disposition, proud, authoritative and selfish, but he was not free from the superstition of the times. As he entered the secluded vale and approached the temple of Delphos, his bold daring forsook him, and his mind was impressed with a deep solemnity.

Having presented the sumptuous gifts of the Spartan senate, preparations were made for the solemn ceremony, Euryleon was particularly struck, as he entered the temple, with the grandeur and magnificence of its decorations, and especially the elegance and costliness of the sculptures and paintings. Many of the statues were formed of gold and silver, and the building was itself constructed of a highly polished white marble. Near the centre stood a tripod, but not that on which the priestess received the prophetic energy and delivered the sacred message, and around it, stood a number of the Delphian priests, by whom the warrior was received.

"What seek you of Apollo?" said one of these, stepping forward, and addressing the stranger.

"The senate of Sparta," said Euryleon, "prays for the direction of Apollo in the prosecution of a

war against Messenia. Our citizens are discouraged, our borders are ravaged, and without the guidance of the infallible oracle our freedom will be lost."

priest to the

purified with

Having thus communicated the object of his mission, he was taken taken by the Castalian fountain, where he was the sacred waters. A small wreath of laurel being placed on his head, and a branch in his hand, he offered a bull and she-goat, which were accepted by the god. He was then conducted into a small private chapel, and from thence into the sanctuary, a deep cavern, in the middle of which stood the celebrated golden tripos. It was decorated with votive offerings of various kinds, and filled with the smoke of the perfumes and incense; the tripod covered the opening through which the exhalations passed, preventing the vapour from passing into

the cave.

The priestess, decked with flowers and a garland of laurel, then seated herself on the tripod, having bathed in Castalia, the fountain at the base of Parnassus, by the waters of which even poets themselves were inspired. For a short period she sat unmoved, but having received the divine affla

a

Euryleon

tus, exhibited, as it appeared to the Spartan, evident signs of approaching madness. Her body was swollen, and her breast heaved like one suffering from violent pain; but as the influence of the inspiration increased, she exhibited still stronger symptoms of frantic and distracted person, foaming at the mouth, tearing her hair, and wounding herself with blows and scratches. had been a stranger to fear, but this was a sight singularly different from any he had before witnessed. He had seen the dying agony of men, and heard their parting groans; he had been the instrument of death to many of his enemies, and had passed with indifference his slain and dying companions, but he had not been the witness of that horrid and heart-rending spectacle, when reason forsakes the being it had before dignified, and delivers humanity over to be vexed by the passions which disgrace it. "She raves, she raves," Euryleon exclaims, “she will put violent hands on herself."

"Peace," said an old man who stood by to catch the words she might utter during her phrenzy, 66 peace, the god stirreth her."

The violence of her gestures, and the strength

VOL. II,

H

of her passion then seemed to increase, and she uttered a few words which to the Spartan conveyed no meaning; they were sudden exclamations, such as might be expected from one who suffered intense mental agony, and called to recollection past events and places. In a few minutes the passion diminished, and at last the unhappy Pythia, overpowered by her phrenzy, sunk into a state of complete lethargy, and was carried out of the temple like one who was dead. The Delphian who had before taken an active part in directing the ceremony, again came forward from among his companions, and thus addressed the Spartan :

"Go ye to Athens! for there alone you'll find,

One who with heavenly fire refines his mind,
He shall your leader be, and time will show

What boons Apollo grants to men below."

Euryleon, proud of his country, and the station he held in it, was much displeased with the answer Apollo had given to the Spartan senate. "I would not have cared," he thought, "if the oracle had commanded us to sacrifice the most beautiful of the Spartan virgins, or even to offer a hecatomphonia, for I myself would have killed a hundred of my enemies.

But to ask at Athens for a general to lead us to battle, is more than could be expected of a people known through all Greeee as the bravest and most self-denying. To do it too in a war which we commenced for the purpose of conquest, which will give the Messenians an opportunity of taunting us with a want of courage and skill,-this is the worst of all." In this way, the Spartan endeavoured to persuade himself of the impropriety of obeying the commands of the oracle; but his recollection of the scenes he had witnessed, the wisdom of the god, and the deplorable want of courage and energy among his countrymen, ultimately prevailed over his pride, and he proceeded on his mission towards Athens.