The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-06 00:00:00

The Sussex Magistrates and the late Prize
Fights,

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The East Sus ex E,:iphany Quarter Sessions
were ens nmenced on Meeday at the County Hail,
Lewes—•the E tr. of Ceicnester preeiced.
Mr. G. T. COURTHOPE said he wished to call the
attention of the Court to the prize fight that had
recently taken place at Wadhurst. Certain parties
would be brought before that Court on the follow-
ing day to answer for the part which they had
taken in that fight, and it was not his intention to
say anything which might be prejudicial to them,
but rather to refer to those who moved in a higher
station, and had given their countenance and assis-
tance to a violation of the law—he meant the rail-
way company. (Hear, hear.) It had been urged
on behalf of the South-Eastern Railway Com-
pany that they were bound to carry any par-
ties who presented themselves for that pur-
pose. This was true to a certain extent, but it was
not the case that they were bound to carry persons
who were avowedly about to engage in an illegal
act. Suppose certain parties should combine to
commit a burglary at the Earl of Chichester's resi-
dence at Stanmer-park, what would be thought of
the Brighton Railway Company if, with a full
knowledge of the purpose for which it was sought,
they should convey the burglars to and from the
station in a special train ? Having stated in detail
the circumstances under which the prize fighters
had been conveyed to and from Wadhurst, Mr.
Courthope said that the South Eastern Railway
Company had done so in direct violation of a pledge
they had given the Secretary of State to the con-
trary. In 18-59 this same company had run a spe-
cial train, conveying pugilists, which stopped be-
tween Headcorn and Staplehurst. The chief con-
stable made a complaint upon the st►bject in his re-
port, and a communication was made to the Home
Secretary, who called upon the secretary of the
railway company for an explanation of the matter.

Mr. BEATTIE. a director of the South Eastern
Railway Company, said that the chief constable had
simply complained that the exertions of the police
had been frustrated through the train having
stopped between two stations.

Mr. COITRTHOPE in continuation, said that he had
taken the trouble to procure a copy of the corres-
pondence that had taken place in the matter, and
should read it. The letters were as follows :
South-Eastern Railway, April 25, 1859.

Sir,—ln reply to your commuuication dated 19th inst.,
enclosing an extract from the quarterly report made by the
chief constable of the county of Kent, as to the facilities af-
forded by this company for enabling large numbers of per-
sons to attend a prize fight held at Headcorn on the sth
inst., I beg to inform you that the directors have caused in-
quiry to be made, and ascertained that the train arrange-
ments connected with the transaction in question were made
by one of the company's servants without their knowledge,
or authority, and that they have taken steps to prevent any
facilities being granted in future for the above purpose. I
ought also to add that one of the directors, who is a magis-
trate of the county of Kent, had already brought the sub-
ject under the notice of the board, and been authorised by
them to communicate a similar decision to the next meeting
of quarter sessions of the county.—l have the honour, &c.,
S. SMALES, Secretary.
H. Waddington, Esq., Secretary of State, Whitehall.
Whitehall, April 28, 18.59,

_ .
Sir,—l have laid before Mr. Secretary Sotheron Estcgurt
your letter of th© 25th inst., and I am directed by him to
thank the directors of the South-Eastern Railway Com-
pany for the explanation they have been eo good as to give
him of the circumstances unler which facilities were af-
forded to a large number of persons proceeding down the
line to a prize fight, and to express his satisfaction that the
director s have taken steps to prevent the grant of such faci-
lities in future.•—l am, Sir, your obedient servant,

H. WADDINGTON.
S. Smales, Secretary to the South-Eastern Railway
C‘ mpany, London-bridge.
It would seem from this correspondence that the
railway company had given a distinct pledge that
they would not afford any facilities for prize fight-
ing. It was now attempted to qualify that pledge
by saying that the Railway company merely pro-
mised that they would not allow a train to be
stopped between two stations, but this was a mere
eubterfuge. Mr. Courthope concluded by moving
that the Clerk of the Peace should be instructed to
write to the directors of the South E :stern Railway
Company, stating tnat the magistrates for East
Sussex', in Quarter Sessions assembled, had heard
with much regret that upon the occasion of a prize
light at Wacihurat, on the 10th December last, faci-
lities had been granted by the servants of the coal•
piny to persons proceeding thither, and to request
that the directors should take steps to prevent any
facilities being granted in future for this purpose.
The Earl of CHICHESTER said he had no objection
to communicating with the chairman of the com-
pany on the subject, but he thought it was neither
becoming nor dignified for the court to give a judg-
ment in what was not proved before it.

