110 SYLVA PLORIFERA. 



brought from the valley of Tempe, and were 

 so curiously interwoven as to form an ele- 

 vated roof. Whilst the temple of the god of 

 poetrj and music offered nothing but the 

 symbol of glory in its construction it was 

 sacred ; but when its walls were composed of 

 marble, and its coffers were filled with those me- 

 tals which possess the hateful quality of trans- 

 forming virtuous men into dishonest ones, 

 and bad men into monsters, then the god was 

 worshipped with more ceremony, the oracle 

 despised, and the sacred urns plundered. The 

 people of Phocis, the very inhabitants of 

 Mount Parnassus, committed sacrilege upon 

 their own god, carrying away at one time, 

 from the temple of Apollo, ten thousand 

 talents. 



Nero carried away no less than five hun- 

 dred statues of brass, partly of the gods, and 

 partly of the most illustrious heroes, from 

 this repository of superstitious opulence ; 

 whilst, in later ages, Constantine the great re- 

 moved its most splendid ornaments to his new 

 capital. The deeds of these sceptred robbers 

 are recorded to this day in every known lan- 

 guage, whilst their plunder is mouldered to 

 dust! 



The oracles were always delivered by a 

 priestess called Pythia, and were generally 



