6^1 
A Night near Sparta,'^Argas, 
fiientioised in the Maccabees. Tfie 
two otlicis were the sepulchral inscrip¬ 
tions of Lysander and Agesilaus. 
Night drew on apace, when I reluc¬ 
tantly quitted these renowned ruins, the 
shade of Lycurgus, the recollection of 
Thermopylai, aiul all the fictions of fable 
and history. The sun sank behind the 
Taygetus, so that 1 had beheld him com- 
meuce and finish his course on the ruins 
of Lacedagmon. It 'was tliree thousand 
five hundred and forty-three years, since 
he first rose and set over this infant city. 
I departed with a mind absorbed by the 
objects which I had just seen, and in¬ 
dulging in endless reflections. Such 
days enable a man to endure many mis¬ 
fortunes w'ith patience, and above all, 
fender him indilFerent to many spec¬ 
tacles. 
A NIGHT NEAR SPARTA. 
After supper, Joseph brought me my 
saddle, which usually served me for a 
pillow; I wrapped myself in my cloak, 
and lay down under a laurel on the bank 
of the Eurotas. The night was so pure 
and so serene, and the Milky Way shed 
such a light, reflected by the current of 
the river, that you might see to read by 
it. I fell asleep, with my eyes fixed on 
the heavens, having the beautiful con¬ 
stellation of Leda’s sw-an exactly over 
my head. I still recollect the pleasure 
which I formerly received from thus re¬ 
posing in the woods of America, and 
especially froin awaking in the middle of 
the night. I listened to the wliistling of 
the wind through the w’ilderness ; the 
braying of the does and stags; the roar 
of a distant cataract: while the embers 
of rny haff-extinguished fire glowed be¬ 
neath the fohtige of the trees. I loved 
even to hear the voice of the Iroquois, 
when he shouted in the recesses of his 
forests, and when, in tlie brilliant star- 
lii'ht, amid the silence of nature, he 
seemed to be proclaiming his unbounded 
liberty. All this may afford delight at 
twenty, because then life suffices, in a 
manner, for itself, and there is in early 
youth a certain restlessness and in¬ 
quietude which incessantly encourage 
the creation of chiimeras, ipsi sihi somnia 
Jingunt; hut, in maturer age, the mind 
contracts a relish for more solid pursuits, 
and loves, in paiticu'.ar, to dvvcll on the 
illustrious examp^‘:'5 recurtled in history. 
Gladly would I agai’.. make my couch 
on the banks of tiie Eurota.s, or the Jor¬ 
dan, if the heroic shades of the three 
iiundred Spartans, or das twelve sons of 
Jacob, were to visit my slumbei'S; but I 
would not go again to explore a virgin 
soil, which the plough-share has never 
lacerated. Give me now ancient de¬ 
serts, where I can conjure up at pleasure 
the walls of Babylon, or the legions of 
Pharsalia —grandia ossa; plains whose 
fur rows-convey instruction, and where, 
mortal as I am, I trace the blood, the 
tears, the sweat, of human kind. 
AlcGOS. 
At day-break, I arrived at Argos. 
—The village which has succeeded 
that celebrated city is neater and 
more lively than most of the vi!la<fes of 
the Morea. Its situation is very beauti¬ 
ful, at the extrerrjity of the Gulf of 
Naupli or Argos, a league and a half 
from the sea: on one side it has the 
mountains of Cymiria and Arcadia, and 
on the other the heights of Troe/ene and 
Epidaurus. 
But, whether my imagination was op¬ 
pressed by the recollection of tiie mis¬ 
fortunes and the excesses of the Peio- 
pides, or I was struck by the real truth, 
the country appeared to me uncultivated 
and desolate, the mountains naked and 
dreary—a kind of nature, fertile in great 
crimes and in great virtues. I went to 
survey what are called the remains of 
Agamemnon’s Palace, the ruins of -a 
theatre, and of a Homan aqueduct ; I 
went up to the citadel solicitous to see 
every stone that could possibly have beea 
touched by the hand of the kitig of kings. 
What can boast of enjoying any glory 
beside those families, sung by linmer, 
fEschylus, Sophocles, Euiiuides, and 
Racine ? But when you see on the spot 
w'here they flourished how little remaitis 
of those families, you are marvelljusiy 
astonished. 
It is a considerable time since the 
ruins of Argos ceased to correspond 
with the greatness of its name. In 
Chandler found them absolutely in the 
same state as they were seen by nte; 
tlie Abbe Fourmont in 1746, and Pelle- 
grin in 1719, were not more fortunate. 
The Venetians in particular, have con¬ 
tributed to the demolition of the monu¬ 
ments of this city, by using their materi¬ 
als in the construction of the castle of 
Palamis. In the time of Pausanias, 
there was at Argos, a statue pf Jupi'er, 
remarkable for having three eyes, aiid 
still more remarkable on another ac¬ 
count; ic was brought from Troy - by 
Sthenelus, and was said to be ihe very 
siatue, at tlie foot oi which Prium was 
