"One day games were celebrated in the honor of the two goddesses. Famous champions had come from various parts of Greece, and the prize was a measure of barley, raised in the neighboring plain, whose inhabitants hold from Ceres the art of cultivating this sort of wheat. On the sixth day, the most brilliant of all, the priests of the temple, and those initiated, carried from Athens to Eleusis, the statue of Iacchus, said to be the son of Ceres or of Proserpine. The god, crowned with myrtle, held a flambeau. About thirty thousand people followed, making the air resound with the name of Iacchus. The march, led by the sound of instruments and the singing of hymns, was sometimes suspended to perform dances and sacrifices. The statue was introduced in the temple of Eleusis, and then taken back in his own, with the same splendors, and the same ceremonies. "Many of those who composed the procession had been initiated only to the minor mysteries, annually celebrated in a small temple, situated near the Illissus. There a priest examines and prepares the candidates; he excludes them if they are guilty of enormous crimes, and particularly if they have committed murder, even without purpose. He imposes upon the others frequent expiations, and teaches them the first rudiments of the sacred doctrine. This noviciate sometimes lasts several years, but generally one only. During the time of probation, the candidates assist at the celebration of the major mysteries; but they remain at the door of the temple. "The initiation to the great mysteries had been appointed for the night following. One of the preparatory ceremonies was the offering of sacrifices, for the prosperity of the state, presided by the second of the Archontes. The novices were crowned with myrtle. Their robes seem to contract such a holiness that many of them wear them until they are worn out; others make of them swaddling-clothes for their children, or hang them in the temple. We saw them enter in the sacred hall; and, on the next morning, one of my friends, who had been newly initiated, related to me many of the ceremonies which he had witnessed.