dead in
it ; and during the time the cholera was raging so ter-
rifically in Dublin, 500 persons were interred in one day.
It was immediately afterwards closed, for fear of the con-
sequences, and has continued so ever since.
Bully's Acre is situated on a rising ground, at the back
of the Royal Hospital, about three miles from Dublin,
and commands a beautiful view of the above city, and
also the rich, variegated, and picturesque scenery of the
Phoenix-park, the Liffey, the Old Man's Hospital, and
almost on a parallel, to render the Champion's tomb more
conspicuous, proudly stands the Wellington testimonial,
in honour of the hero of one hundred battles ; likewise,
at a small distance from the grave of the former, are to
be seen the remains of the tomb of Brian Borheime, our
of the Irish Kings' of great antiquity.
Donnelly was followed to his grave by thousands of
persons, and a very handsome monument erected to his
memory, on the slab of which was engraven at each
corner the victories he had obtained in the P.R. over
George Cooper, Isle of Wight ; Hall, and Tom Oliver
—three Englishmen ; and also over one of his own
countrymen, a very formidable rival. But owing to a
rude and barbarous custom which too often prevails
amongst a set of persons wishing. to preserve as a token
something belonging to a person of notoriety, the monu-
ment has been completely destroyed bit by bit, and taken
away, and now nothing remains of it to be seen but .the
abutment.—" Sic transit gloria mundi."
To impress the scene more strongly on my memory, I
chose " the witching time of the night, when church-
yards yawn," for paying my visit to the grave of the
Irish Champion. " I was in a right frame for it," as
Sterne observes, " and so gave full scope to my imagina-
tion." I almost began to fancy strange things, the late-
ness of the hour, shadows fleeting by me, the dullness
of the place,and my own individual forlorn situation, com-
bined to prepare me for what was about to happen. In my
mind's eye I saw the grave open, I was at first seized
with a tremor, but shaking it off, assumed a sort of
courage to keep my ground. Suddenly the shade of the
Champion appeared before me, pale and wan, and thus
I heard him address me :
" What ! my old friend, BoxfANA ! Are you still
preserved amongst the Fancy ? No big ones now-a-days !
—rather at fault in that respect. The sporting like to
see the big ones' in the Ring."
I nodded assent.
" Horrid changes have taken place. since I have been
called away from the P.R. !—the introduction of the
knife on the slightest difference of opinion ! Such a
direful change could not have been anticipated."
I again nodded.
" FAIR PLAY ! lam afraid that great boast of Eng-
lishmen is being lost sight of in a certain degree, when
such murderous weapons are resorted to, instead of the
use of man's best supporters and friends, the weapons
given by nature for his defence—his fists ! • Mankind, in
general, ought not to resort to any other weapons."
I shook my head, meaning that I was sorry to acknow-
ledge there was too much reason for such a charge.
" Then, do all you can, Boxiana, to support the good
cause : continue to encourage Pugilism with your pen as
a national feature, always advocating a clear stage and
fair play ; but decry the knife, the dreadful uses of which
are found out too late, and the "
His voice became inaudible, he vanished into " thin
air," and I lost sight of the Champion altogether. I very
soon quitted the realms of the departed ; bearing in
mind, as a confirmation of what the Champion had ut-
tered, Baron Gurney's observation at the late assizes at
Worcester,." that STABBING and the use of the KNIFE in
the slightest quarrel was gaining ground, and must be
put down."
To show something of the character of Donnelly, the
following trait will suffice :—After the fight between him
and Tom Oliver for 100 guineas a-side, on Crawley
Downs, July 21, 1819 (one hour and ten minutes), Oli-
ver having fainted, both of them were brought to a little
cottage on the Downs, and put to bed in adjoining rooms,
with only a thin partition between them,—the following
conversation took place :
" Poor Tom's not dead, I hope ?" asked the Champion,
of his friends round his bed. " I would not have kilt'
him ; ' kilt' such a brave fellow, not for all ould Ireland,
much as I love it ! Oh, lam ' destroyed.'"
" Sure, man alive," replied one of his countrymen,
" you hit out like Hercules with his club : by St. Peter,
that right hand of yours is a nate article to take out the
pride of a shelf of china ; why, it's more like a hammer
belonging to a forge than the body of a Christian. You
have almost made 'yap 'of poor Oliver. He must have
been made of cast-iron to have stood so long before bnefootreci3l.moitu
Dan • but lam happy to say that '
told "

