Tom Sjjring's Back Parlour. 19 



phraseolgy of ever-pleasant BeWs Life, which poor Thackeray 

 described in his dry way as " an admirable paper, with a good 

 deal of erudition in the ' Answeis to Correspondents,' but 

 they called a spade a spade, and described how ' Heenau 

 felled Sayers Hke a bullock.' " 



I said I was going to be discursive, so, under " Tom 

 Spring's Back Parlour," I may as well call to mind a few 

 Ring peculiarities, including its literature. 



The Times stuck to Tom Sayers, and commenced their 

 leader with, " Yesterday all England was determined to 

 break the peace." I have not looked to the file of the 

 Times to correct myself, nor have I looked to the files of 

 Bell either, except for two dates, nor shall I, in what I shall 

 quote about that good old sporting paper. 



ISTo doubt the Ring had to be humorously treated. It was 

 considered by many, some of the judges and members of 

 the Legislature included, almost a necessary evil. '' The Art 

 of Self-defence v. The Knife " was a popular cry ; and if a 

 fatal accident occurred, the delincpients were dealt with 

 with leniency, and the defence always was that it was a fail* 

 fight. 



I remember, on one occasion when a man was killed, 

 w^hose name, I think, was Simmonds, the daily press went 

 in for sensational w^riting on the brutal spectators who saw 

 the man killed, and "^stuck the knife " into BeWs Life 

 for advertising the sport. BeWs Life had a leader in 

 which they quoted the greater part of the article, and 

 candidly admitted in effect that the spectators were of the 

 lowest and most rufiianly order, almost outside the ]3ale of 

 civilisation ; but as they were left by the State in an un- 

 educated and semi-barbarous state, and as the only sermon 

 which could touch them was an exhibition of a fight under 

 the rules of fair-play, which they all understood, and which 

 the majority of them respected^ and as they belonged to a 



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