The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-23 00:00:00

" Sir,—Not having been able to obtain from you,
as referee, a final decision upon the fight of Tues-
day last, I desire to demand, through you, a new
meeting, within the present week. I make this de-
mand from having been informed that it has been
suggested on your part I should give Mr. Sayers
sufficient time to recover from certain injuries re-
ceived by him during his encounter with me. Now,
sir, while lam willing to accommodate him in any
proper way, I must not be unmindful of my own
rights. I also received injuries, but I bargained
for them; and I put it to you, as a man of honour,
whether, if I had been deprived, through the effects
of the said battle, of my eyesight or the use of my
armsay e (asrs in
), y uthe casehave ofß re
t tl
made
Sayers wait for mee, when disabled by
any length of time that might be dictated by my
private doctor ?
" When this match was made the date for the bat-
tle was the 16th inst., or as soon as we could get to
fight'; and, according to the rules, if the battle should
be interrupted, it was my understanding, and I be-
lieve it is the law, that we should fight within the
week. We did meet according to our contract; the
battle was said to be unfinished, and I am prepared
to renew it at any moment within the lawful
limit. If Sayers is not, on account of injuries re-
ceived from me, and cannot meet me according to
the rules of manly opposition, I demand and claim
that he resign to me the belt, which he is not, ac-
cording to the rules of the prize ring, entitled to
retain.
" Hoping to receive an answer from you before
this week expires, stating your views in full,—l am
yours, respectfully, " J. C. HEENAN."
" P.S.—You will please to understand that I do
not wish to compel Mr. sayers to fight, because
he is represented to be in a disabled state ;
but I wish to obtain what I think I
have already won, and which I would cheerfully
hand back whenever he or any person else thinks
he can take it from me. " J. C. H."

A
TO THE EFDITORPOLFATHY.
E TIMES.
Sir,—l am sure you will allow me to make a few
observations on behalf of the gallant Benicia Boy,
who is not, I think, receiving quite fair play at the
hands of his hosts, the English.
He is accused of having acted unfairly, in having
nearly throttled Tom. Sayers, and in having bored
him down against the ropes until he was black in
the face.
The battle was to be fought according to the
rules of the prize rills. Theeo rules allow a com-
batant to throw his arms round his opponent's neck,
and, having so secured his head, to pummel it as
long and as violently as he can. If he does not
squeeze the neck pretty tight, it is improbable that
his antagonist will permit him to retain his head in
such a disagreable fix; and if said squeezing causes
his antagonist to become prematurely black in the
face, which is not unlikely, so much the worse for
his antagonist and so much the better for him, that
is all.
Mind, I don't defend the rules of the-prize ring,
for I think they are very brutal ; I merely say that
Heenan's method of fighting was entirely in accord-
ance with them, and that if it had not been, and if
he had been pronounced to have acted foully by the
referee, he would have instantly lost the battle.
Again, he seems to suffer in public estimation
because he is bigger than Sayers. This is cer•
tainly his advantage, but it is not his fault. He
challenged the best man in England—the Cham-
pion of England. If the best man had been a
big man he would have fought him. He chanced
to be a small one, and he has fought him. What
more could he have done to prove his courage,
skill, and vigour ?
Sayers deserves all credit for having continued
the fight so long with his right arm disabled by
the terrible blows of Heenan. But surely Heenan
deserves, perhaps, more credit for having so dis-
abled Sayers than Sayers does for having bunged
ap and blinded Heenan's eyes.
At Farnborough Sayers's friends and backers
numerically exceeded those of Heenan in the pro-
portion of ten to one.
If the English party, the stronger, had been
anxious that the fight should go on, I think that
the doctrine of probabilities leads us to suppose
that it would have gone on ; if the American party,
the weaker, fearing their man would be beaten,
had wished it to be stopped, I think the same doc-
trine points out to us that their wishes would not,
in all probability, have been gratified.—l am, sir,
your obedient servant,

