CHAP. II.] Prize-fight near Paris, 37 



tion, had got so firm a hold, on national sentiment, that 

 though contrary to law, it was something more than 

 winked at by judges and by magistrates too. On one 

 occasion, a Cabinet Council was postponed, so that its 

 members might be present at a much talked-of contest 

 between two well-known pugilists ; and even the clergy, 

 it was said, could not refrain from witnessing the exhila- 

 rating spectacle. The robberies, the dishonest part 

 taken by the principals who were always ready to sell the 

 fight, and the scenes of violence and tumult that usually 

 took place, gradually disgusted the patrons of the 

 " ring," and brought about its downfall. The sporting 

 papers, which had lavished on a fight, in a jargon 

 peculiar to themselves, minutiag of description similar to 

 those now bestowed on a cricket match or boat race, did 

 their best to restore vitality to a sinking cause ; but 

 " law " came to the aid of an improved state of feeling, 

 and the ^^ fisticufiian '^ candle guttered out. Driven from 

 pillar to post, and finding no rest for the sole of his foot 

 on his native soil, the puzzled pugilist, as a last resource, 

 betook himself to the land of the Gaul. It may truly be 

 said that wonders will never cease ; for in the London 

 morning papers of February 16, 1886, it was stated 

 that a ^^ fight for the Championship of England had 

 taken place the day before, between two men, Smith 

 and Greenfield, on ground in the neighbourhood of 

 Paris." 



'* Coelum non auimum mutant qui trans mare currunt." 

 The change of soil and atmosphere, and the passage over 

 the sea, in no way changed the nature of the plunder- 

 seeking pugilist. As on this side of the Channel, the 

 mock battle ended in a riot, the backers of the man 



