rders
were punctually observed; and of all the oracles none gave a true answer
but that of Delphi. The answer was given in Greek hexameter verses, and
was in substance as follows: "I know the number of the grains of sand on
the sea-shore, and the measure of the ocean's vast extent. I can hear the
dumb, and him that has not yet learnt to speak. A strong smell of a
tortoise boiled in brass, together with sheep's flesh, has reached my
nostrils, brass beneath, brass above." And indeed the king, thinking to
invent something that could not possibly be guessed at, had employed
himself on the day and hour set down, in boiling a tortoise and a lamb in
a brass pot, which had a brass cover. St. Austin observes in several
places, that God, to punish the blindness of the Pagans, sometimes
permitted the devils to give answers conformable to the truth.

Croesus, thus assured of the veracity of the god whom he designed to
consult, offered three thousand victims to his honour, and ordered an
infinite number of vessels, tripods, and golden tables, to be melted down,
and converted into ingots of gold, to the number of a hundred and
seventeen, to augment the treasures of the temple of Delphi. Each of these
ingots weighed at least two talents; besides which, he made several other
presents: amongst others Herodotus mentions a golden lion, weighing ten
talents, and two vessels of an extraordinary size, one of gold, which
weighed eight talents and a half and twelve minae; the other of silver,
which contained six hundred of the measures called amphorae. All these
presents, and many more, which for brevity's sake I omit, were to be seen
in the time of Herodotus.

The messengers were ordered to consult the god upon two points: first,
whether Croesus should undertake a war against the Persians; secondly, if
he did, whether he should require the succour of any auxiliary troops. The
oracle answered, upon the first article, that if he carried his arms
against the Persians, he would subvert a great empire; upon the second,
that he would do well to make alliances with the most powerful states of
Greece. He consulted the oracle again, to know how long the duration of
his empire would be. The answer was, that it should subsist till a mule
came to possess the throne of Media; which he considered as an assurance
of the perpetual duration of his kingdom.

Pursuant to the direction of the oracle, Croesus entered into alliance with
the Athenians, who at tha