Jan. 23, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
157 
increase the total number. The survivors often 
arrived in such a pitablc state that they could 
not be presented in the arena, or that they had 
to be presented immediately to prevent them 
from dying too soon. Symmachns, last of the 
great nobles of Rome, who, blinded by tradi¬ 
tion. thought to revive the glories of his be¬ 
loved city by reviving its shame, graphically 
describes the anxieties of the preparations for 
one of these colossal shows, on which he is said 
to have spent what would be about $400,000. 
He began a year in advance; horses, bears, 
lions, Scotch dogs, crocodiles, chariot-drivers, 
hunters, actors, and the best gladiators were re¬ 
cruited from all parts. But when the time drew 
near, nothing was ready. Only a few of the 
animals had come, and these were half dead of 
hunger and fatigue. The bears had not arrived 
and there was no news of the lions. .A.t the 
eleventh hour the crocodiles reached Rome, 
but they refused to eat and had to be killed all 
at once in order that they might not die of 
hunger. It was even worse with the gladiators 
who were intended to provide, as in all these 
beast shows, the crowning entertainment. 
Twenty-nine of the Saxon captives, whom 
Symmachns had chosen on account of the well- 
known valor of their race, strangled one an¬ 
other in prison rather than fight to the death 
for the amusement of their conquerors. And 
Symmachns. with all his real elevation of mind, 
was mo\'ed to nothing but disgust by their 
sublime choice! Rome in her greatest days 
had gloried in these shows; how could a man be 
a patriot who set his face against custom^ which 
followed the Roman eagles round the world? 
How many times since then has patriotism 
been held to require the extinction of moral 
sense! 
Sometimes the humanity of beasts put to 
shame the inhumanity of man. There was a 
lion, commemorated by Statius, which had 
“unlearnt murder and homicide,” and submitted 
of its own accord to a master “who ought to 
have been under its feet.” This lion went into 
and out of its cage and gently laid down un¬ 
hurt the prey which it caught; it even allowed 
people to put their hands into its mouth. It 
was killed by a fugitive slave. The Senate and 
people of Rome were in despair, and Imperial 
C.Tsar, who witnessed impassive the death of 
thousands of animals sent hither to perish from 
Africa, from Scythia, from the banks of the 
Rhine, had tears in his eyes for a single lionr 
In later Roman times a tame lion was a favorite 
pet; their masters led them about wherever they 
went, whether much to the gratification of the 
friends on whom they called is not stated. 
Another instance of a gentle beast was that 
of a tiger into whose cage a live doe had been 
placed for him to eat. But the tiger was not 
feeling well and, with the wisdom of sick ani¬ 
mals, he was observing a diet. So two or three 
days elapsed, during which the tiger made great 
friends with the doe. and when he recovered his 
health and began to feel very hungry, instead 
of devouring his fellow-lodger he beat with his 
paws against the bars of the cage in sign that 
he wanted food. These stories were, no doubt, 
true, and there may have been truth also in the 
well-known story of the lion which refused to 
attack a man who had once succoured him. 
Animals have good memories. 
One pleasanter feature of the circus was the 
exhibition of performing beasts. Though the 
exhibitors of such animals are now sometimes 
charged with cruelty, it cannot be denied that 
the public which goes to look at them is com¬ 
posed of just the people who are most fond of 
animals. All children delight in them because, 
to their minds, they seem a confirmation of the 
strong, instinctive though oftenest unexpressed 
belief which, lurks in every child’s soul, that be- 
t\yeen man and animals there is much less 
difference than is the correct, “grown-up” 
opinion; this is a part of the secret lore of 
childhood which has its origins in the child¬ 
hood of the world. The amiable taste for these 
exhibitions—in appearance, at least, so harm¬ 
less—strikes one as incongruous in the same 
persons who revelled in slausfhter. Such a taste 
existed, however, and when St. James said that 
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