3 14 ON SPORTS AND EXERCISES. 



have ^rpassed tho moderns, in the display of military 

 ardour and true courage. 



It is a superficial and unphilosophical view of the sub- 

 ject, to consider the barbarous sports of Rome contri- 

 Ibuting to the establishment of her power and military 

 fame. These spectacles never became common till after 

 Hannibal's defeat ; and that the Romans, subsequent to 

 this period improved in valour and hardihood, is not re- 

 corded in the pages of their history. But may we not, 

 ■with jastpridCj appeal to facts furnished by our own age 

 and country ? Has the valour, enterprize, or intrepidity 

 of British soldiers and sailors shone less conspicuous^ 

 since the period that bull-baiting and other barbarous 

 sports have declined, throughout most parts of the king- 

 dom ? The answer is recorded in the history of our late 

 naval and military transactions. 

 Kor are Spain The conduct of the Spaniards and Portugueze, when 

 exalted for contrasted with that of our own countrymen, is astrik- 

 their bull- ing proof of the incompetency of savage and cruel 

 ^^ ^^' amusements to create a courageous and warlike dispo- 



sition. Bull-fights still constitute the only active popular 

 amusement of the two countries. If these bloody sports 

 were capable of inspiring active courage and manly for- 

 titude, how are we to account for the acknowledged 

 degeneracy of the people of Spain and Portugal in these 

 warlike qualities ? 

 Arguments The advocates for bull-baiting and similar sports, have 



with regard to j-gcourse to another argument, or rather assertion, which 



Britain, and ^ -, ,r r% 



thcinfluence they urge With great confidence : "Cruel sports," they 



of its sports, contend, '^ do not necessarily generate cruelty in a 

 people." " The English, (say theyj who are fond of 

 these diversions, are, at the same time, less ferocious, and 

 indeed hold the shedding of human blood more in ab- 

 horrence than any other nation on the face of the globe." 

 Granted that wc really deserve this honourable distinc- 

 tion — Does it follow that human nature is differently 

 constituted in England to what it is in other parts of the 

 world ? Can it be necessary to prove, that habits of in- 

 difi'erence to human suffering are acquired by repeated 

 acts of cruelty to brutes ; and that the sympathy of our 

 matures must be blunted in proportion to our familiarity 



Trith 



