The Express.
London, England, 1849-05-31 00:00:00

SOUTHWARK.

CHARGE OP ASSAULT AGAINST A " SERENADER."—R.
W. Pelham, one of the Ethiopian serenadere, was charged
with committing a violent anault on C. L. Smith, a profes-
sional Finger of Yankee songs.
Mr. Itoberts, in stating the ease on the part of the com-
plainant, said that the circumstance which gave rise to the
alleged assault was the publication of a pamphlet by his
clioit,aed entitled " Yankee Smith's Nigger Melodist," in
which the writer made some strictures on the performances
of the " Ethiopian serenader'," and in which he says, " All
things must have an end, and neither Ethiopian serenaders
nor any book are exempt from this universal fatality. In
fact, a twelvemonth hence an Ethiopian will be as great a
rarity as a Queen Ann's farthing ;" and in another por-
tion of the same publication the writer proceeds, " There
is now only one party of black minstrels performing who are
called Pell's Serenaders,' and advertised as chosen b
himself in America. This, however, is not the case ; and I
wonder that Mr. Pell, after the kind manner in which he
has been received at the Bt. James's Theatre, should a tempt
to foist a lot of penny slang negroes upon the public as Ame-
!Maus. Were Dembolton the managing man, instead of the
fellow they have, they would be far different." These re-
marks in the pamphlet brought done the ire of the defendant
on the complainant, whom he attacked in a very savage man-
ner, and these proceedings were adopted against the former,
in order to prevent a repetition of such violence in future.
The complainant then stated that he was a vocalist, and
the defendant was the managing man of " Pell's Ethiopian
Serenaders." That on Friday evening last as he (com-
plainant) was leaving the stage-door of the Surrey Theatre,
he encountered the defendant who, on seeing him, ex-
claimed, " Oh, I've caught you now, and I'll give it to you,"
and immediately struck him a blow on the side of the head
that knocked him down. He, however, rose from the ground
and ran towards the street, but he was overtaken and
knocked down a second time by a blow on the mouth, which
broke one of his teeth. His trowsen were much torn by the
fall and his watch was broken. The complainant added that
he had been for some length of time suffering under serious
indisposition, a fact which the defendant was perfectly aware
of, although he attacked him with such fury.
Mr. Games said that the defendant would not attempt to
deny that he had assaulted the complainant, but rot with
the violence asserted ; sad that before he had recourse to
such a summary mode of punishment he had been calumni-
ated and slandered by the man whim he had treated with
kindness while he was in his *mice as one of his company;
and that there was no truth in the assertion that the de-
fendant had not paid him punctually what was due to him.
The facts were, that the complainant, annoyed by the suc-
cess of the Ethiopian Serenaders, of whom the defendant was
one of the prominent characters, bad recourse to scurrilous
writing against them. These were the extenuating circum-
stances in his clent's case, and he regretted now that under
the impulse of the moment he had assaulted the com-
plainant.
Mr. Cottingham said that, notwithstanding the alleged
provocation, the defendant was not justified in assaulting
the complainant. He (the magistrate) should therefore call
upon the defendant to enter into his own recognizance of 501.,
and find two sureties of 25!. each to keep the peace, and also
to pay the damage sustained by the complainant by the
destruction if his trouser', besides the injury done to his
watch.