Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1856-11-15

the Greeks was OF more catholic and ennobling
kind.
The religion of the Greeks carefully watched
over three principal objects of petition in the pray
ers of the church its care limited to YER
bal petition, nor were the worshippers contented
with periodical acknowledgment that the well being
OF man consists IN udcious regulation of d" mind.
body, and estate" The mind was cared for by
the combination of intellectual with gvmnastiC ex-
hlbltons and the audience at Els or Corinth ex-
pected with as much eagerness the song in honor
of the cOnqueror as the feats which obtained for
him the laurel or parsley coronal. The bOdy was
regarded well by the exercises which ostered its
vigour, grace and suppleness, as by the temper
ance IN all things which whoSneyer contended for
the prize must observe. And the estate was also an
object OF sOllctude, since temperance and hardi-
hood are incompatible with luxury and slOth. We
may affect To smile or sigh at the shallowness or in
IcOngrultY of the creed of Greece, but we must
blush at the practice of the worshippers of Zeus
and Ath6ne. 1t is needless to expatate on the ar
tstic genius of the Greeks further than to note It's
intimate connexion with the manly character Of the
people. :
The virtues of the Romans, which elected the
applause of the most ethical Of historians, were
civil and political rather than intellectual. Poly
bus, who had beheld the arts and refinements of
Greece unmpaired by conquest and unvitiated by
neglect, preferred to them the hardy Roman quail
Icomplished Of the Latin poets agreed with the
grave historian in this estimate of his counirvmen
and bade them leave to others the sculptor's and
the painters art, and devote themselves to law
administration, and agriculture. In whatsoever re-
lated to art and education, indeed, Rome, as COM
pared with Greece, or even Etruria, was rude and
uninventvr, and even on its colossal roads and
aqueducts is impressed the stamp of material en-
ergy more than Of grace or cOntrivanCe. The pop
ular amusements of Rome reflected the practical
genius of It's people. They were symbolic Of war
and agriculture. The games of the circus MIN
licked the strife of the bat;ieiied: and the verna
and autumnal festivals represented by their aItars
of sod and their garlands of flowers the simple
thanksgvings Of the tIlleTS of the soil Even from
the earliest times an ethical and not an artistic
spirit, Is visible In their reCTeatons and in the sea-
sons of relaxation they indulged in mementos of
the precariousness Of life. Of all Roman exhib-
tOns, the secular games were, both from their Oc
casiOn and their ceremonial, the most suggestive
of sad and sober thoughts. They were celebrated,
in compliance with cyclical computation Of the
Etruscans, once only in hundred or Il hundred and
ten years the ambition or policy Of the Caesars
indeed, sometimes abridged the regular term but
even jubilee, occurring once only in fifty years,
is well adapted inspire the spectators with solemn
reflections. The usual interval, however, between
the secular games exceeded the ordinary term of
life; and none of the spectators had already
seen them, none could hatter themselves with the
hope of bcholding them again. The sacrifices
were performed during three nights on the banks
Of the Tiber the darkness was dspeled bv innu-
mera5le lamps and torches, and the proper silence
of the hour broken by music and dancing.
Heralds some days before the soIemnity com
menced, invited the citizens to a spectacle which
no one had ever beheld, and none would behold
again.
Lord Bacon has pronounced that the triumph
amongst the Romans was not pageantS or gaudery,
but one of the wiscs and noblcst Institutions that
ever was for it contained three thngs-honor to
the general riches to the treasury out of the spos
and donations to the army The triumph, how
ever with ali Difference to so high authority we
believe to have been of the effective causes il
producing that hardness of heart which marked all
the dealings of Rome with the conquered and the
slave.
Whatever may haYe been the doctrinal influence
of Christianity upon the vices and iOllIes of a
perannuated fabric of society, It's higher aud more
severe morality cannot be questioned. Even the
selfish interests of mankind were enlisted in favor
of a creed which promoted the household virtues
and family union and restrained crimes of such
fragrant dye as cOnvulsed the latter days of the
Pagan world. The fathers Of the Church have
often been censurcd for the intolcTant zeal of their
attacks on art and the theatre; but to understand
and excuse them, 1t Is only necessary for US to
Even the foregoing sketches of the license Of the
Roman amphtheatre and the Byzantine race
course will suffice to justify Chrysostom or Tertu
lan's Indignation at spectaCles, and to accept even
the aid of bigotiy, against moral pcStilence SO
deeply rooted and so widely dIffusCd. The strong
virtues of the barbarians in time seconded the re-
clamations of the Church; and, although the
amusements of ChrIStcndom are not uustained
bv cruelty and license, they have never. in the
worst epochs, approached the excesSeS Of either
capital of the Roman Empire.
The SpaHiardS were in many Of their prediltc-
tions genuine disciples Of Rome. They hated /
commerce, and willingly resigned retail and me-
chanical trades into the hands Of MoriscOcs, Ger
mans, or French, or any strangers who settled
apong them-much as the Romans left their shops
and their warehouses to Greek or Syrian freedmen
and slaves. The love of idleness was accompa-
MED with passion for amusement, and the recre-
ations of the Spaniards were fierce sombFe, and
gorgeous in their character. For the spendOr of
their tournaments, need only TO refer to their
ballad literature; for the savage license of the bull
firht to every book of travels in the peninsula
and for the sumptuousness Of theatrical decorations
TO the record of their drama, and even the stage
directions of their plays. ltwas IN vain for the Cor
tes 10 exDress as they did as early as 1855 their
of bu.l-fgh's. The zest for them
was too deeply seated IN the temper of the people.
It was useless for the treasurers of the royal
household to demonstrate against the prniusion OF
the Theatre Royal; the mobiles demanded and the
king sanctioned the outlay. With the attachment
to habit. and the aversion from change that still
mark the Spanish people, the tournament fingered
among them long after 1t became an empty and
spectacle in the rest of Europe. The
SpaDiard of lS4O," writes George Borrow, - Is the
Spanard of four centuries ago" he still delights
to charge the bull with his lance, and drive him
down the narrow mountain track to the river he Is
a tanner of horses believer in wizards; swo.
foe to the Jews and Moors and labor; his repose
cannot be too profound his pa-oxysm OF recreation
and enjoyment too fervid or fierce. !
I, - .. 10 ro,rottad that those who have