"An angel spoke !" replied Dan, "not kilt him ! By
the beauty of Dublin Bay, you have taken the weight
of the Curragh off my chest. I was so oppressed with
horror ! Sure I never will be a murderer ! Och
remember my ould schoolmaster used to tell me,
when
I was quite a brat of a boy, when fighting with my
schoolfellows—for the ould
chap was fond of a bit of
poetry—that

` One murder makes a villain !
Millions a hero !'
True, I like to polish off my customers nate and chine,
and only look to the honour of the thing—that is to in-
fer, a whack or two for ould, darling Ireland 1 Spake
to me, Mr. Thomas Oliver ! Oh ! let me hear you
sake, Tom 1 Then I will not only return thanks for my
victory, but that your life has been spared. How is it
with you, Mr. Oliver ? Whist ! whist !"
"I am very ill, Mr. Donnelly," answered Oliver,
very faintly. " How can I be 'otherwise after such a
battle, and with so strong a man."
"Are you sure, Tom, that it's yourself who is spaking
to me, and it's not some other cratur that wants to
bother me ? Spake, if you plase, Mr. Oliver, once
more ; and then I'll be no longer kept in suspince ; and
tell me, Tom, that you are not dead."
Oliver answered by observing, " It is Tom Oliver who
is speaking to you now ; but I'm too much exhausted t(,

say any more at present, Donnelly ; but rest satisfied
that I am alive."

" More power to you, Torn," said Donnelly, recover-
ing his spirits ; " may von win the next battle ;
and, to-
morrow, you and I will drink success to milling, with
the swells, over a bottle of champagne."
Donnelly returned to London in triumph, supported
by all ranks of the Irish Fancy, to the Castle Tavern,
kept at that period by Tom Belcher. The English
boxers were rather nettled at this conquest ; English-
men don't exactly understand defeat ; it is a phrase not
at all current in their vocabulary ; at all events, they
will try to recover a lost laurel if possible, and in con-
sequence, of which lots of challenges assailed the ear of
the Champion long before the hour arrived to go to rest.
But Tom Shelton, more impetuous than the rest, rudely
intruded,himself into a company of Irish gentlemen, and
wn
thus addressed them :---4‘ This fellow your Champion ?
He can't fight at all ; he's nothing else but an im-
to
poster ; he has won with Oliver some how or another, /
admit, but I'll soon take the conceit out of him
ever he likes, for WOL or 200/." He also attempted,
tear the green ' iibbon,llonnelly's colours,
Olivergentleman's hat, Shelton was so enragedff a
hav-
ing sustained defeat; .
.. . Oli