A HEAVY WEIGHT

TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY NEWS.
Sir,—I admire your strictures on pugilism
heartily ; they are worthy of your paper. 1 hate
fighting as a science, cultivated in cold blood pur-
posely to develop mere brute force, " Saxon pluck,"
and power of endurance. It is still more odious to
me as a vehicle of betting and animal excitement
among the aristocracy, and of course among the
mis?rable mob which are sure to follow in the wake
of the so-called " swells ;" but with all these objec-
tions fixed firmly in my soul—a man of figures and
not of fists—l own I have enjoyed the tribute and
reception given to Tom Sayers in the Stock Ex-
change to-day. It was really a splendid sight, and
worthy of a man who could, with his left hand only
and while suffering extreme pain from a disabled
right arm, persist in contending with a comparative
giant, uninjured in every limb, and superior in al-
most every physical qualification,
At the special solicitation of certain members of
the Stock Exchange, Tom Sayers came to its im-
mediate neighbourhood this morning, to receive
a purse of 100 guineas, subscribed for him by many
of the body, who desired to express in this way
what the whole country feels, that his struggle
against the American was the more noble because
he was physically unequal, and that he has done
much as an Englishman to honour the belt be
wears. The purse was given him very quietly in a
private office, but every avenue to it was blocked
by a crowd directly the report circulated that the
star of the prize ring was within sight. Tom re-
ceived the offering of the purse gratefully,
but most unostentatiously. He was moved, and
only begged to be allowed "to go and thank the
Stock Exchange." His wish was complied with.
He came by the entrance the least used—every
other doorway being crowded by expectant mem-
bers. His appearance was the signal for a burst
of enthusiasm one rarely sees among the English
people. The tremendous Tom, the all-enduring
pugilist, was so overcome that his whole frame
trembled. He could not speak, and therefore con-
sented merely to stand on one of the centre tables of
the building, just to bow his thanks, because unable
to utter them.
The Stock Exchange are a much abused body,
but they yield to none in really kind actions and
patriotic sentiments. When Tom appeared on the
table every hat was doffed, and three cheers given
for him in a style that even our Queen, electrifying
as her influence is from her virtues quite as much
as from her exalted position, would have delighted
to hear. The comparison, sir, would be in execrable
taste but for the moral it teaches, that bravery iu
every shape is the legitimate worship of the Eng-
lish people, and that amid all the trickeries of
foreign diplomacy and the calculating aggressions
of the French Empire, England would, as of old,
become the greater as her enemies increased, and
raise up many like Tom Sayers to defend her pres-

LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY.
This morning two fires of a most serious character,
and one of them accompanied with loss of life, under
the most melancholy circumstances, were reported.
Between three and four a.m. a fire was discovered
in the Clarence Warehouses, an immense pile of
buildings situated in Dublin-street, belonging to
Mr. J. B. Brancker. It was found to have origi-
nated in the top story of the second section, in the
occupation of Messrs. Rogers and Calder,for the ware-
housing of cotton. The early attendance of the fire
brigade, and the skill and energy displayed, re-
strained the fire to the story in which it was dis-
covered. 800 bales of cotton were on this floor, all
of which are destroyed entirely, or much damaged
by water. The building is fire and water-proof,
otherwise the loss of property would have been very
great. As it is it is estimated at about £l,OOO, which
is covered by insurance. No cause can be assigned
for the fire, but from its extent when discovered, it
is believed to have been smouldering for a day or

two.
To-day the borough coroner, Philip F. Curry,
Esq., was for a lengthened period engaged in in-
vestigating the cause of the deaths of Francis
Counihan, age 4 years, and Ignatius Couniliem, age

