Show THE PR prostitution OF THE STAGE the th e stage is supposed to be a reflex of things happening in the actual or pre y life of man and incidentally a cepro representation en tation of idealism and fancy wn en elk a roman human tragedy to is being presented we are altogether prepared for the Counter counterfeit reit presentment of the amphitheater phi theater and may even receive wath tolerable grace the spectacle of the gladiators engaged in a death struggle ast j make a buman holiday 02 this is a part of history and when it can be made to add to the effectiveness of i a play or to make the story of an epoch more vivid it has its uses in that way if not in others but we would not tolerate some of the bloody deeds even in mimicry that long ago character characterized izea the arena be cause we do not care to imagine much less lees to behold them or a simulation of them the spectacle of a prisoner bottling battling for his life and perchance that of a wife and child against a hungry lion and the gladiator with no other means of offense or defense than a small sword in order that his bis christianity might be expiated and his pagan captors cretors find amusement at the she same time we I 1 in a this age are well nigh unanimously opposed to and will not have and yet what spectacle that appeals strongly to cultivated sympathy that makes the heart m mere ra pulsate and the soul boul to be more acutely active than that of a man fighting against hopeless odds in defense of the loved ones first and himself next we object to such representations because of the sheer brutality which they place before our visual sense because we have established a limit beyond which we do not care to go As aa between the gladiatorial struggles of ej ancient rome and those of modern times gonera generally fly called prize fichti ag there is ie a great deal to be said in favor of the latter one la Is to some extent the other was in all respects brutal barbarous and bloody one necessarily involved human life the other only involves it sometimes the former was for money the latter always Is ia f tr tr it the former was with the sword or destus the he latter with of late more or less lea padded fists the former admitted of no ike modi cation only extinction or continuance while the latter has been considerably toned down aud and egme phases 0 it are comparatively unobjectionable there is nothing however in the light of our present christianity and advancement to be said in favor of lighting fighting for money indeed it is rarely that any real justification eau can be found for fighting at all but no matter as to that yet we are in this city just now favored with a play which is simply from alist to last an attempt to wake make prize fighting heroic and respectable it endeavors to show that a nations honor may rest u on the quality of its bruisers and that it is the act ot of a patriot to pick up a quarrel with every effusive foreigner that comes along it a man is a gentle man at heart he will be a gentleman at anything 10 says bay the hero amid loud applause from the upper tiers we bear beato to differ there are some seme exceptions A gentleman at heart is apt to slip from his moorings mo orinus if he permits himself to be drawn into falsehood deception vicious company destructive habits babits or prize fighting and all the cleverness of the playwright howver however aided by the gallery gods cannot make make it appear otherwise |