Tom Belcher waapresent, and who-had not only mar-

tied a Dublin lady of respectability, with pretensions to
figure and beauty, but likewise had nearly realised
1,0001. teaching the art of self-defence in the above city,
and prudently had sent it over, and secured it inV
Bank of England. Tom, always full of pluck,. if _ stamina could not act as a second to the noble quality in
, man, felt, out of gratitude for both of the above " slices
I of luck," unable to stand still like a dummy, and hear
his friends belonging to Paddy's delightful city abused ;
where he, too had gained pugilistic laurels of the first
quality on the Curragh of Kildare, by defeating
Dogherty, for 100 guineas aside, and 50/. in nineteen
minutes, seven rounds (April 23, 1813) in a spot ever
since called " Belcher's Valley." Tom said to Shelton,
" You are too rude, your remarks are out of time and
place ; and added, with great energy, " If you say one
word against Ireland you shall repent of it." e who
cares for what Tom Belcher can do," ' answered Shelton,
snapping his fingers with great contempt. This sort of
treatment so enraged the hero of the Castle Tavern, that
he shed tears with passion. " Excuse this weakness, -
gentlemen," said Belcher, " these are no symptoms of
fear, and will soon be over ; but if ever I have phnished
vain boasting and uncalled-for insolence, I'll try to do it
now," and immediately prepared to have a " turn-up"
with Shelton, but the gentlemen present interfered, and
the row was at an end. Belcher would have been con-
siderably over-weighted in such a contest ; but his fine
science, and the rapidity of his " one two," which Tom
never failed to put in on the " upper works" of his cus-
tomers, might have put Shelton's chance of victory to
rather a doubtful issue.
Indeed, -It should seem that Donnelly did not appear
to be well pleased with himself in his contest with Oliver,
when an Irish General, a great patron of Randall, ob-
served to the Champion that he had antieipated better
things from him, according to repute. Donnelly re-
plied, " Why, General, I felt more like a wooden man,
than heretofore ; but I will show your honour the ELEC-
TRICITY of the thing in my next encounter ; I was not
in the Curragh, and did not feel exactly at home."
"Nonsense," observed the General, with a smile, " I
have been long enough a resident in this country to say
that you will always find fair play in England ; and, ac-
cording to Boxiana's well-known chant,--
"'Country or colour to us are the same,
Only anxious are we in preserving the game."
During the enthusiasm of the moment, and flushed
With victory, the warm-hearted countrymen of Donnelly
offered, at the Castle Tavern, to match him' against the
English Champion, the lion-hearted Cribb, fir 200/.
a-side (of whom uncle Ben said, "he would not mind
fighting Tom, but that Cribb never knew when to leave
off") ; a Noble Lord being present, and a great loser on
Oliver, accepted the challenge, " but the sum must be
increased," he said "tol,ooo/. a-side." Donnelly's backers
cooled upon the subject, and the match went off.
Donnelly, most assuredly had nothing of the tee-
totaller attached to his composition ; he did not know,
during his existence, there was such a word as " tem-
perance " to be found in any book, much more in an
Irish dictionary ; at all events, with his general conduct
altogether, he never looked for the meaning of it. When
his trainer found fault with him for not attending to the
plan of regime strictly laid down for pugilists to keep in
view,—" sure nothing can hurt me, man alive 1" said he,
" liquor cannot make me drunk ; whiskey has no power
over my frame ; for instance, feel this arm of iron, a
thigh as hard as brass, and legs that can keep company
with the fleetest greyhound in my Lord Duke's stables ;
and as for my heart, by de Okey, it's too big for my
body, as to the courage of the thing. So you perceive,
training is a troublesome sort of crature that does not
suit the company at all, at all, of Mr. Donnelly !"
The Irish Champion was very little if any the better
for the stakes he won in his battle with Oliver. He was
invited by a particular friend, who wished to show him
a few of the private'movements of London, and accord-
ingly introduced Dan to a well-known " Tat" shop,
where the proprietors of it soon explained to him how to
play the losing game at hazard, by " cleaning him out "
of the whole of his " rowdy !" and he was compelled to
borrow money to pay his passage to Dublin.
Donnelly, in his own person, had what is termed wit
at will. His " doings" might admit of some doubt of
being followed, but his " sayings" always kept his visi-
tors in a roar • and his tavern in Capel-street was better
attended in the evening than the theatres. He was the
low comedian of his bar, tap-room, and parlour, without
the aid of any "borrowed lights" from " Joe Miller."—
Dan's jokes were all Irish. When in training at Smith-
am Bottom, in England, to fight Oliver, he would not
take the necessary exercise, only when he was beguiled
into a walk by some friend or other ; anything like pre-
scribed rules he would not comply with.
But poor Dan, like too many heroes of the fist, found
out to his cost that eighteen or twenty-five tumblers of
whiskey-punch drunk off during the day, must ultimately
make inroads upon the constitution, however strong and
good it may be in its original state. Dan was too often
surrounded by the " swells" that he was in a manner
compelled to drink all sorts of liquor with, and to have
refused any of his poor countrymen, who consider it an
honour to drink out of the same tankard with their
champion, he would have been pronounced proud and
upstart--nay, Donnelly thought it a crime to show any
difference, and thus the name of " a good fellow" at last
knocked him off hig legs. But since the great " moral
revolution," effected by the pledge and temperance soci-
eties, introduced by Father Mathew, Dublin is quite
another place, when only two years since it used to be
whiskey without water, but now it is water without
whiskey. Such an immense reformation has taken
place in the habits and manners of the people, not only
in Dublin, -but4-throughout itnpatits of Ireland, as to as-
tonish the most incredulous. " Vide et credo."
Dan was an excellent racket-player ; he was fond of
the game, and generally defeated all of his opponents ;
but the above game ultimately cost him his life. During
a strongly-contested game with a celebrated player, and
being rather exhausted with heat and perspiration, he
imprudently drank off a pint of cold porter at a draught,
which produced apoplexy, and shortly afterwards—
death.

