Prize-Fighting.
The Times, 1824-11-25T00:00:00

iOni'Titesday last another pugilistic exhibitiontcXpliiie | At Warwick, between two pers,nis named 0anu1ost and Hudson, tnder the patronage of no less a person than Mr. Ilayne, who, it scems, has transferred all his love of Miss Foot'e it)to a love for '" bloodly noses and'&cacked crowuis." This exhibition was sio way distinguished from oilter bratal scenes of the same kind, except that ihe battle did not last so long as usual. What, however, it lost in point, of duration, iL gained in point:of ferocity and intemse savageness. Bal we'will give an account of 'te termina- tion of the contest from two different historians.; anul we beg every man of sense aiid feeling to read the-account with the utmost attention:- " lfith,and last round.-The men fouglit to thestakes and here they hit at eache other; carige for. chantge, ilee sm7iths at an anvit; bltt they were both powerless in their blows. Josh, however, was evidently in the worst state, and was reduced to a com- plete doldrpmn: at last they broke from the stakes, and Can. non, grappling his snan, threw hiim a t7emendous fill, drop- ping on him as he fell. It was now all UP; poor Joshis head '.had come in contact withl the boards, and his frame was shaken t a stand-still.- ?ampson picked him up, antl d1i(d all he could t6: awaken. hiim to timeA it-wfa in vain, howvever; his time for highting liadr'ed5 i he could come no more. Cannon did not seem consiotsi .:at,.it :wi aU -over, and advanced to the Fcratch. Sprrng,- lioweve, ,4rew up his hat, and a general shout announced the tertibiritidn;of"the contest, in a few seconds uniler twenty mi- nutes after t1i coameienceinent of the set-to.-Josl -was inc a dread. ful istate. The surgeox instaotly bled him, bat 7e was insensi- ble. a became extrenely sick, and t wrew a good deal of blood from. asto ch:still lhe s7towed no signs qf returnitng animation, and W18 at l?t.t carried to the stand, where he was laid on the floor in hIis olo, a hd heusd restoratives resorted to, bt wiithout stc- cess. At thrae o'clock-he had not spoken, anld we Ieft his attendantts about to filacr 4ig ina vaaim bath 1 ! !" The other accoutt suns thus " 16.-This ivas the last round of the battle-it was miserable to ,ook at the men, both oftltem. streaming with blood, panting freom lo0s o. wind, and scarcely able to support themselves on their legs. Can- non had the best of condition, and was sent in to work. Iludson made faint attempts to meet Iim], and both staggered to a'close. Josh was bored to the bars of the stage with all Cannon's dead weight pressing against hlim. In this way the back of his hcad camn with much violence against the uprigit stakes withi a stuu- ning shock. The bloody marks of contact were left on the bar. Ifu son reeled away, and Cannon followed hini slharp to thc inidtlleof the stage, and closed again. Here a wild struggle for thc fall tGok place. Both men see7ned to collect their reosaining ener- gies for a final effort, and planted their feet with firmness, astonish- ing in their state of weakness, with artns round each other in a dead- ly stru,ggle. Cannon's strength got tile master-lhe brought Josh round, and flung him like a sack to the groutnd. Hudeon ftll head. foremost, and the boards resounded with the blow.- This was a finisher, and Htndson turned up his side likc a dead whale, while Cannon, going down at the Name moment, iell upon him with a crash that knocked almost the last gasp of breath out of' his body. Hudson lay like a great swrinie rolling in his oret, gore; and it required all the exertion of his secsnds to get limn up. llrhen placed on Sampson's knee, Hudson's head dropped on his left shoulder. Crawley anlt Sampson did all they cotild to refresh him, and one held his head between his hands try- ing to straighten it on the vertebree of tle neck. In this state lie was brought to the scralch, where Cannon waited to receive hinm ont time being called, one second holding his hlcad, aitd the oilier sutp- porting hiim at the bacr. Nature rCfiused to answer all exertioism, and Hudson lay listless on ltis second's arm, aiid scarcely showed a symptom of life. 