Bat Mullins. 33 



exhibition purposes, prior to his going to America, Bat 

 Mullins, who was then close upon forty, in the sere and 

 yellow leaf of a not over careful life, offered to fight him ; 

 but those ' behind ' Mitchell were wise enough to avoid a 

 match, which, if it had come off, would not have been won by 

 their man. Bat, in his best days, though ' game ' and very 

 ' clever/ was far too light to be within measurable distance of 

 championship form. No one would ridicule the idea of his 

 having been the equal of Sayers, Heenan or King more than 

 himself. Bat is, I think, the last of the old-time pugilists 

 who teaches boxing. Any of my readers who wishes to 

 learn the noble art of self-defence could not do better than 

 to employ him ; for he is as civil and decent a fellow as ever 

 threw his cap into a 24-foot ring. I first knew him when he 

 was a lad at Nat Langham's place, The Mitre, in St Martin's 

 Lane. Although individual Englishmen, as a rule, have 

 very vague views of fair play during the heat of a personal 

 rough-and-tumble fight, they are collectively sound on this 

 subject, especially when they have backed the right horse or 

 man. 