2 years.
It appears that yesterday afternoon these chil
dren, sons of Mr. Counihan, of the firm of Counihan
and Murphy, wine and spirit merchants, 102,
Mount-pleasant, were left at their residence by their
mother, in charge of the servant, while she went
out on business. The servant having to go up-
stairs, left the children playing in the kitchen, but
shortly afterwards the stable in the yard having
been discovered in flames, and the children missing,
the alarm was given, but before they could be dis-
covered they were quite dead, being literally burnt
to a cinder. It is supposed that the poor children
had been pla.ving with a lighted candle amongst
the straw, which igniting, caused the terrible oc-
currence. The agony of the patents on discovering
their bereavement can be more readily imagined
than described. The stable sustained considerable
damage before the fire was subdued.
At the inquest to-day, Mary Shannon deposed
that she lived with Mr. J. Counihan, 102, Mount-
pleasant. The deceased children were his sons.
The elder, Francis, was 4 years old, and the younger,
Ignatius, 2 years old. The last time she saw the
deceased alive was 5 o'clock the previous evening.
They were playing about the stable yard. In a short
time afterwards an alarm was given that the stable
was on fire. I thought of the children, and rushed
out and called the elder child, but got no answer.
I said I was afraid the two children were in the
stable that was burning, but I was told there were
no children in it. I insisted that• they must be
there when I could not find them, and some men
went in and brought out the dead bodies of the
two children. They were covered up and taken
into the house. I saw a candlestick that was
said to have been found in the stable. That
candlestick was in the kitchen, and had been used
by the plumbers at the top of the house.
James Cropper deposed—l am a cabinetmaker,
and live in Chapel-lane. I was working in our
shop yesterday afternoon when a cry of fire was
raised. The stable in question is near our shop.
I went and saw the stable on fire. The straw
was burning and the ceiling had ignited. I got
water and threw on it, and quenched the fire a
little. I heard the last witness say there were
some children missing. I went into the stable
and saw the form of a child under some straw
that was burning. I pulled it out ; it proved to
be the younger of the children. The child was
dead, and all its clothes burnt off. I saw the elder
child got out. He was also dead, and all the clothes
were burnt off him.
John Holland examined—l am in the employ of
Mr. Counihan as a cutler. I had been out and re-
turned to the yard when I saw the stable on fire,
and the last witness and some other cabinetmakers
getting some crates away. 1 saw the deceased
children got out of the stables. They were both
dead, and burnt dreadfully. I have no idea how
the place took fire. I left it safe at two o'clock in
the afternoon. I found the candlestick alluded to
in the stable near to where the dead bodies of the
children were found.
The jury, after a short deliberation, returned a
verdict of—Found burnt.

SBAKSPERE'S BIRTHDAY.

This day, the 23d April, the thirty-sixth anniver-
sary of the Royal Shaksperean Club will be cele-
brated at Shakspere's Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon,
under the able presidency of the Rev. Julian C.
Young. The gathering on this occasion will be
more than ordinarily numerous, as the celebration
of the day will not be restricted to mere festivity,
but will be devoted largely to the consideration of
establishing a Shaksperean Scholarship, to be com-
peted for by the boys educated at the Free Gram-
mar School at Stratford. The proposition for
thus doing honour to the name of Shakspere in his
native town originated with Mr. Tilbury, at the
anniversary meeting in 1859. On that occasion
he exhorted the favoured inhabitants of Stratford
to sustain by all the means in their power the an-
nual festivals, through which they might suitably
prepare for a grand demonstration in 1864, upon
the ter-centenary of Shakspere's nativity. At this
tercentenary festival, and also before it, he added,
let contributions be solicited to advance the noble
purpose of founding at one of the Universities an
exhibition to be periodically competed for by the
scholars of the Grammar School.
Among the intellectual enjoyments of the celebra-
tion to-day may be mentioned Shaksperean readings
in the morning by Mr. Walter Montgomery. The
dinner party will be numerously attended, and the
town ill be the scene, as in former years, of ge-
neral rejoicings. The bequests in the late Mr. John
Shakespere's will, for the purpose of restoring
and protecting the birth-place of the great bard,
have been set aside, as our readers may be aware,
by the judgment of 'Vice-Chancellor Wood—con-
firmed, on appeal, by the Lord Chancellor and the
Lords Justices. The purposes for which these be-
quests were made cannot, therefore, at present be
carried out by the Birth-place Committee. The de-
fendants in the law proceeding agreed, we under-
stand, to pay the costs of the committee, as between
party and party, but these having not yet been as-
certained, the committee are therefore: at present
unacquainted with the state of their finances. As
soon as the money condition of the committee is
known they will meet together, and probably de-
cide on appealing to the public to assist them with
contributions to enable them to complete the resto-
ration of Shakspere's House. To this appeal there
W
is no doubt the country mill promptly and libe-
rally respond.