PUBLIC SPECTACLES AND GAMES AMONG THE ROMANS. I. PUBLIC games had in their origin a useful and honourable object. The youth exercised themselves in the combats, and thus prepared themselves to defend their country in danger. From all parts of the civilized world, the most illustrious heroes went to Greece to dispute for the prize of horse and foot-racing, of wrestling, of boxing, of archery, and many other pursuits. The great poets and artists employed their genius to celebrate the glory of the conquerors; and Pindar, in his sublime chants, has made posterity acquainted with their deeds. Rome, of Greek origin, and surrounded with a Greek population, must soon have adopted the customs of her neighbours. Gymnastic exercises agreed with a warlike nation better than any other spectacle. As long as they conduced to preserve the austerity of republican manners, those glorious combats, in which the youth rivalled each other in strength and skill, were worthy of a people entirely given up to the love of their country; but when this people had conquered the world, and accumulated in their capital the riches of the three continents, these exercises degenerated into bloody fights, whether of human beings or of beasts, in which morality and all the better feelings of our nature were most atrociously outraged. Our subject naturally divides itself into two portions, which may be treated of in order;-1st, The games of the Circus; and 2nd, The shows of the Gladiators. 1. THE GAMES OF THE CIRCUS. These games were supposed to have been originally dedicated to Mars, and to have been celebrated in the field of Mars, and in the month of March: but we have to observe that, among the ancient Romans, GAMES constituted a part of religious worship. They were of different sorts at different periods of the republic. They were at first consecrated to some deity. Oftentimes, they were vowed by generals in war, in the event of their success; and they took place also nary occasions; so that the stated regularity of their recurrence was much diminished. upon extraordi The CIRCUS-the grand scene of the races, both horse and foot, and of other games-was first built, we are told, by Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome, about 600 B.C. It was afterwards, at different times, magnificently adorned. Its site was adjoining to Rome, and it was of an oval or circular form, whence It was about 3 furlongs in length, and one furlong broad. It had rows of seats all round, rising one above another, where separate places were assigned to the different ranks of people. This building is supposed to have been capable of containing a quarter of a million of people. came its name. At each extremity of the Circus rose two columns, surmounted by images of eggs in marble, dedicated to the tutelar deities of the games, Castor and Pollux, who were said to have sprung from the eggs of the swan Leda. This was the boundary, round which the chariots should turn. In the middle of the Circus, for about the whole length of it, there was a brick wall, about 12 feet broad and 4 feet high. In the middle part of this wall was erected, in the time of Augustus Cæsar, an obelisk 132 feet high, which had been brought from Egypt; and at one extremity of this barrier, a smaller one. The oval figures at the top of the columns before-mentioned, were raised, or perhaps taken down, in order to denote how many rounds the charioteers had completed, one for each round. Above these figures appeared that of a dolphin, in honour of Neptune; that being the swiftest of marine animals. The egg-columns at one end of the Circus, therefore, | served as a starting-post, and those at the other end as a turning-post. The high-priests, the body of the senate, the vestals, and at a later period, the emperors, assisted and presided at these fêtes. In the time of the republic, a place of honour was reserved for those citizens who had rendered glorious services to their country. They wore a crown of gold and a triumphal dress. All those who were to play some part at the games assembled in the Capitol, traversed the Forum, and thus came into the Circus. The Roman knights opened the march; then came the wrestlers, divided into three bodies; next the grown-up men, the young people, and the children. Then came flute and harp-players; then dancers, each clad in a purple tunic, fastened with a brazen belt, from which hung a sword; they were also armed with a short lance. They were preceded by a chief, who regulated the steps and the dancing. Next came bodies of armed men; after whom advanced those who were dressed like satyrs, in hairy skins, and mantles formed of flowers. Their heads were ornamented with horns; and they exhibited curious grimaces, to make the spectators laugh. Then came men bearing the gold and silver vessels consecrated to the gods. At last, all this pomp was closed by the images of the gods carried by slaves. The magistrate who presided at the spectacle was drawn in a car. He was clad in a robe dyed with purple: he held a sceptre