In the third and last Place he informs him, that the best Method he could make use of to draw down Blessings upon himself, and to render his Prayers acceptable, would be to live in a constant Practice of his Duty towards the Gods, and towards Men. Under this Head he very much recommends a Form of Prayer the _Lacedemonians_ made use of, in which they petition the Gods, _to give them all good Things so long as they were virtuous_. Under this Head likewise he gives a very remarkable Account of an Oracle to the following Purpose. When the _Athenians_ in the War with the _Lacedemonians_ received many Defeats both by Sea and Land, they sent a Message to the Oracle of _Jupiter Ammon_, to ask the Reason why they who erected so many Temples to the Gods, and adorned them with such costly Offerings; why they who had instituted so many Festivals, and accompanied them with such Pomps and Ceremonies; in short, why they who had slain so many Hecatombs at their Altars, should be less successful than the _Lacedemonians_, who fell so short of them in all these Particulars. To this, says he, the Oracle made the following Reply; _I am better pleased with the Prayer of the_ Lacedemonians, _than with all the Oblations of the_ Greeks. As this Prayer implied and encouraged Virtue in those who made it, the Philosopher proceeds to shew how the most vicious Man might be devout, so far as Victims could make him, but that his Offerings were regarded by the Gods as Bribes, and his Petitions as Blasphemies. He likewise quotes on this Occasion two Verses out of _Homer_, [2] in which the Poet says, That the Scent of the _Trojan_ Sacrifices was carried up to Heaven by the Winds; but that it was not acceptable to the Gods, who were displeased with _Priam_ and all his People.