Fain would I shroud the tale in night,—
The meddling Blues[37] that thrust in sight,—
The ring-keepers o'erthrown;—
The broken ring,—the cumbered fight,—
Heenanus' sudden, blinded flight,—
Sayerius pausing, as he might,
Just when ten minutes used aright
Had made the fight his own!
Bull Fight at Islington
This curious document, valuable as contemporary evidence, worthless as prophecy, serves to show how strangely Punch's humanitarianism was leavened and influenced by primitive instincts in the domain of sport.