SPARTA.

The province of Laconia may be seen in the southern part of Peloponnesus, surrounding the gulf of Laconia, and terminating on the east of the gulf in Cape Malea, and on the west in Cape Tenarus; to the north of it lay Arcadia and part of Argolis, on the west was the province and Gulf of Messenia, and its eastern coast was washed by the waters of the Mediterranean.

2. The whole province of Laconia was subject to Sparta, a city which may be seen on the river Eurotas. The inhabitants of the province were little better than the North American savages, but they of the city were those distinguished warriors whose very name was a terror to the neighbouring nations.

3. The gods of the Spartans were the same as those of the rest of Greece, but their laws, commonly called the institutions of Lycurgus, were different from those of any other state; though Lycurgus, the legislator, is said to have taken some of them from the laws of Minos, a king of the island of Crete. These laws were never written, and the people corrupted them after some years, but different Greek historians have described them as they existed during several centuries, and they are frequently mentioned in books.

4. It is said that the ancient kings of Sparta were descendants of Hercules, and that two kings reigned at the same time. About eight hundred years before Christ, Lycurgus, a prince of the royal family, administered the public affairs of Sparta during the infancy of a young king. Ly.

curgus was brother to this young prince's father, and on the death of his brother, was himself made king, but the prince was afterwards born, and according to the laws, was heir to the throne. Lycurgus might easily have killed this child, but he was an honest and disinterested man, and chose to act with justice.

5. As soon as Lycurgus saw his infant nephew he took him in his arms, and presented him to the magistrates of Sparta, "Behold your king," said he, holding up the child to them, and from that timo he resigned the station of king. The people ho. houred this generosity, and as they were in a state of great confusion, committed the public affairs, for a time, to the management of Lycurgus, who determined to regulate them by laws entirely new.

6. The Spartans believed in the authority of Oracles. Lycurgus persuaded the Pythia of Delphi, to declare that his laws should be inspired by the gods, and that to obey him would be an act of obedience to the gods. Lycurgus then travelled into Egypt, Crete, and Ionia, to learn the laws of those countries, and afterwards returned to Sparta where he established the laws which have since been so celebrated. After he had lived among his countrymen long enough to perceive the effect of his institutions, he went into some foreign country, where he died. In his travels in Ionia, Lycurgus discovered the poetry of Homer, and introduced it into Greece.

7. The city of Lacedæmon or Sparta, was not surrounded with walls, it consisted of five detached villages, or small towns, on the Eurotas; each of these divisions was inhabited by one of the five tribes of Spartans. In the middle of these was a

space common in the Greek cities, called the Forum, where buildings appropriated to public uses, were erected; those where the magistrates exercised their functions, and the temples of the gods. In the vicinity of these stood numerous statues in honour of the gods, or of ancient heroes.

8. The institutions of Lycurgus did not encourage any perfection in the arts. Travellers, attracted by the fame of Sparta, beheld, instead of a magnificent city, clusters of small houses, without any ornament; temples constructed almost of unhewn stones; statues formed of blocks of wood ór marble, on which the limbs and features were rudely traced; and a numerous population arrayed in the coarse manufactures of their own hands, or in the armour which they almost always wore. Among the beauties of Lacedæmon was the Eurotas, embellished with swans of a dazzling whiteness, and the Planatistas, or the place where youth were instructed in their exercises, under the shade of tall plane trees.

9. Lycurgus discouraged the visits of travellers, and the citizens had too little money to resort to foreign countries. The lands were divided into a certain number of shares which were forbidden to be sold, but were conveyed from father to son. The eldest son was heir to his father's land; the slaves, and the rest of his property were divided among the other sons. Persons who were not provided for in this way, nor by the spoils taken in war, associated together, and were permitted to establish foreign colonies.

10. The money of Sparta was heavy and unmanageable iron, so that very little was used, and an exchange of commodities or barter must have

been the usual mode of doing business. The common occupation of the Spartans, when they were not ravaging the neighbouring countries, or employed in more distant warfare, was the chase of wild animals. Bears, goats, stags, and wild boars, abounded all along the range of Mount Taygetus. The banks of the Eurotas produced abundance of reeds which answered various purposes. "A feeble reed has the power to conquer, to comfort, to instruct, and to amuse men," said an Athenian, one day in conversation. His com

panion, who did not comprehend his meaning, asked for an explanation, and he answered, “Of this frail material are made arrows to kill with, beds to rest upon, pens for writing, and flutes whose music soothes the mind."

11. Great care was taken of the education of children at Sparta. Immediately on its birth a child was examined by a magistrate, and if it appeared feeble or deformed, it was sent to perish near Mount Taygetus; if it was vigorous, it was entrusted to its parents, who were bound to train it without any attendance of their numerous slaves. At the age of seven years a boy was brought out to take his simple meals at the public halls, whither the citizens every day repaired, and to be instructed in the exercises of the Gymnasium. The children were taught to show respect to their parents and all aged people, and restrained from the odious practice of repeating in one place what they heard in another. "Nothing spoken here must go out there," said the old people to the young, pointing to the door of the room in which they

were.

12. All the children were distributed into class

es. A President general of Education overlooked all of them. At the head of each class was the Iren, a young man who superintended the boys in their different exercises, swimming over the Eurotas, running, wrestling, hunting, and the military art.

13. Three Hundred of the most distinguished youth formed a separate class. This class was selected by three men, reputed to possess great wisdom; and those who were not admitted into it felt themselves disparaged by comparison with their more favoured compeers, just as boys now feel jealousy of others in their school who are advanced beyond them.

14. The Three Hundred were watched in all their conduct by the other boys, who were permitted to give information against any of the superior class, whenever they could do so with honour and truth. Being constantly in fear of disgrace, the Three Hundred endeavoured to preserve the character which had procured their eminence; and the other youth, as earnestly sought to deserve this place in the public respect, which was reserved for those only, who fulfilled, in every particular, the obligations of soldiers and citizens.

15. Public assemblies were convened from the whole country of Laconia, and from Sparta itself. The kings were also chief priests, the heads of government, and generals in the army. But one of the kings could be absent from Sparta at the same time. The kings had for a council twenty-eight venerable men, who held their places for life, and formed the Senate. These senators were chosen by the voice of the whole people assembled in the Forum. On the choice of a senator a singular