Daily Republican., 1882-06-19
European Letter.
Regular Correspondence.

ARLEs, France, June 9th, 1882.
Those who have visited this old Pro
vincial city on theRhone are aware that
the arena of its magnincent Roman
Amphitheatre, which, were al. its tiers
of seats restored, would be capable OF
accommodating twenty five thousand
spectators, is occasionally utilized for
the holding of agricultural shows and
circuses, of wrestling matches and en-
counters with the ''savate," of teats OF
strength on the part of male and fe-
male gymnasts, and even--it is deplor-
able to say-as a bastard kind of sport
which would be more titly described as
bull-baiting than as bull-6gthing. On
Monday, while so,called bull.fght
was in progress at Aries, an old man
named Bony, who was eagerly watch
ing the cruel sport, was pursued by
one of the infuriated brutes, which
tossed, gored, and tramrled him under
foot. The recroations of the amphi.
theatre have indeed in all ages been
the more keenly relished when little
human blood - preferably amateur
blood could to be mingled with that of
brute beasts. IL was al a gala perfor-
nance in the cJllisium at Rome that the
Emperor Nero, observing very stout
citizen shaking his obese sides at the
merry spectacle of couple of lions
teatinga christian virgin to pieces,
issued griml y significant direction to
his lictVrs. Throw that man to the
lions" was Imperial Caesars decree
and the immense audience must have
yelled with delight when the corpulent
victim lay weeping among his savage
assailants in the b.Ood btdraggied
dust of the amphitheatre. Here was no
mere hired gladlators, no pitiful Nazar.
inc, but one of themsel yes, the father of
a family, perchAGce, made food for the
lions.
1t is difficult to believe that such a
barbarous spirit As that exhibited by
the mob at Aries would be shown by
any Fren ch audience outside of boun
dries of what Is klOwn as the "Midi"
of France. Forty years since there
used to be at tie Batriele du Combat
in Parls arude wooden amphitheatr
in which on Sundays and holidays, and
tor few sous per head admission mon
ey the populace were allowed to wit
ness the agony of a number of Old worn
out horses which Mere baited by savage
dogs called "matius." Now and again
a touch Of humanity would relieve the
rutlianism of this exhibition; tor it was
one of the tricks Of the proprietor to
announce that the miserable old screw
(which no was about to abandon to the
dogs had been the tayorite charge. of
the gala Marshall Bruno.
Touched half by pity and half by
patriot sm, the young frequenter of the
amphitheatre. would shower money into
the arena and the life of the apocryphal
charger of Marshal Brune would be
spared to be sacrificed, it is to be feared
another day. No such revolving dis.
play as that at which | have glanced
would be permitted now in Paris.
Servan, Truphemy and the blood thirsty
bandit Jacques DUPONT were al well.
known trequenters of the arincs at
Nirmes. AT Aries they found a numer.
GUS contingent of rutfians Of the 'lutteur'
class to aid them in their task of mur-
dering tie Bonapartists and the Pro.
testants and stripping the Calvinist
women and beating them to death with
paddles, studded with iron nails ar.
ranged either in the form of a cross or
t1eur de lvs and thence called "battoirs
voyaux" An anal, gous instrument of
torture may be seen figured in Mont
taae "Rrman Antiquities" and III
q great many more respects may it be
said lat the Meridiorneaux are much
more ancient Romans than Frenchmen.