[jEdit-Syntax-devel] ed to w

[Snider <fu...@we...>]

 delicate, aesthetic age," demanded that the heroes should actually be
killed on the stage. The debauched and sanguinary Romans reckoned life
worthless without the most thrilling experiences of horror or delight.
Tragedy must be genuine bloodshed, comedy, actual shame. When "The
Conflagration" was represented on the stage they demanded that a house
be actually burned and the furniture plundered. When "Laureolus" was
played they demanded that the actor be really crucified and mangled by a
bear, and he had to fling himself down and deluge the stage with his own
blood. Prometheus must be really chained to his rock, and Dirce in very
fact be tossed and gored by the wild bull, and Orpheus be torn to pieces
by a real bear, and Icarus was compelled to fly, even though it was
known he would be dashed to death. When the heroism of "Mucius Scaevola"
was represented, a real criminal was compelled to thrust his hand into
the flame without a murmur, and stand motionless while it was being
burned. Hercules was compelled to ascend the funeral pyre, and there be
burned alive. The poor slaves and criminals were compelled to play their
parts heroically until the flames enveloped them. The pirate Gibbs, who
was executed in New York, said that when he robbed the first vessel his
conscience made a hell in his bosom; but after he had sailed for years
under the black flag, he could rob a vessel and murder all the crew, and
lie down and sleep soundly. A man may so accustom himself to error as to
become its most devoted slave, and be led to commit the most fearful
crimes in order to defend it, or to propagate it. When Gordon, the
celebrated California stage-driver, was dying, h