s believed as sober history. That which was marvelous and
philosophically incredible in them, was sacredly sheltered from
question by mingling itself with the prevailing principles of
religious faith. The tales were thus believed, and handed down
traditionally from generation to generation, and admired and loved by
all who heard and repeated them, partly on account of their romantic
and poetical beauty, and partly on account of the sublime and sacred
revelations which they contained, in respect to the divinities of the
spiritual world.

CHAPTER IV.

THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY.

B.C. 1200

Termination of the siege of Troy.--Appearances observed by the
besieged.--The wooden horse.--Its probable size.--Various opinions
in respect to the disposal of it.--Sudden appearance of a
captive.--His wretched condition.--Sinon's account of the departure
of the Greeks.--His story of the proposed sacrifice.--His
escape.--Priam's address to him.--Sinon's account of the horse.--Effect
produced by Sinon's story.--The serpents and Laocoon.--Ancient statue
of Laocoon.--Its history.--The statue now deposited in the
Vatican.--Description of it.--Effect produced upon the Trojans by
Laocoon's fate.--The Trojans draw the horse into the city.--The Greeks
admitted to the city.--AEneas awakened by the din.--His meeting with
Pantheus.--His surprise and terror.--Adventures of AEneas and
Pantheus.--The tortoise.--The position of AEneas.--The tower.--The
sacking of the palace.--Priam.--Priam and Hecuba at the altar.--The
death of Priam.--The despair of the Trojans.

After the final conquest and destruction of Troy, AEneas, in the course
of his wanderings, stopped, it was said, at Carthage, on his way to
Italy, and there, according to ancient story, he gave the following
account of the circumstances attending the capture and the sacking of
the city, and his own escape from the scene.

One day, after the war had been continued with various success for a
long period of time, the sentinels on the walls and towers of the city
began to observe extraordinary movements in the camp of the besiegers,
which seemed to indicate preparations for breaking up the camp and
going away. Tents were struck. Men were busy passing to and fro,
arranging arms and military stores, as if for transportation. A fleet
of ships was drawn up along the shore, which was not far distant, and
a great scene of activity manifested itself upon the bank, indicating
an approachi