Sheriffs' Court, Red Lion...
The Times, 1824-12-13T00:00:00

A nIs Gay an inu siton was held betbre Air. HstCIk5kAw, the Under Sheriff of Middleiex, for the purpose of assessing the da- mage sustained by Mr. Belcher, in consequence of his having been assaulted bv Mr. Cribb, at a late dinner illtheXporLing world. Cribb suffered judgment to go by default. AIr. Af)OLISHus statedthe plaintiff's case to the jury. He said, that from the naties of the parties in this cause, there muight be sohne people who anticipated a great deal of fear from the iniuiry. lie .uld assure such people that their anticipations were fiultless s for that he could see no fear in such an assault, If there were any *vho thought that he would entertain them with a dissertation against the p'actice of prize-fighting, they also woultl be disappointed, for none such solde give then. he did not come there to repeat the too common trick of abusing the general practice of prize6ighting. Al- though in particular fights there rnight occur particalar objection. able circumstances, and certain consequences which mu6t receive dis- approbatio-n, still lie would fearlessly rcpeat, that the national spirit for which the common people of England were so remarkable, was mnainly owing to this general prartice, and could not have been in the lame degree-sustained, were it not for the sysrn being in some respects reduced to what was called a science. lt was, he was sorry to say, a great deal too common now-a-days' to attack pugilismn- he had, however, declared his opinion; he did not come there to pronounce its eulogy, still less its censure. With respect to the. drcumstances of the case immediately before them, he had to state that the plaintiff was not James Belcher, who was w;ell kIcown abou2t twenty years ago, and who gate the name to the spotted handker. chiefs so generally worn ii that day, but his biother, Thomas Bel- cher, who had done a goed deal in the ring, though not so much as James had done in his time. The defendant was Thomas Cribb, aiso well Icnown in the same circle; lie was the person who had lately, of his own free will, resigned the Championship of England, alter having for some years honourably sustainee' its character. It was well known, that when pugilists were pitted against each other, partioular rerard was always had to their respective weight. In this case Cribb was four stone heavier than Belcher, and of course an overmatch for him in any rencontre. These two gentlemen had, casually met at a dinner given at Ben Burns', the sign of the Sun, ' W4r. Adolphus '?ould have shown more tact. if not sense, tf he hatl abstained from a remark like this so soon after the dsclaratit,r of Mr. Justice Bturrough'At Chelmsford, - in Great Windmill.street, onl tihe 21st of Otaober, wher& a I prge dinneer was given to malte up a niatch between Mlartin and Burns, Ben's nephew, and wlhere the stakes were to be made good for the business of the fight. About eight o'clock in the evening Cribh en- tered the room, with Spring, who always c3tlls him " his D4d." In the course Of the table business that fbllowed, some conversation and recrimination arose about a bet of ten pounds, and Cribb and Belcher became warm. Cribb beckonedl -to-Belchee to lean over to wards him on the table, as he could not distinctly hear wvhat he sgid&' Blelcher did so, when Cribb seized him bi t1ie arib, held' hitn un- der him on the table, and inflicted upon his face and head, while in that constrained and reclined attitude, severe blaws,, which constituted the assault now complained of. The blows had loosened several of Belcher's teeth, and covered his face with blood. Cribb, not being content with this outrage, after Belb cher had been removed to another end of the room, ran along thie table ruslhed upon him, and repeated the assault. Such an assault calle fer very severe punishment. WVithlin his recollection it had not been the practice of pugilists to fight each other in private so- ciety: they were, on the contrary, unoftenling men In that respect,. but if this instance were permitted to patss with impunity then no man would be safe from their unrestralried violence. Me hdpedi therefore, that the Jury would give a liberal allowance by way of damages to the plaindtif; or else what was done to-day to Belchet4 might be (done-to any of themselves to-morrow. HeWosild now call his witncaSses 'Vhel first was Joseph Atkinson,the landinrd of a otisiic6ouse in tcen-lane, Tottenham. He caid, that he was at tliedinnet ai Burns ? the S.han, in Windmili.-street_ on the day of the assault, (21st of October); Belcher was there; there were alioutf0Oor70 persons in the room, and the meeting was to arrangc a fight between Martin and Burns. Spring entered the roon In the evening, and so did Cribb. He observed, that there had been a previous bet be- tween Cribb and Belcher, or in which they were concerned. One of them made a long speech about it, and Cribb said afterwards, " What do you say, Beleber ?" Whatever was said he could not hear, but Cribb dragged Beleher by the hand or arm upon the table, and struck him several violent blows, which made his face bleed profusely, Cross-exarnined by AMr. Picti.tLis._...as not a pugilist, but knew those who Yere did not g to the dinner to fight ateea fight, bti went to have a go6d dlnper; and to enjoy It *ad heard that there was to be a match settled at the table, bete& r lIaftan and Big Ben's nephew, Burns. On being cosely questiored by the learned -counsel as to the quality of the treat, and his. share of the good thinms, he said, there were " thoausands of wine," and p plenty of porter. ' On being repeatedly interrogateA respecting his know- ledge of the cause of the