18.—It was all up. Martin was hit so severely that he fell upon his face. (A guinea to a shilling was offered, but no takers.)
19 and last.—It was doubtful whether Martin could come again. He did, however, appear at the scratch, in a terrible state, but it was only to be floored sans ceremonie. The battle occupied forty-nine minutes and ten seconds.
Remarks.—Randall never won a battle with more comparative ease; and, excepting a slight shade under his left eye, and a scratch upon his ear, he had no appearance of having been engaged in a contest. He is a complete master of the art of war, and his judgment truly conspicuous. He found the length of arm possessed by the baker was not to be got over at first; he then, with great promptitude, found out the vulnerable part of the body, till the head of his opponent became at his service, and then he won with all the coolness and science of playing a game of draughts.
It was the opinion of the best judges, that Randall ultimately must be cried down, like the famous “Eclipse,” as regarded fighting any man of his own weight. Martin was a very game man, and a hard hitter; but he had no chance with Randall, although it is said he weighed above twelve stone, and Randall only ten stone ten pounds. In point of civility, decorous behaviour, and quiet conduct in life, Martin yielded to no pugilist on the list; and these circumstances were not forgotten by the amateurs, who made a collection for him of £30 on the ground. He was taken to a farmhouse and humanely attended upon; while Randall put on his clothes, and sat down to view the fight between Carter (who styled himself the Champion of England), and Spring, which took place in the same ring.
Randall, it appears, received foul play early in the morning of the above fight; or, in other words, he was “hocussed.”[[155]] This infamous scheme, however, had not the desired effect; but the dose operated as a purgative.
A silly Monday disturbance in Battersea Fields, which led to a not very creditable turn-up between Randall, who had been dining out, and a fighting tailor named Jem Wood or Hood, in October, 1819, is seized upon by Pierce Egan for seven octavo pages of slang and ungrammatical “patter;” “Fistiana,” too, has booked it as a victory, “four rounds for love,” to Randall.
Randall was now so popular that the manager of the Regency Theatre engaged him at a salary to exhibit his milling acquirements in a pantomime. Turner was his friendly opponent upon this occasion, and crowded houses were the result.
In June, 1819, Randall being then about to open in business at the Hole in the Wall, in Chancery Lane, was challenged by the dread-nought Jack Scroggins, and a backer of Randall put down a £10 note on his behalf, for a fight for 100 guineas to come off in August. Randall, not having been consulted, refused to meet Scroggins, and forfeited the £10.
On Tuesday, August 17th, 1819, Randall’s opening dinner was celebrated. As a specimen we reprint the advertisement from the weekly papers:—
“TO THE PATRONS OF THE NOBLE ART.