SPORT AND BARBARISM.
LTD THE EDITOR OT THE-" SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—Whilst welcoming the Dean of Durham's objection to the present recrudescence of cruel and brutal forms of sport, I should like to point out, with reference to the so-called sport of bull-fighting here in France, that there is an element in it which deprives it of any pretension to the name of " sport," namely, the fact that the' animals do not enjoy the ghost of a sporting chance. The fact, which he deplores, that Flores was disarmed and had his lung pierced by the horn of the bull of Beziers did give this particular fight, which he mentions, some right to the
name, as did the late exhibition at Ciudad, where one after the other Ventrodid, Gorlindo, Garcia, Chico, and Formalito all went down and were severely punished, as also were some of the spectators, one of whom, a student, was gored by the last bull, which jumped the barrier. This looks like sport; but unhappily such happenings are not frequently witnessed, or such degrading spectacles would at once cease to be amusing. The degradation of such forms of amusement does not lie in the fate of the toreadors and the matadors, who go into the contest with their eyes open and weigh their chances—it is their profession—but in- the ffisembowelling of old, decrepit horses, which again and again have their insides put back, are roughly sewn up, or have the holes plugged with wisps of straw, and are returned blind- folded for another encounter. This is what saps humanity in human breasts and drives pity from the soul. From the fact that the French Chamber lately voted unanimously for the continuance of the tax of 25 per cent, on the takings; that deputies, mayors, prefects of police attend such degrading spectacles, and that the police are present in force to preserve order, it might very naturally be imagined that no law exists in the country forbidding such inhuman cruelty. There is. The lei Grammont and occasional circulars issued by the Minister of the Interior absolutely forbid such " sport," and exact a fine for each such exhibiiton. The law forbids the killing of the bull—the goring of the horses is regarded in the light of unforeseen accidents. How then is the law observed? After each kill the police serve a proces-verbal upon the proprietor of the show. He pays his fifteen francs fine, and they all take their seats again whilst the next victim is sent into the arena, and the dead, disembowelled horses are dragged away. The moral cancer of such " sport " is deeper far than just the fight, man versus bull, which with equal chances to both might be called sport—it encourages a love and lust for blood, teaches a cold disregard for animal suffering, and a supreme contempt for the laws of the land, which can so easily be broken with impunity by those whose duty it is to see them enforced. There is now a school for bull-fighting at Nimes, and many women have entered their names. The cancer is eating deeply into the country, notwithstanding the immense efforts which are being exerted by thousands of right-minded French men and women of repute, who believe that nothing will arrest its ravages but the openly expressed reprobation and horror of other countries.
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