quarrel, anm thelanguage used by the parties, all that tthe learned counsel c'iuld obtain from the witness was, that he came there as an honest man to speak thetrath, thathe knew no particulars of the bet which led to the qun-arel, only that le uuder. itood it was about stake.money; and that Belcher thargtd dribb with pocketing 01. fn that way. Tle language becaune very violent tiaring the controversy, they mutually cursed each other, and wit ness pulled Belcher away at'ter he was struck by Cribb. It was B]eclier wiho made the speech about the stake-money, anid when he spoke he sat a good way off from Cribb. -There were-about 60 or 70 persons present, and two tables. Belcher came down, before the assault, just opposite Cribb, aiid then the assault took place; Belcher is a pugilist, but witness never saw him fight; Cribb was also one; witness had not- put down any-inenev that night for the milling match; lie kept a public-house in Green-lane, Tottenhain, whlere young Burns ha.l once trained. His bets.on the fight were merely shillings and siXperite, and tome pots of ale; Cribb got up afterwards, hnd fered to. betliends with Belcher, and not to give any money to the " rascally lawyers." ir. Fletcher, a baker in Ngarsau-street, Soho, went into the room at Burns' after dinner. Belcher was present, and Spring and Cribb camne in after. Some words occurred between Spring and Belcher. Spring had macle a speech, and Belcher got up to an- swer him. iMr. Belcher was not lheard, and much conf'usioni arose. Belcher came down to the enrd of the room, opposite t:ribb, and was leaning across the table, when Cribh seized him by the armT, aad strucis iim in the face more than once. Belclier could into return thc blows till lie was extricated. He did not return them. Belicer then returned to his plade, and C2ribb ran down the table to meet him, and jumped from the table upon him. The comnpany then parted them. After this the room became quiet, and Mr. Cribb wislhed Belcher to drink with him, but he reftised. Witness In cross-examination said, he did not hear what aggra- vating words passed between the parties, the confusion was so great. This was the case for the Plaintiff Mlr. PI11LLsPS addressed: the jtury for the defendant. He ob- served, that he was never more surprised thai on hearing such a case as the preaent broitght into a Court of Justice, for one of a more pi-my descriptioni never came udrh sobetvation. As the words of higs learne( friend (oliirgAdh sl i ougt, and perliaps might, have weight with the public it was imapossible for him to be silent when he heard such doctrines broached as lie had that day urged in favour of the science of pugilismtndoctrines which lie (IM r. Phillips) begged leave to say, were utterly at variance with every principle of social order, and originating onily in the ec- centric feelings ot mnman (Alr. WVindliami), who, however much re- spected, in this instance at least was almost singular in Iii; preju- dices. For his own part, he would not hesitate to say, that he was far from thinking Englishmen required such a stirnulus to their courage; but what would tSe world say, when thev found a barrister set himselfup in a court of justice as theadvocateofsuch a system ?- at system by which men becatne degeneratea to the level of. brutes, and even worse than brutes, because thie latter acted fromn instinct, while the former set t hemselves up to be beaten to a mumrithy Without the pretence of provocation, and nmerely for the sake of personal gain. Alurders were even coimpmitted by these ruffians, for death often eistied from their contests ; and vet tor such practices, not only were there to be founrd abettors aimong the ranks of the ftincy, as in the odious und debasing language of slanrg admilrers of suchi scene were described, but among the gentleinen of the bar. To say. that such exiiibitions w-ere calculatedI to promoate the manly courag-e of Englislhmen, was, in his estimation, - gross libel on the national character of the country ; and lest his silencee on hearing isuch. doctrines broached might be considered as an acquiescence in their justness he thought it iiicetrmbent upon himlhtui publicly to enter hissoeii rotstaganttehsm. Theywere that day called upon to assss he amaesbetween two men whio were members of the laudabe profession w ie haEl deacribe4..neni who, as he bad alredy sated ha sufrd themselves to be pummelled till no trace of the human countenance remnained, for the sake of sulcI sums as the highminiRde nobles of the country thought proper to award to their metits. I-Je cared not WhlO he offended by this declaration, whether plaintif or defendant; lie spoke the truth, and whether at variance or not with the interest of his client, he weould not conmpro- miehi whi sense of duty on the occasion. lie conifessedl, that thiough h disliked prize-flghilng, that dislike did not arise from any cantin or methodistical objection to fair and manly resentmient whero gross provocation had been given; on the contrary, he wou]l l;e the tirst to applaud the rnan who would sustain bis honour at the risk of his life. Hlis objections only extended to those cool and calculating conflicts whici wvere influenced by the prospect of gain alone. The UNDER SHERIFF, in summing Up the evidence, observed, that words would not justify a blow : and if the jury were of opinion that the conduct of the det'endant was reprehensible, and tl.at the assanlt had been proved, it would be their dutv to assess the damages at such a sum as their judgment mirht fairly suggest. The Jury retired, and after a short consultation, assessed the.da. mages at 101. STIERIFFS' COURT. Rin T,Tnv.c-nrIt- n-- 11 I _ AFFAIR AETWEE:t TRrriTp VW re -- -n