of ivory surmounted by an eagle. Behind him was a slave, who held above his head a crown of gold, and he advanced in this equipage Then all the officers and comup to the first barriers. batants took their places, and the signal for the commencement of the races was given by the prefect of the games, or in later times by the emperor, who threw a The chariots having been arnapkin into the arena. ranged by lot, and the signal for starting being given, the gates near the starting-place were opened; whence flew out the chariots which were to dispute the prize. They were obliged to go seven times round the Circus. The grand art was to turn round the pillars at the farther extremity without touching them, and without losing any advantage over their rivals. The racers were divided into four parties distinguished by their wearing dresses of four different colours, symbolical of the four seasons: red for summer, white for winter, green for spring, blue for autumn. But, afterwards, there were but two distinguishing colours, the blue and green. Each spectator took the part of one of these two divisions, wore its colour, and betted largely upon its success. Rome, Constantinople, and all the great cities of the empire, were thus rent into two factions, who often engaged in bloody combats. The spectators of the games favoured one or the other colour, as humour or caprice inclined them. It was not the swiftness of the horses, or the art of the drivers, which so much attracted them; but it was their dress. In the reign of Justinian no less than 30,000 men are said to have lost their lives at Constantinople, in a tumult raised by contentions among the partisans of the different colours. We are told that the Emperor Domitian added two colours, the gold and the purple. The number of chariots which ran, depended upon the number of colours. The emperors adopted almost always the green colour; and Nero, clad in this livery, disputed for the prize. Caligula wore this colour." He had such an inordinate passion for racing, that he dined ir. For his favourite horse he the stable with his horses. built a stable of marble, and constructed a manger of ivory. He sent ceremoniously to invite him to dinner, He presented him with a and gave him gilded oats. golden cup of wine, after having tasted it himself; and at last he made him a consul! with so much art, that the skill of the charioteer was almost superfluous. Pliny relates that a chariot whose The horses were trained guide had been thrown out, continued its course and gained the prize. The victor being proclaimed by the voice of a herald, was crowned, and received a prize in money of considerable value. Palms were anciently given to the conquerors in the games, after the manner of the Greeks; and those who had received crowns for their bravery in war, first wore them at the games. The palm-tree was chosen for this purpose, because it rises against a weight placed on it. Hence it was put for any token or prize of victory, or for Victory itself. Sometimes, the palm-crowns were adorned with ribbons hanging down from them. There were also represented horse and foot-battles, encampments, and sieges. The contests were oftentimes waged on elephants loaded with towers, which were filled with combatants. The theatre was also metamorphosed into an immense sea, furnished with monsters, whereon two fleets filled with combatants, who were taken from criminals condemned to die, engaged in a real battle. The signal was given by a silver Triton, who came out of the waves, and sounded the charge. Heliogabalus carried his extravagance so far, as to fill the Circus with wine. Two fleets fought upon this novel kind of sea. There was exhibited also in the amphitheatre, the representation of the fable of Orpheus. A forest stocked with a vast number of birds and wild beasts, and drawn along by invisible machinery, advanced to the sound of musical instruments. Unfortunately a plank broke, and the false Orpheus fell into the midst of the beasts, and was devoured by a bear. They would train eagles to carry children in the air, in order thus to represent the taking up of Ganymede by Jupiter. After the chariot-races, four foot-races, one from each party, rushed forward into the Circus. They ran from east to west; and they also went seven times the round of the Circus: sometimes they were stripped of all loose coverings; at other times they ran completely armed. Often the same competitors who had disputed for the prize in a chariot, ran on the ground, and disputed for the prize of foot-racing. They took the names of the winds, whose rapidity they imitated: Notus, the South-Augustus Cæsar dug a lake near the Tiber for that wind; Boreas, the North-wind, &c. Foot-racing, together with the exercises of leaping, boxing, wrestling, and throwing the quoit, went under the general name of QUINQUERTIUM, or the five kinds of contest. The boxers exhibited in their turn a new spectacle. Their arms and hands were surrounded with thongs of bull's skin, to which were fastened balls of