806: 
beat Bucephalus, got by Regulus, of his 
own lineage on the dam side; this was 
run foronthe Beacon Course. Wildman 
staked 600 to 400 guineas on this race, 
six to four on Eelipse. 
On Thursday, April 19th, he won the 
king’s plate for twelve stone, beating 
Strode’s Pensioner, Fenwick’s Diana, 
and the Duke of Grafton’s Chigger, 
Pensioner being distanced at starting : 
ten to one on Eclipse. 
At the close of this year no horse 
would start against him, aud he received 
the forfeit of 600 guincas at New- 
market, the king’s 100 guineas at Guild- 
ford, the king’s 100 guineas at Notting- 
ham, and 319/. 10s. beside. 
. At Yorkshire racesin this year, 1770, 
two horses were brought against him, 
Tortoise’ and Bellario, bred by the 
noted Sir Charles Bunbury. Eclipse 
was more than a distance at the end of 
two miles, and won the race with the 
utmost ease. 
At Lincoln he carried away 150 
guineas, and again at Newmarket 100 
guineas. 4 
Eleven king’s plates, in all, were won 
by Eclipse; and the weight he carried 
was twelve stone, except for one, which 
was ten stone. E 
His colour was a light chesnut, or 
gorrel-chesnut, the off hind leg white 
from neat the top of the shank to the 
foot, a white blaze also from his fore- 
head to his nose. His exact height has 
no where been stated that I have seen; 
but, those who have seen him living, 
guessed his height to have been fifteen 
hands and a half. The best portrait of 
him is done by the masterly hand of 
Stubbs, to whose extraordinary merits 
and undeserved neglect we have to bear 
a sad testimony. 
This famous horse was not only the 
best that ever this country saw as a 
racer, but he was no less so as a stal- 
lion, for his progeny, by their feats upon 
the course, won 344 races, producing to 
their owners the extraordinary sum of 
one hundred and fifty-eight thousand 
pounds, various smaller sums and for- 
feits not included. 
His exact speedwas never known, as 
no horse could be found to call forth 
his extreme pace. His collateral an- 
eestor, Flying Childers, was supposed 
to have done a mile in a minute; if 
this be admitted, and it were possible he 
could continue such a pace without in- 
termission, he would, in eight days and 
nights, measure the belt and circuin- 
On Church Briefs. 
{ May }, 
ference of the whole earth, and arrive 
at his stable again, if no. obstacle op- 
posed him, before the hinthnight). The 
circumference of the! globe, from the 
most eorrect ‘computation, is stated at 
24,855 miles. 
If we examine his make jin the por- 
trait, as well as in theskeleton, the most 
marked difference is in_ his! eroup, 
which stands particularly high, ewing 
to the length of his hind limbs; and his 
thigh bones are, for a blood-horseyof an 
enormous size, which, if provided with 
proportionate muscle and energy, must 
give him great superiority: It »was also 
remarked in his gallop, that‘his*hind 
legs were very wide and separated ; the 
width of the haunch bones and pelvis, 
which also partook of this increased 
volume, would account sufficiently for 
this appearance, the hind’ legs being 
parallel columns from the hauneh, and 
not approaching upwards, as do the fore 
limbs. rat 
His fore feet were dropped in the 
hoofs and foundered, and his coffin bones 
were very much rounded and diminish- 
ed by absorption from undue pressure 
upon. the sole. He was thick winded, 
probably from some error or exposure 
in his bringing up. He died at Canons 
on the 28th of February, 1789, of the 
gripes, at the age of twenty-five years ; 
and cakes and ale were given at the fu- 
neral of his flesh, after the manner ofthe 
Godolphin Arabian; for his skin was 
preserved, and his bones were nicely 
cleared of every covering but the liga- 
ments that held them together, by the 
masterly hand.of Sainbel, the first pro- 
fessor of the Veterinary College, and an 
excellent anatomist, as which, ‘more 
than in any thing else, he excelled. 
Sainbel has stated, in his work on 
Eclipse, that his heart weighed fourteen 
pounds,—a remarkable size fora blood 
horse. 
His bones, contained in a case at Mr. 
Bullock’s, are now offered for sale for 
one hundred guineas, Mr. Bulloek 
of the. Eeyptian Hall, Piccadilly, hav- 
ing the disposal of them. 
<< 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, ys 
AWL a member of a congregation of 
dissenters in a small country town, 
and of sufficient consequence to receive 
annually a Visit from the apparitor, ‘or 
some other ecclesiastical officer, of the 
diocese. The object ef the visit isto 
hand me a document emblazoned ae 
the 