Mr. DAB BY seconded Mr. Ceurthope's proposition. I
Mr. BEATTIE said he did not wish to appear there
as the representative of the railway company, but,
as a director, he desired to make some remarks in
vindication of the course they bad pursued. After
alluding to several matters adverted to by Mr.
Courthope and previous speakers, he said, with
regard to the power given to railway companies to
grant special trains, that was intended as a benefit
to the public ; and even in the matter of prize fights
it was better that such parties should have a train
to themselves then be crowded into an ordinary
passenger train. Railway companies had received
complaints of such parties getting into the regular
trains, and the simplest and best plan was for them
to have a train to themselves. With respect
to Mr. Derby's statement that they ought to know
what the law was, and that they ought to refuse to
grant a special train when it was known that the
parties were going to a prize fight, if such were the
law, it ought to be known. He would repeat what
he had said in his letter to Mr. Courthope when
that gentleman had courteously informed him that
he intended to bring the matter before that court,
which was to the effect that the railway company
having advertised their ordinary trains at specified
Tates, and that special trains could also be had at
epecial rates, they were not at liberty to pick their
customers, but it was their duty to grant every such
application without icquiring into the purposes.
He believed that was the law at the present time.
Mr. HUSSEY said he hoped it would not go forth
to the public that railw,y companies in this country
were boned to provide special trains for any pur-
pese ; because if their neighbours acroes the Chan-
nel knew this they might avail themselves of it to
carry out their scheme of invasion. (Laughter.)
Mr. ELPIIIN STONE slid he would.move, as an
amendment —" That the cheirmen be requested to
communicate with the Secretary of State with re-
ference to the facilities alleged to have been granted
by the South Restern Railway Company for the
late prize fight iu Sussex."

After a Itngthy discussion Mr. Courthope with•
drew hie motion, and that proposed by Mr. Elphin.
stone was substituted and unanimously agrced to.

LEWES, T uesd ay.
Before the Earl of Chichester, chairman; Messrs.
J. G. Dodson, M.P., G. Darley, B. Godlee, A,
Beattie, F. G. Hurlcck, F. H. Williamson, C. H,
Frewon, E. Hussey, T. Brown, C. Carpenter, J
Eliman, W. J. Campion, F. Barchard, D. Bar.
clay, &c.

At the sitting of the Court this morning, in his
charge to the grand jury, the noble chairman said
there was one case in the calendar which was of
considerable importance, and of such an unusual
character, that he f?lt bound to make some obser-
vations upon it. The parties were charged with
committing a riot and assault at a recent prize fight,
of which, no doubt, they had all heard. rf he first
charge alleged was for riot, and he would just give
them a general notion of whet legally constituted
that offence. It must be proved that three or more
persons assembled together, and that that assem
bling tcgether was accompanied by some circum-
wances of actual force or violence, cr that there were
such tendencies towards violence as were calculated
people with fear. Any and all persons
to inspire
assembling to witness such a proceeding would be
liable to be tried for committing a breach of the peace,
and that in law would be a riot. With regard to that
part of the charge which was alleged as an assault,
everybody well knew that a fight in cold blood, as a
prize-fight would be, constituted a breach of the
peace, and all connected with it, either as principals,
secnnqs, or lookers on, were there As alders and

abettors, and therefore guilty of an assault. He
was also bound to point out to them that should a
prize-fight terminate in the death of pi of thp
comb itan.s, that would be murder in th ye of the
jaw ; hut it was different where men fought after a
quarrel, and when their blood was uJ. en the law
held that death so caused amounted to no more than
manslaughter; but the grand jury would observe
that then the fight was not for money or a prize.
He (the noble chairman) had directed the attention
of the grand jury to that matter because the persons
engaged in the riot were also charged with the
assault, and it would be sufficient to justify the
grand jury in sending the parties down to the petty
jury for trial if they were satisfied that their parti-
cipation in any way as ciders and abettors in the
fight were clearly proved. It would be so as well
if for the mere purpose of gratifying their curio-
sity they encouraged the principals in fighting by
their presence. His lordship continued—Having
thus so far called your attention to the indictment
itself, I think it my duty to make a few remarks
upon the subject of prize-fighting itself, because we
know that prize-fighting was notorious and con-
trary to the law of England. It must be a source
of the deepest regret to all enlightened and well-
thinking minds in this Christian era to be obliged
to know that the disgraceful practice of prize-
fighting was encouraged to a very great extent, and
not only approved, but aided by those whose edu•
cation and position in society it might well be
thought would lead them to lend their weight in
suppressing it far more than the ordinary portion
of the public would. It was much to be regretted
that there was a most erroneous impression preva-
lent in the matter, which made people almost for-
get that prize-fighting was not only contrary to the
law of the land but, as was of far greater import-
ance, contrary to all Christian feeling and
Christian doctrine. I cannot help express-
ing a hope that public opinion will take a
proper turn with regard to this sad state of things,
and that, like mazy other ancient and evil prac-
tices, prize-fighting, with its concomitant evils, will
cease to exist in this Christian land, and become a
thing of the past.
After the delivery of the above charge the grand
jury retired, and the crowds of per sons that thronged
the court and its environs waited in anxious expec-
tancy the all-important case of the Sessions. It
was, however, half-past four when the jury returned
a true bill against all the parties jointly and seve-
rally who had been indicted, viz.—Thomas King,
John Camel Heenan, John CAlvin Noon, alias Jerry
Noon, John Macdonald, James Mace, John Tyler,
alias Bos Tyler, Thomas Sayers, and Root. Travers.
It may be remarked that Heenan's second name has
always been written " Carmel," but that is not cor-
rect, as it should be "Camel," and Heenan himself
especially directed the notice of the magistrates at
Wadhurst to the circumstance.

