15 OCTOBER 1904, Page 2

it is equivalent to the total suppression of their favourite

amusement. It is only on Sunday that the lower classes are at liberty, and that the gate-money, as we should call it here, is sufficient to defray the salaries of the swordsmen, the price of the bulls, and the pay of the large number of attendants incidentally employed. As the bull-fighters are the popular heroes of Spain, and have great influence with the populace, the agitation is a serious one, and may even affect the security of the throne. We question if the Ministry will have the nerve to maintain the Order, though they are sensitive to the ill- repute which this relic of the old arena justly brings upon the civilisation of modern Spain. Cervantes was said to have "smiled Spain's chivalry away," but we doubt if his laughter did half as much to injure his raze as the cruelty and blood- lust of the bull-ring.