Donnelly's sporting parlour, in which the "gay boys"
of the city, and the supporters of the P. R. used to meet,
overflowed with company every evening, and was consi-
dered important enough of its feature to have a fac
simile painted of it, and introduced into the very suc-
cessful burletta of " Life in Dublin," at the Theatre
Royal, Hawkins-street, in which Mr. David Rees, now of
the Haymarket Theatre, personified the character of
" Jerry," and with his comic talents produced a great
deal of fun and humour in his set-to with " Corinthian
Tom."

Although not viewed as a Napoleon in the P.R., yet
Donnelly was a man " for a' that and a' that." Such
was the late Irish champion.

I h:tve the honour to remain,
Mr. Editor, yours truly,
PIERCE EGA N.
Author of " Boxiana."

Dublin, May 4, 1841.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.
(LLOYD'S.)
LONDON, MAY B.—Wind this day at noon light breeze
from S., cloudy weather. -
STAN3ATE CREEK, MAY 7.—Arrived the Independent,
from Ancona ; Melville, Mejorna ; Fama, Tarragona ; Eli-
zabeth, ditto ; Isabella, Leghorn ; Albanian , Vostozza,
Conservative, Smyrna.
DEA L, Ma Y 7.—WindE.N.E.—Arrived the Courier, from
Mexico ; Busy Yacht, Faro; Albatros, St. Michael's. Arrived
from the river and sailed, the Laura, for Algoa Bay ; Mariner,
Quebec ; Jew, Marseilles. Sailed all the Outward bound.
SHOREHAM, MAY 7.—The Diadem Lee, bound to New-
haven, is on shore behind the East Pier, at the entrance of
this harbour.
RAMSGATE, MAY 7.—Arrived the Gicomo Giorgo, Ibrail,
from London, leaky, and with foremast sprung, Sic., and has
proceeded for the Creek.
PORTSMOUTH, Mar 7.—Wind W.S.W.—Sailed the Saws..
rang, for Madras.
Cow es, MAY 7.—Arrived the Elise, from Buenos Ayres;
Verstocht, ditto.
SEAFORDP MAY 7.—Arrived off port the Harriet, M‘Haren,
from Sierra Leone ; Charlotte, Anderson, Torrevechia.
LIVERPOOL, MAY 7.—Wind S. S.E. to S. S. W.—Arrived
the Cambers, Green, front Pernambuco, sailed sth ult. ; Nor-
val, Corbin, do. ; Baronet, Wylie, Monte Video; Wanderer,
Cowan, Honduras; Reindeer, Kemp, Messina. The Eliza-
beth, from Anclam did not arrive, reported yesterday. Sailed
the Alfred, for New Orleans • North America. New York ;
Torolusta, do ; Helen Afar, ; Grace, Quebec; Indefati-
gable, Africa. Arrived off, St. Vincent, from St. Viace"ts•
VESSELS SPOKEN WITIL—The Albion, from Bristol
to Halifax, 21st tilt., lat. 41, lon. 33 ; Carolinus, of Lon-
don, for Quebec, 22d, lat. 42, lon. 31 ; Frederick, Em-
pire, for Quebec, same day ; John It-vs, Southtown to
Dalhousie, 30th, lat. 50, lon. 21, by the. Harriett, arrived
off Seaford. William and Elizabeth, Pileher, from
--d
Liverpool, 2d, lat. 50, lon. 8 ; Ann and Maria, Batavia
to Amsterdam, 23d, lat. 3 N., lon, 41 ; Emma,
River-
Plate to Liverpool, Ist inst., lat. 51, lon. 18, by the Co-.
lumbus, arrived at Liverpool. Henrietta, South Seas to
by the Norval, arrived London, 22d ult., let, 42, lon. 36,