'rime was called, but Hudson coulli not answer it. A rsurgeoss was instantly brought otn the stage, and a quantity of blooti was tiken froas the poor beaten Hudson's ntl; every thitng was done to revive hirm, but heseemed unconiscious to all their efforts. Crawley and Samnpson fanned him, and showed great tende7ness and attentioit. Clark, his trainer, caine on the stage, almnost the picture of despair, and tried what his skill could do to re. vive him. ildadeon wasremoved in tlis state to a small room under the grandstasd. Cannon, the coniqueror, was altnost beaten, and while nursed by lhis mren, was scarcely sensible of theacclaniations of his friends. His face exhibited marks of terrible puinishment. One eye closed, the other nearly blinid, and his kft jJaw was a moass of contused and livid flesl. Gaisnon wvas taken into tle Stand amit the liuzzas of the crowg. The fight lasted but 20 minutes." lVe say nothing of the style in which these things are written: it is at all events, like that of pickpockets and housebreakers, sufficiently expressive of its pectliar sub- ject. But ve ask whether any rational snan can seriously bring himself to believe, that scenes like these tenid to elevate the national character, by engenulering a manly coutage ? Are the people of this country such barbarians, that the spirit of courage cats be fostered in them only by tedching them, like blioodhounds, to sitiff up the scent of blood ? Is cruelty a better nurse of valour than self-respect ? Then we would ask, Vho are the frequenters of these scencs ? Pickpockets, broken ga.nblers, broken traders, and all that indescribable fry of men of bro- ken fortune ant broken reputation, who hurry to places of this kind in the hopes of plundering in their several ways those poor novices, with more wealth than wit, wlho in their first escape from the rod of the schoolmaster have mistaken ruffianism for tianliood, and fancy they are better than boys, bocause they are worse than men. Are such mein, reckless as they are, distinguished for that sort of courage that can be relied upon? and of what use to society is their courage, even if they have it,unless, indeed, by tempting them to cut each other's throats, and thusconstituting at otice itsown bane atd antidote? Then, as to ieac boxers thenmselves : we have the authority of mili- tary men for saying that they by no means make the firmnest and bravest soldiers: as tIme tinghill cock wlhen it feels the smart of the steel is pretty sure to turni tail, so tite mere pugilist frcquently sinks into a craven wbhen he has to face the musket or the sabre. Buit be this as it may, we cannot but hold it as a foul reproach to the name of Elg- lishmian, that he is so lost to the sense of his dignity as a froctnan, to the sense of all the ties whici usually operate en even enslaved man as ameinberofa famil], that no moral, no rational, no patriotic motive can move itim to fight, unless his mind is constantly exercised by the specta- cle of ribs broken, and eyes dashed out, for his amusement. \Ve are sure the position neetI but be stated to be re- fitted, by the itidignatit contradiction of every true Eng- lishinan. He will atiswer that the heroes of the 'Arada, of Blake, of La Hogue, of Marlboroughl, had no such stirnulus ; that the prize-ring lias not existetI 60 years - and that of the heroes of Trafalgar anti Vaterloo, not one in ten thousand had ever teen a pitched battle, except in arms against the foes of his country. We are aware that some able and wortlhy muen have sup- ported the prize-ring ; but the exception proyes the r-ule: the men who have so supported it, have beeti for the most part remarkable for eccentricity, and for deliberata de- viation from the usual opinions of reasonable mess. 'Ve subjoin from al evening paper the last news of the state of Hudson:- " In the course of the morning it was very generally reportetl tltat Hudson died late in the eveniing, but a gentlcinan who left Warwick at 12 o'clock, states, we are inforiret , that there were no fears en- tertained of his ithmediate dissolution, though it had been found ne- cessarY to call in additional aid." If Hudson tlies, Cannon must be put on his trial ; and, we shoul(I suptpose, Mr. Haysie too, as his backer. And it is to be hoped that the presiding Judge will feel that the evil has reached such a pernicious extent, as to renuire the strict- est severity of the law to crutsl it. .-. , " l. . . . ??, ?,ITIZB-FIOTHTYXG..