On the Thursday following the trial, a congratulatory dinner took place at Tom Spring’s, at which a subscription was commenced towards defraying the expenses of the defence. At the suggestion of a gentleman who presided, a subscription was also opened, which, in a short period, amounted to the sum of 100 guineas, for the purpose of presenting a service of plate to the Editor of Bell’s Life in London, as a token of the respect in which he was held, not only by the men who had recently undergone their trial, and whose defence he had conducted, but also for the manner in which he invariably advocated the cause of fair play, and had always been foremost in the cause of the distressed, the fatherless, and the widow. The service of plate was presented to Mr. Dowling at a subsequent meeting at Tom Spring’s.
Soon after the termination of the proceedings against Burke, a challenge appeared in the Dublin and London papers from O’Rourke, “Champion of Ireland,” for a meeting on the Curragh of Kildare; but Burke’s friends properly objected at such a juncture to his fighting in Ireland, the match therefore dropped.
In July a renewed proposal from Young Dutch Sam to fight the Deaf’un for £500 a side was made over a sporting dinner at Spring’s, and £5 there and then posted; the battle to come off within a twelvemonth. This ended in talk and a forfeit, as the Deaf’un could not raise such a sum.
In the month of September, 1833, the air was filled with challenges, which fell “thick as the autumn leaves in Vallombrosa;” among them one from some “gentlemen,” who were ready to back an “Unknown, to be named at the last deposit, against any man in the world,” for £500 to £1,000 a side. Whereupon Jem Ward accepting the proposal for £500, and declaring his readiness to make the match, the challengers were silent, and the “Unknown” remained thenceforth unseen and unheard of.
In September, 1833, a paragraph appeared in London and provincial papers, to the effect that Deaf Burke would persist in his claim to the Championship, whereon Ward wrote as follows:—
“To the Editor of ‘Bell’s Life in London.’
“Sir,—Should the patron of the ’unknown’ candidate for ‘the Championship’ agree to allow his man to fight for £500 a side, my friends are ready to back me for that sum. Failing a match being made with him, I am ready to give any other customer a chance, and for his accommodation will fight for any sum, from £300 to £500 a side. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
“JAMES WARD. Champion of England.
“Liverpool, Sept. 18, 1833.”
The Editor having submitted this epistle to “the Deaf’un,” observes, “that individual desires us to say, that ‘he’s ready to stands nps for the title for a hundreds, but as for tousands, and that sorts o’ rediklus tings, he can’t say nuttins about ’em.’” Another challenge elicited the subjoined from Ward:—