9,) ult,
at Liverpool. Richard, Manz/mina to London,
lat. 43, lon. 39, making four inches per hour, and
sup.
plied with bread. George, Ulverstone to Montreal,
30th, lat. 50, lon. 12, by the Chaos, arrived at Live
pool. Ricardo, M'Arthur, Bull to Calcutta, Feb. 3 r
25 , lat.
14 N., lon.
W. v the Euphemia, arrived at Rib
Janeiro. Mary Scott. V
alparro_t9 Liverpool March 22,
lon. 23, by the Montros
le, a4rr3-veicl m River. Rising
Sun, of Portsmouth,
hat.
Colombia,,°9. 10, by the Release,
arrived at Dartmout . _ Havre to New Or_
leans, 14th ult., lat. 35, lon. 49 ; Rate, bound to Glas-
i-th lat. 37, lon. 46 ; Sir John Ityurr
by
(h•-
ow, 1° 'i II March 29, 1 -0' ---Jution to
ape of Goet le, at. 49, lon. 11, by the
Eliza, arrived at Naples.

Some statements have been furnished, on the
Ofof the Sun Fire-office, which seem to afford a justification
Of their proceedios ssithq respect to the projection in Thread-
needle-street, of which .0 much complaint has justly been made.
Their defence is, that the line Was laid down not b) them, but by
the Bank of England, who exercised their own judgment on
the occasion. From a memorial to the Treasury by Mr. Coe
e_ the architect of the Sun, and, according to his own ad-
mission, the adviser Of the erections in question, it appear
that the Bank would willingly divert attention from the des
.
formity under discussion by appealing to the benefits they haver
con'erred by widening Bartholomew-lane and Threadneedle-
street, which, though they unquestionably are benefits, hare
nothing whatever to do with the projection now complained
of. The Bank also seem to contend, that the City Cor-.
porat ion has no right to complain, since in the }ear 1838 they
refused to purchase the groundnow in question for the sake of
public improvements. They also have legal arguments to
show that the Treasury, who are memorialized by the op-
posite party, have no control over their proceedings." These
arguments on the part of the Bank do not appear in the
least to meet the question, which is not, whether they are under
legal control, but whether they have acted as becomes a groat
public body in a great work of public improvement ; and as' to-
their pointing to the improvements they have made
these only render the want of doing the very little more which
is requisite to correct the deformity still more unaccountable.
With respect to the Sun Fire-office, it does not appear that
the slightest blame (an be attached to them for their
share
in the transaction. They followed the line which
the Bank marked out for them, and as they. had nothing to do
with the improvements, they were fully justified in making-
the most of their ground. It is to the flk alone the blame
attaches, who, if they areiree from all legal or other Control,.
cannot be free from the reproach of having fulfilled their un-
dertaking In the manner they have done,— Timed.