lead, to make the blows fall with greater weight. These combats were almost always bloody. The wrestlers were always anointed with a glutinous ointment to prevent firm hold, and the prize belonged to him who threw down his adversary. The actors in the Quinquertium were previously trained in a place of exercise called the GYMNASIUM. Their pursuits constituted "gymnastic exercises," that is, exercises performed with no loose covering on the body, lest the limbs should be in any wise impeded. In the training of the combatants, they were restricted to a particular diet. There was also a mock fight, called Ludus Trojæ, performed by young, noblemen. The origin of this was referred back to the Trojans, the original ancestors of the Romans. This was usually celebrated at stated times by the emperors; it having been revived by Julius Cæsar. Another sort of sport celebrated in the Circus, was the Venatio, or hunting. Wild beasts were set to fight with one another, or with men, who were forced to it by way of punishment, as was the case with the primitive Christians. Some, however, fought voluntarily, either from a natural ferocity of disposition, or induced by hire. An incredible number of animals was brought from all quarters, for the entertainment of the people, at an immense expense. Pompey is said to have exhibited, upon one occasion, when he wished to please the people, five hundred lions and eighteen elephants, which were all dispatched in five days. In the time of the Emperor Probus, about 280 A.D., the soldiers tore up whole trees, and transplanted them into the Circus, which was thus changed into a vast forest. Here they let loose a thousand ostriches, a thousand wild boars, ibexes, and giraffes, and permitted the populace to rush in upon their prey. The deserts of Asia and Africa were thus searched for objects new and monstrous, to gratify the curiosity and the sanguinary lust of the commonalty of Rome. The traces of this pastime still exist among us in the shape of bull-baiting, badger-hunting, cock-fighting, &c.: but we trust that, by the growth of Christian feeling, and a sense of moral rectitude influencing public opinion, all these vestiges of barbarous and ruder days are fast verging to utter extinction. The sea-fights were not confined to the Circus, purpose, and Domitian built a naval theatre. In another article will be noticed the sad and detestable amusement afforded to the Roman people by the combats of the Gladiators. FLOWERS. FAIR flowers! a lovely sisterhood, And sweet refreshing showers. O'er ye the bee on busy wing, With hummings of delight. I linger o'er your fading blooms, Your humbler beauties sprung. (By Highest Wisdom deemed,) The brows of Heaven's Redeemed!-M. M. THE virtue of prosperity is temperance; fortitude that of adversity. WHO that has trod the long echoing aisles of some Gothic minster, and listened to the swell of the organ notes, while the stained light, through which the sunshine of centuries had poured upon fluted pillar and fretted roof, fell on the than any words could tell, that grandeur and beauty d well-worn pavement at his feet, but has felt, more truly eternal truths, are a few faint notes of that voice of God which whispers in his own soul? And who that has witnessed a public festival, a coronation, or a universal rejoi cing, but has felt his heart glad with loyalty towards the mere human object of our joy, and has owned in himself that earthly shows of dignity and honour, though they be but shadows, are mighty ones, and since they actually stir up the burning thoughts they are meant to awaken, are intended to form a part of our human state on earth, and neither a vain nor unpermitted language; but are divinely are types of feelings, which will not perish here?--Trak without Prejudice. John W. Parker, Publisher, West Strand, London. II. INTERIOR OF THE DORMITORY. Fast by, an old, but noble fabric stands, Gentleman's Magazine, 1739. HAVING noticed in a former article the early history of Westminster School, it remains to describe the buildings now devoted to the purposes of this ancient establishment, with some of the regulations laid down for the conduct of the inmates. The College Hall, which serves as a refectory for the King's Scholars, was originally an apartment in the house of the Abbot, and was devoted to the same, purpose as at present. From the archives of the church VOL. XXIV. it appears that Nicholas Litlington, who succeeded Langham in the abbacy, on the elevation of the latter to the see of Ely in 1362, built this hall, the Jerusalem chamber, part of the Abbot's house, now the Deanery; the bailiff's, the cellarer's, the infirmarer's, and the sacrist's houses; the malt-house, afterwards used as a dormitory for the King's Scholars, and the adjoining tower, which was once the apartment of the second master; the wall of the infirmary garden, and a watermill, whose dam has been filled up. The site of the old wall was on the south side of the cloister, the north wall of which is still remaining. The length of the ancient