They remembered the efficiency and the success of
Lycurgus's government, and the regularity and order which had marked
the whole course of public affairs during his administration. They
appreciated now, too, more fully than before, the noble personal
qualities which Lycurgus had evinced--his comprehensiveness of view,
his firmness of purpose, his disinterestedness, his generosity; and
they contrasted the lofty sentiments and principles which had always
governed him with the weakness, the childishness, and the petty
ambition of their actual kings. In a word, they all wished that
Lycurgus would return.

Even the kings themselves participated in this wish. They perceived
that their affairs were getting into confusion, and began to feel
apprehension and anxiety. Lycurgus received repeated messages from
them and from the people of Sparta, urging him to return, but he
declined to accept these proposals, and went on with his travels and
his studies as before.

At last, however, the Spartans sent a formal embassy to Lycurgus,
representing to him the troubled condition of public affairs in
Sparta, and the dangers which threatened the commonwealth, and urging
him in the most pressing manner to return. These embassadors, in their
interview with Lycurgus, told him that they had kings, indeed, at
Sparta, so far as birth, and title, and the wearing of royal robes
would go, but as for any royal qualities beyond this mere outside
show, they had seen nothing of the kind since Lycurgus had left them.

Lycurgus finally concluded to comply with the request. He returned to
Sparta. Here he employed himself for a time in making a careful
examination into the state of the country, and in conversing with the
principal men of influence in the city, and renewing his acquaintance
with them. At length he formed a plan for an entire organization of
the government. He proposed this plan to the principal men, and,
having obtained the consent of a sufficient number of them to the
leading provisions of his new constitution, he began to take measures
for the public promulgation and establishment of it.

The first step was to secure a religious sanction for his proceedings,
in order to inspire the common people with a feeling of reverence and
awe for his authority. He accordingly left Sparta, saying that he was
going to consult the oracle at Delphi. In due time he returned,
bringing with him the response of the oracle. The response was as
follows: