31 CHARACTER OP ECLIPSES O KELLY. 



of his reputation as a stallion, of which PtSos, the noble pun for Potatoes, of the 

 noble Lord Abingdon, King Fergus and Mercury, were the main props. It had, 

 however, been discovered, that the produce of Eclipse ran too generally and ex- 

 clusively, to speed ; and that, in toughness and continuance, they were greatly 

 surpassed by their competitors on the course, the stock of King Herod and Gold- 

 finder ; aware of this, and of Jupiter's full share of the family defect, besides 

 having no want of numbers in his Stud, O' Kelly had no very sanguine expectation 

 from him as a stallion, and advertised him at the very moderate price of two or 

 three guineas. Boudrow and Young Eclipse, the former name we shall not 

 venture to translate from the Irish, referring that point to Anacreon Moore, or to 

 my Lord Castlereagh, if he be a joker as well as an Irishman, were O'Kelly's 

 chief favourites so he has repeatedly professed to us. More especially Young 

 Eclipse, as may be gathered by his baptism. But that cholicky and loose horse 

 never merited the splendid name bestowed upon him, any otherwise than by 

 illustrating his proprietors' want of judgment. Jupiter, making no figure in the 

 Epsom Stud, was soon disposed of, and marched northwards, to that part of the 

 country where bred stallions of size and bone, are in request for the purpose of 

 breeding strong Hunters and Coach Horses. At what period he became the pro- 

 perty of the celebrated Colonel Thornton, then of Thornville Royal, now naturalized 

 in France, and Marquis of Chambord, we are unacquainted. The colonel how- 

 ever sold him, and he died in the hands of the succeeding proprietor. 



A few notes on the successful, and the sequel will determine whether we may 

 presume, as we really feel inclined, to say, meritorious and useful life of Dennis 

 O y Kelly, will enable us to give a slight general sketch of the business of the Turf 

 in this country, to which and its connections and dependencies that business almost 

 exclusively confined. With respect to games of chance, they have ever had, and 

 certainly ever will have, the strongest hold, as a diversion and a pastime, upon the 

 human mind ; and none but gloomy fanatics, who pretend to a greater experience 

 in a future than the present state of existence, and grave precisians, ever dreamed of 

 such a hopeless project, as an arbitrary restraint upon the free agency of men of 

 wealth, in their mode of its enjoyment, whilst that implicated neither positive 

 crime nor aggression. As to abuses, they must necessarily be out of question, since 

 the )>est, and simply considered, most salutary things, have been left by nature in 

 the same predicament. 



The diversion of Horse Coursing besides, including its necessarily concomitant 

 letting system, has a plea of merit beyond all mere games of chance. It has in 

 view, and has always promoted, great objects of national utility. To it we owe 

 t-sentially the improvement of our various breeds of horses, and their acknow- 

 ledged superiority over all others upon the face of the earth. A very considerable 

 capital in this country is thus put in activity, and a commerce driven, both in- 

 ternal and external, to a respectable extent. A corresponding benefit is derived 