refectory appears to have been that of the cloister. The School-room is a spacious apartment ranging behind the lower end of the eastern cloister, and above some of the most ancient parts of the Abbey. The writer of the lines at the head of this notice, who appears to have been a pupil at Westminster in the time of the mastership of Dr. Freind, goes on to describe the different classes in the school as follows: Ranged into seven, distinct the classes lie, Next to the door the first and least appears, The second next your willing notice claims, Thence a step nearer to Parnassus' height, From Ovid's tales transferr'd, the fourth pursues Fifth these better skill'd and deeper read in Greek, From various books can various beauties seek. The sixth, in every learned classic skill'd, With nobler thoughts and brighter notions fill'd, From day to day with learned youth supplies And honours both the Universities. Near these the Shell's high concave walls appear, Where Freind in state sits pleasingly severe : Him as our ruler and our king we own; His rod his sceptre, and his chair his throne. Eastward of the passage leading to the school, there is a long ancient building, having the basement story roofed with semicircular groined arches, rising from pillars with handsome capitals. At the north end the regalia is said to have been formerly kept. At the east is a complete altar-table, erroneously called the tomb of Hugolin. The upper story is used as the School-room. The Dormitory is a spacious and elegant building when the celebrated Bishop Atterbury was dean of Westminster. A thousand pounds had been left for this purpose by Sir Edward Hannes, one of the physicians in ordinary to Queen Anne, who had received his education at this school. But this legacy was not sufficient to meet the estimated expense, and the Domitory, in consequence, remained unexecuted until Atterbury revived the project, and procured a memorial to be presented by the Chapter to George the First, running thus: "The Bishop of Rochester, Dean of Westminster, and the Chapter of that church, humbly represent to your Majesty, that Queen Elizabeth, of glorious memory, founded the college of Westminster, which has in all times since been highly favoured by your Majesty's royal ancestors, and has bred up great numbers of men, useful both in church and state; among whom are several who have the honour to serve your Majesty in high stations: That the domitory of the said college is in so ruinous a condition, that it must of necessity be forthwith rebuilt, the expenses of which building (besides other charges that may thereby be occasioned) will, according to the plan now humbly presented to your Majesty, amount to upwards of 5000l. As a foundation for raising this sum, a legacy has been left by one who was a member of this college; and there is good reason to believe that divers persons of quality, who owe their education to this place, may be disposed to favour this design, if they shall be incited by your Majesty's royal example. The said Bishop and Chapter therefore humbly hope that your Majesty will, as an encouragement to learning, be pleased to bestow your royal bounty on this occasion, in such measure as to your Majesty's high wisdom shall seem proper." erected for the scholars on the foundation, at the time The monarch was pleased to respond to this memorial by the gift of 1000l. towards the desired object; the Prince of Wales gave 500l.; the parliament voted 1200%, and William Maurice, Esq., gave 500l. The new building was at length commenced, on the west side of the college gardens, from the design of Lord Burlington, who personally superintended the works. It is in a portion of this building, fitted up as a theatre, that the Latin plays are annually represented by the King's Scholars. The former appropriate scenery, contrived under Garrick's directions, was the gift of a master of the school, Markham, archbishop of York. The present scenery was the gift of the highly respected Dean of Westminster, Dr. Vincent. The Westminster plays have attracted a number of distinguished persons as auditors. The pit is set apart for "Old Westminsters," who contribute liberally to the collection which is made at the close of the performance. On some occasions nearly 2001. have been thus collected, and after all expenses are paid, the remainder is divided among the Senior * A class so called, King's Scholars, who have taken part in the perform ance. The number of boys at Westminster has in past years ordinarily varied from three hundred, to three hundred and fifty, of whom rather more than two-thirds were in the upper school. This division contains four out of the eight forms into which the school is divided, namely, the sixth, the shell, the fifth, and the fourth. The under school has also four forms; the third, the second, the first, and a small class called the petty. Each of the forms is again subdivided into an upper and an under part, the period requisite for passing through each part being half a year. This time