At 6 o'clock Mr. Edward Besley begged permis-
sion to mention to the noble chairman that be had
just received a brief to defend some of the defen-
dants who were out on bail for taking part in an
alleged assault and riot at a prize-fight at Wadhurst
on the 10th of December last. As not only would
several questions of fact but also of law arise, he
took leave to ask the noble chairman and the Bench
to allow het case to stand over till the next Quarter
Sessions, in order that he (Mr. Besley) might have
an opportunity of looking into the law, and seeing
its especial bearings as to a breach of the peace, and
whether a prize-fight was really so or not. As
counsel he had not the opportunity of getting at
the necessary books, nor was there time to consult
them if they had been available, and in justice to
the persons charged, and out of some courtesy to
himself, quite a junior at the bar of the Bench of
Quarter Sessions before the noble lord and the jus-
tices, he (Mr. Besley) hoped his application for the
postponement of the hearing until the next Quarter
Sessions would be acceded to.

Mr. Roupell said that having been instructed,
with Mr. Willoughby, to prosecute, he felt bound to
oppose the application made with such diffidence by
the learned gentleman who had just addressed the
bench, but certainly no sufficient ground had been
urged for a postponement. Ample books could be
procured if the learned counsel wanted to refer to
them, besides whieh Mr. Besley only represented
three or four out of eight defendants, and the appli-
cation did not, therefore, extend to all, so that there
would b 3 the trouble, expense, and difficulty of try-
ing the case twice over. He (Mr. Roupell) on the
part of the prosecution, felt bound to resist the ap-
plication.

In answer to an inquiry from the bench, it was
stated that Heenan and Sayers had gone to Brighton
by the 5.15 train under the impression that the case
would not come on, and

The noble Chairman said that under such circum-
stances, 88 all the defendants were not represented,
the bench could not dispose of the application for a
postponement, and the matter must, therefore, be
adjourned till to-morrow.

Dreadful Loss of the Ship Clifton in the
North Sea, with all on Board.

The particulars of a very fearful catastrophe in
the North Sea—viz., the total loss of the large ship
Clifton, Capt. Johnstone, hound to Madras, with all
on board, during the late tremendous gales, were
made known in the City yesterday.
The Clifton was a large first class ship, nearly
1000 tons burden, and belonged to London. Laden
with a cargo of iron, coal, and coke, she left Sunder-
land late in the day of the 26Lla of last for India, in
charge of Mr. Wrightson, an old experienced
North Sea pilot. Altogether she had 33 souls on
board, including the captain, wife, their eidest
and a lady named Thorogood, a passenger.
From intelligence which has subsequently been
elicited by Mr. Wilcocks, the ship's husband, who
was sent over to the Dutch coast to make inquiries
about the ill-fated vessel, it appears that she was seen
beating off the Lincolnshire and Norfolk coast for
several days, in company with two brigs, is schooner,
and, it is stated, a Russian barque. The Harkaway,
of Shoreham, Capt. Bungard, one of the brigs, re-
ports that she last saw the Clifton off the Smith's
Knoll, on the port tack, when the gale set in with
such fury in the early part of the month, from the
WSW to NW, with her topsails blown away, and
drifting boldly towards the Hakes. It has been
ascertained that the lighthouse keeper at the Helder
observed her close to the sands, and mistook her for
a British man of war. On the following morn-
ing (the sth) nothing could be seen of her. The
Harkaway, it appeared, escaped by running
into New Diep, and the Russian barque was
driven ashore at the Koog-Texel. On Mr. Will.
cock's arrival at the Isle of Texel he went to the
village of Hoorn, where he found a great portion of
the new cabin fittings, Lek planks, &c.; and at
Koog many of her deck beams, water-casks, part
of mizenmast, and the Royal arms from cff the boom
board. At Cocksdorf, to the northward of Texel,
her name board, " Clifton, London," her wheel com-
plete, and more wreck were found. Mr. Willcocks
continued hie search to the Koog by the sea shore
and discovered a part of her side, and found seven
eerrecks high and dry. Near the Koog he found a
boat, with white bottom and black topsides, marked
" John of Lynn, Samuel Billing," painted inside in
white letters. At the burgomaster's rendezvous for
wrecked goods at the Helder Mr. Willcocks further
found the ship's mahogany capetan, spare topmasts,
upper deck beams, and other portions of the ilt-
fated vessel. It was clear, therefore, beyond all
doubt that she must have been carried by the hurri-
cane on to the long range of sands which stretch
along that port of the coast, and speedily went to
pieces, all belonging to her perishing.
Capt. Johnstone was an officer in theßoyal Naval
R serve, and was much respected. It appears that
the pilot had orders to take the ship down Channel
as far as the Isle of Wight, and to return with a
note from the unfortunate commander for peyment
of the pilotage, but it is needless to state that no-
thing has been seen or heard of the pilot. The ship
and cargo were insured in the City.

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THE WINDSOR STEEPLECHASES.—The grand an-
nual and military steeplechases at Windsor will take place
oa Friday apl Saturday, the sth awl 6f h of February.