Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1893-02-18

CuDeS ulSlllleu TOM pipes anu fallltu
gently OIL tho multitudes and filed tho
air with odors of hyacinth and hello
trope and franldnccnso and balsam and
my1rh and saffron, so that Lucan, tho
poet. says Of it:
At once ten thousand saffron currents flow
And rain their odors on the crowd below.
ORGANIZED MURDER AND TORTURE
But where was tho sport to come fromf
Well, went into tho cellars opening off
from the arena, and saw the places
whcro they kcptthe hycnas and lions and
panthers and wild boars and beastly VIC
lences OF all sorts without food or water
until made fierce enough for the arena.
and saw tho underground rooms where
the gladiators were accustomed to wait
until the clapping Of tho people outside
demanded that they come forth armed
to murder OF be murdered. All the ar
rangcments were complete, as enough Of
the cellars and galleries still remain to
indicate. What fun they must have had
turning lions without food or drink upon
an unarmed disciple Of Jesus Christi
At the dedication Of this Coliseum
5000 Wild beasts md 10000 immortal
men werc slain, so that the blood of men
and beast was not Il brook, but river;
not pool, but lake. Having been in
TINT way dedicated, DO not surprised
when tell you that Emperor Probus on
one OCCASION threw into that arena Of
the Coliseum / ,C00 stays, 1000 boars and
/ LOCO ostriches. What fun it must have
bcen--thc sound CT tlumpets, tho roar of
wild beasts and the groans of dying men
while in tho gallery tho wives and chill
dren Of those down under the lions paw
wrung their hands and shrieked out in
widowhood and orphanaso, while 100000
people clapped their hands, and there
was "IIa! ha!" wide as Rome and deep
as perdition!
Tho corpses Of that arena were put on
cart or dragged by hook out through
what was called tho Gate Of Death. What
IN excitement it must have been when
two combatants entered the arena, the
one with sword and shield and the other
with net and spear. The swordsmnn
strikes at tho man with tho net and
spear. Flo lodges the sword and then
filings the net over the head of the swords
man and jerks him TO the floor of the
arena, and the man who flung the net
puts his foot on the neck of the fallen
swordsman. md spear in hand looks up
to the galleries, as much as to say, 'Shall
let him up, or shall plunge this spear
into his body until he is deads'
The audience had two signs, either of
which they might give. II they waved
their flags, it meant spare the fallen con-
testant. If they turned their thumbs
down, 1t meant Stay him. Occasionally
the audience would wave their flags.
and tho fallen would be let up, but that
was too tame sport for most occasions.
and generally the thumbs from the gal
leries were turned down, and with that
sign would be heard the accompanying
shout of "Kill! Kill! KILL KILL"
CRUELTY ADDED TO CRUELTY.
Yet it was far from being monotone
of sport, for there was change Of pro-
gramme in that wondrous Coliseum.
Under q strange and powerful machin
cry, beyond anything Of modern inven-
ton, the floor Of the arena would begin
to rock. and roll and then give away and
there would appear q lake for bright
water, and on its banks trees would
spring up rustling with foliage, and IT,
gers appeared among the jungles, and
armed men would come forth, and there
would be tiger hunt. Then on the lake
in the Coliseum armed ships would float,
and there would DO q sea fight. What
fun! What lots of funl When pestilence
came, in order to appease the gods, In
this Coliseum sacrifice would be made,
and the people would throng that great
amphitheater, shouting, Tho Christians
to tho wild beastsl'' and there would be
cracking of human bones In the jaws
of leonine ferocity.
But all this was to be stopped. By the
outraged sense Of public decency9 No
There is only one thing TINT has ever
stopped cruelty and sin, and that is
Christianity, and 1t was Christianity.
whether you like its form or not, TINT
stopped this massacre Of centuries. One
day while in tho Coliseum Roman
victory was being celebrated and tO0,-
600 enraptured spectators were looking
down upon two gladiators in the arena
stlbbing and slicing each other to death,
an Asiatic monk of the name Of Tele-
nlachus was so overcome by the cruelty
that he lcaped from tho gallery into the
arena and ran in between the two
swordsmen and pushed first one back
and then the other back and broke up the
contest.
Of course tho audience was affronted
at having their sport stopped, and they
hurled stones at the head Of Telemachus
until he fell dead in the arena. But
when the day was passed. and the pas
sions of the people had cooled off, they
deplored the martyrdom Of the brave
and Christian Tclemachus and as re-
suit Of the overdonc cruelty the human
sacrifices of tho Coliseum wero forever
abolished.
THE SAME srIR1T STILL MANIFESTED.
What good thing, say you, that such
cruelties have ceased. Ny friends. the
sano spirit OF rllinous amusements and
Of moral sacrifice is abroad in the world
today, although 1t takes other shapes.
Last summer in our southwest there &C
Cured q scene of pugilism on which all
Christendom looked down. for l saw the
papers on the other side of the Atlantic
ocean giving whole columns of 1t. Will
so1no one tell me In what respect that
brutality Of Inst summer was superior to
the brutality of the Roman Coliseum? In
some respects 1t was worse by so much
as the 10th century pretends to be more
merciful and more decent than the 9th
century,
That pugiltsm is winning admiration
In this country Is positively proved by
tho foot thot vnors 400 Sl1ch collision