may, however, be shortened or prolonged according to the master's pleasure. A considerable number of hours in the week are passed in school; Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, are whole school days: the other three week-days are halfholidays. School-hours begin at eight o'clock in the winter, and seven in the summer, and, with the exception of an hour for breakfast, continue till twelve. The school opens again at two, and closes for the day at five. But the pupils are not occupied the whole time of their remaining in school, with repeating and construing les the next day, and themes and versions may be done in sons already learned: they also prepare their lessons for school. In construing the appointed lessons, places are taken in all parts of the school beneath the sixth form, and emulation is purposely excited among the scholars. Whole holidays are given at Westminster on Saints' days, and some few other occasions, when all the boys attend morning service in Westminster Abbey. They are not required to attend service a second time in the day, but the substitute for so doing is curious. All the boys, of whatever age and habits, and whatever may be the state of the weather, are locked up, the town boys in their boarding-houses, the King's Scholars in their dormitory, from the hour of two till five. This is designed to keep them from going too far out of bounds. When released, they go out till six o'clock in winter, and halfpast eight in summer. The games and sports of the scholars are reported to be somewhat of a pugnacious character. Not many years ago, there was a regularly established, and well-worn fighting-ground, in which quarrels were settled. An old custom on Shrove Tues. day is worth mentioning, though we have no account of its origin. On that day the under clerk of the college, preceded by the beadle and other officers, advances in due form, and throws a large pancake over the bar that tions a similar custom at Eton. divides the upper from the lower schools. Brand men The course of study at Westminster, as at most other public schools, consists chiefly of the principal Latin poets, portions of the chief Latin prose writers, and of classes are Virgil, Horace, Terence, Cicero's Orations, the Greek poets. The books employed in the higher Greek tragedies, particularly the four plays of Euri or the first Decad of Livy, Homer, and some of the pides, published by Professor Porson. For the sixth form must be added the first three books of Euclid, the work of Grotius, and collections of speeches from the Latin and Greek historians. All the boys in the upper school are required to make, every week, twenty Latin hexameter verses on some sacred subject, called the Bible exercise, with a theme or short prose essay, on Arithmetic, algebra, modern languages, and modern some moral subject, alternately in English and Latin. history do not enter into the course of instruction at Westminster; but there are masters to give lessons on By the strict letter of the statutes, the King's Scholars are required to be at some particular place called station, either the school, or the el closure in Dean's Yard, or the cricket-ground, or the college, or the hall, at every moment of the day. There are three monitors appointed from the senior boys, who are responsible for this attendance, and bound to preserve due order and discipline. These stations are still enforced upon the lower half of the King's Scholars with considerable strictness. The upper half is by custom excused. these subjects to those who desire them. The repetition of the Catechism, of which an explanation is given, and the turning of the Psalms and Gospels into Latin, form a portion of the religious instruction of the junior classes; the Bible exercise, Greek Testament, and Grotius, that of the seniors. Prayers are read in college and at the boarding-houses. On Saturday in Term, lectures are read to the King's Scholars by a Prebendary. Libraries are attached to each house, and to college. A new boy pays one guinea, and every one 3s. 6d. half-yearly to the support of them. There is also a small school library, containing old editions of the classics. The rewards at this school consist in the distribution of prizes, in the obtaining a higher place in the form in all forms below the two highest, and in the selection of an exercise for its merit by the master. The principal punishments are impositions and flogging. The very objectionable practice of fagging formerly maintained at Westminster, has, we are happy to state, been lately considerably alleviated. "The system never was supported, or even recognised, by the masters, and is now more discountenanced than formerly. The most satisfactory information which can be given on the subject, and which alone will be a practical answer to objections of parents and friends, seems to be this, that there is at present the best possible security provided against this abuse, in the regulations by which all those menial offices, which once fell to the lot of the lower boys, are now performed by servants; and that if fagging does exist at all, it must be confined to a very few, and by them little or nothing remains to be done, except errands to the school-bookseller, and such trifling services as secure patronage to a little boy, without in any degree subjecting him to hardship or ill treatment." DOUBTLESS that religion was from heaven which makes of hope a virtue.