The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-06-28
OUR EUROPEAN LITTER.


ThUse who have visited this old
Proyencial city on she Rhone are
aware that the arena Of its magniti-
cent Roman ampbitheater. which,
were all is 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 encounters
with the ''savate, . of feats OF strength
and agility Oh the part of male and
female gymnasts, and event is
deplorable 20 say-as a bastard kind
of sport which would be more fitly
described rs bull batting than as
bull fighting. On Monday, while q
so-called bull fight was in progress
at Aries. an old .maa named Borg,
who was eagerly watching the cruel
spectacle, was pursued by one OF
the infuriated brutes, which tossed,
gored and trampled him under foot.
The recreations of the arlphitheater
have indeed, in al ages, been the
mere keeniy relisned when a little
human blood-prelerably amateur
blood-could be mingled with that
of brute beasts. 1t was AZ a gala
performance III the coliseum at
Rome that the Emperor Nero, OBJ
serving q very stout citizen shaking
his obese sides at the merry specta-
Gle Of couple of lions tearing
Christian virgin to pieces, issued q
grimly significant direction to ms
listors. Throw that man to the IL
ons, was Imperial CIsar's decree,
and the immense audience must
have yelled with delight when the
corpuient victim lay weeping among
his savage assailants IN the blood
bedraggled dust OF the mYhlthea-
tre. Here was no mere hred gladi-
ator, no pitifui nazarene, but one of
themseives-the father Of 4 family,
perchance-made food for the l!ous.
Ii is difficult to believe that such
q bar5arous spirit rs that exhibited
by the mob at Aries would be shown
by any French audience outside OF
boundaries of what is known as the
Midi" Of France. Forty years since
there used 20 be II the BaTrieTe du
Combat N Paris rude wooden am
phitheatrc in which on Sundays and
holidays, and for a few sous per
head admission money, the popu-
lace were allowed to witness the ag-
onv of number of old worn out
horses which were baited by savage
dogs called maths" Now and
agaiu touch of humanity would
relieve the rufiianism Of this exhi-
bition. for it was one Of the tricks
of the proprietor TO announce that
the miserable old "screw" which he
was about TO abandon 20 the dogs
had been the favoTite charger OF the
gallant Marshal Bruno. Touched
half by pity and half by patriotism,
the younger frequenters Of the am-
phitheatre would shower sous into
the arena. and the life OF the apoc-
ryphal charger Of Marshal Bruno
would be spared, to be sacrificed. il
is TO be feared, another day. No
such revolting display as that at
which ! have glanced would be per-
mitted now in Paris. Servan,
Trumphemy, and the biood-thiFsty
bandit JACQUES Dupont, were all we'll
known frequenters Of the arenas at
Nismes. At Aries they found q num-
erous contingent Of rufidns Of the
''lutteur" class to aid them in their
task Of numbering the BOnaparIists
and the ProtestSnts, and stripping
the Calvinistic women and beating
them to death with paddles studded
with iron nails arranged either In
the form Of a cross or 4 fieur de-lys,
and thence called "bat:0is rovaux."
An analogous instrument OF torture
may be seen figured in Monttaucon's S
Roman Antiquities, and in a great
many more respects may if be said
that the MeridionaGx are much
more ancient Romans than French
men,