American Eclipse vs. Henry 159 



most gentlemanly manner possible, John C. Stevens, of 

 New York, closed as follows: 



"For Mr. Van Ranst I answer that he owes it to the 

 Association who have so confidently supported him, to 

 the State at large, who have felt and expressed so much 

 interest in his success, and to himself as a man not totally 

 divested of feeling, never, on any consideration, to risk 

 the life or reputation of the noble animal whose generous 

 and almost incredible exertions have gained for the North 

 so signal a victory, and for himself such well-earned and 

 never-failing renown." 



What the "Eclipse party" thought of Henry was evi- 

 denced by his purchase soon after his defeat and his re- 

 moval to New York, where he stood for many years and 

 did much to improve the stock of that state. He died in 

 Hanover County, Virginia, in 1831. Besides Post Boy, he 

 got Decatur who won a $10,000 match race from Fanny 

 Wyatt, 4-mile heats, at Washington, D.C., in 1838; 

 time 7:45. Decatur's dam was Ostrich by American 

 Eclipse. 



And so it came about that both Henry and Eclipse won 

 the esteem of all sections by their performances, and, 

 through many worthy descendants, linked their names 

 and their fame inseparably in the list of the great horses 

 of America. 



Immediately after the adjournment of .Congress on 

 March 3, 1823, according to Garland's biography of John 

 Randolph, the sage of Roanoke, "hurried off to Virginia 

 and spent some days with his friend, William R. Johnson, 

 in Chesterfield, who was then in high training for the great 

 match race between the North and the South. The exer- 

 cise and excitement of mind in anticipation of his favorite 

 sport produced an evident change in Mr. Randolph's 