-CHATEAUBRIAND. PERCEPTION of distress in others is a natural excitement, passively to pity, and actively to relieve it: but let a man set himself to attend to, inquire out, and relieve distressed persons, and he cannot but grow less and less sensibly affected with the various miseries of life with which he must become acquainted; when yet at the same time, benevolence, considered not as a passion, but as a practical principle of action, will strengthen; and whilst he passively compassionates the distressed less, he will acquire a greater aptitude actively to assist and befriend them.-ARCHBISHOP WHATELY. BE HUMBLE. TRIUMPH not, frail man; thou art Thou seem'st most proud of thine offence; Triumph not, though nothing warns A pleasant morn, a sultry noon, Triumph not, though fortune sends If then thou countest many friends, But triumph, if thy soul feels firm In faith, and leans on God; If woe bids flourish love's warm germ, And thou canst kiss the rod; Then triumph, man; for this alone JONES. "THE LOST FARM." The western winds assail the western shore- Returning westers, stormier than the past, And the once fertile fields are fertile fields no more. WHILST "old ocean" is, on some of the shores of our "sea-girt isle," undermining our foundations, and precipitating acres of land into the sea; in other places, the land is encroaching upon the waters; and, whether aided or not by man, is occupying the place where the sea once rolled its foaming billows. The former operations may be traced on the high coasts of Yorkshire, where the dashing of the waters against the shore gradually wears away the yielding material; and the ground being undermined, the superincumbent mass, in smaller or greater quantities, is ultimately precipitated into the sea. On the flat beaches of Lincolnshire, on the contrary, large tracts of land have been reclaimed from the sea by human industry and ingenuity; and houses now occupy the sites which were once the dwelling-places of the inhabitants of the deep. If we turn to the western side of our island, we shall find that the flat sandy coast of some parts of Lancashire bears indications of having been once covered by the sea, which, from some cause or other, has receded from its former limits. In Morecambe Bay, a little north of Lancaster, both processes are going on within a very short distance. On the opposite side of the bay, a little south of Ulverston, if we may credit tradition, the sea has made great inroads: "for great part of the parish of Aldingham has been swept away within these few centuries. There is a tradition in Furness, that the church of Aldingham stood in the centre of the parish : at present it is within reach of a high tide." Two villages, "which the first Sir Michael de Fleming exchanged with the monks for Bardsea, are only known in record." The soil here is a pliable loam, which readily yields to the action of the waves. * Passing south of the Ribble, we come to the now considerable bathing-place, called Southport, situated at the mouth of that river or estuary, about twenty miles north of Liverpool, and nine north-west of Ormskirk, in the parish of North Meols (pronounced Mails). "Prior to 1792, the site of this improving village was a dreary sank-bank, at the lower end of a bay seventeen fathoms deep, which is now choked up with sand." In 1809, the number of houses was thirty-eight; in 1842, the number was upwards of a thousand: and during the summer season it is crowded with visitors. The shore is exceedingly flat. At low water the sea recedes several miles; and during neap-tides, it is hardly visible even at high water. On approaching from Ormskirk, we pass through a couple of miles of peat-moss, which, within a quarter of a mile of Southport, is covered some depth with sand. "The lost farm" is the name given to one of the very few attractions within reach of the visitors of this socalled "Montpelier of the coast of South Lancashire." It is situated two miles and a half south of the town, and about a quarter of a mile inland. It is lost and desolate enough; but not, on this account, less an object of interest to the curious or the contemplative. This now barren spot is separated from the sea by the range of low sand-hills that run along this part of the coast. It may, therefore, be readily conceived that the breezes from the Atlantic, or rather from the Irish "From the Teutonic word Melo, farina, are derived the Saxon terms Mell, Meol, and our Meal, which have each been figuratively employed to designate this parish, in consequence of the number of sand-hills which it contains-BAINES's History of Lancashire, vol. iv., p. 273. + |