Is the courage of the Spanish _torero_ declining? There are one-time _aficionados_ of bull-fighting who declare that the art is not so exciting, scientific, and well studied as in bygone days, and yet there is scarcely any decline in the absorbing interest devoted to the _corridas_ in all parts of the Peninsula. Prosper Mérimée, in his “Lettres à une Inconnue,” written in 1859, supports the view that bull-fighting has deteriorated. He writes: “I was present at a bull-fight on Monday, and it amused me a very little indeed. I was unlucky enough to know all too early in life what a degree of excellence this sport can attain to, and after having seen Montes, I really cannot look at his degenerate successors with any degree of pleasure. The animals have degenerated, too, as well as the men.” No doubt there are many able exponents of bull-fighting still left in Spain, and there are writers in abundance who could probably prove that the sport is as stirring as ever. We, who have not seen Montes and Romero, and other dead heroes of the Plaza de Toros, are scarcely in a position to decide whether the bull-fighter’s art has degenerated. If the daring of the _espada_ of to-day is called into question, it must be said that while there are men who will stand motionless as statues, and allow a furious bull to sniff at them, and others who will stand still to the rush of a bull, and receive the beast on the point of the sword, there are still fighters prepared to risk their lives in exhibitions of intrepidity. There remain some _toreros_ who perform the perilous feat of vaulting over the bull with a pole, and many who expose themselves to a deadly thrust of the horns while planting the darts in the animal’s neck. The coolness of several of the leading professors of bull-fighting is unquestioned, and it cannot be denied that the patrons of the ring are not still exacting in their desire for hair-raising performances. It is perhaps correct to state that there is a little more sympathy for the horses than in the old days of the _lidia_. Many Spanish people express disgust at the sight of the mangled carcasses of the miserable, worn-out horses, which are forced to end their hard lives in this cruel manner. But your true _aficionado_ has no scruples of pity, and he will assert that a bull does not fight at his best until he has seen blood flow. Perhaps the greatest of all bull-fighters was Frascuelo. The Spaniards declare that no _torero_ has taken his place. Guerra, his rival, was a fine fighter, but he has retired, and lives on his laurels at Cordova. Frascuelo was the leader of what may be called the dare-devil school of bull-fighters. He was always at close quarters with the bull, and he strove to out-do the most daring _espadas_ of his day. Bombita, or Bombita-Chico, is a young _torero_ of great courage and especially popular in Madrid, where he was born.