three Crowns in one Day, from the Hands of his adored Princess; who, questionless, bestowed them upon him with an infinite deal of Joy.
What Sort of Races were those, Madam? said Miss Glanville; whose Reading had been very confined.
The Olympic Games, Miss, said Arabella, so called from Olympia, a City near which they were performed, in the Plains of Elis, consisted of Foot and Chariot-Races; Combats with the Cestus; Wrestling, and other Sports. They were instituted in Honour of the Gods and Heroes; and were therefore termed sacred, and were considered as a Part of Religion.
They were a kind of School, or military Apprenticeship; in which the Courage of the Youth found constant Employment: And the Reason why Victory in those Games was attended with such extraordinary Applause, was, that their Minds might be quickened with great and noble Prospects, when, in this Image of War, they arrived to a Pitch of Glory, approaching, in some respects, to that of the most famous Conquerors. They thought this Sort of Triumph one of the greatest Parts of Happiness of which Human Nature was capable: So that when Diagoras had seen his Sons crowned in the Olympic Games, one of his Friends made him this Compliment, Now, Diagoras, you may die satisfied; since you can't be a God. It would tire you, perhaps, was I to describe all the Exercises performed there: But you may form a general Notion of them, from what you have doubtless read of Justs and Tournaments.
