intended  in  any  degree  to  detract  from  the  just  claims  of
the  Greeks  to  originality.  If,  indeed,  the  discovery  of  all
that  is  admirable,  of  all  in  which  its  beauty  and  attractions
consist,  can  sanction  such  a  claim,  we  may  safely  place  this
art  among  those  which  they  most  distinguished  by  the
fertility  of  their  invention,  as  well  as  by  the  unparalleled
beauties  of  their  execution.
In  treating  of  a  period  far  removed  from  the  approach  of
regular  history,  it  is  fortunate  that  we  are  furnished  with  so
unerring  a  guide  as  Homer;  whose  general  accuracy  of
observation  and  minuteness  of  description  are  such,  as  to
afford  a  copious  source  of  information  respecting  almost
every  thing  connected  with  the  times  in  which  he  wrote;
and  who,  being  nearly  contemporary  with  the  events  which
he  relates,  and,  indeed,  with  the  earliest  matter  for  record,
cannot  fall  into  mistakes  and  anachronisms  in  arts,  or
manners,  or  government,  as  he  might  have  done,  had  he
written  at  a  more  advanced  and  refined  period.
It  may  be  right,  however,  in  this  place  to  observe,  that
in  proportion  to  the  value  of  the  historical  information
afforded  by  the  works  of  Homer,  and  the  implicit  credit  due
to  his  testimony,  we  should  be  peculiarly  scrupulous  in
admitting  any  passage  which  may  possibly  be  spurious,
although  possessing  the  authority  of  his  name.  This  is  not
the  proper  place  to  undertake  an  inquiry  into  the  origin  of
the  Homeric  poems;  but  the  multitude  of  interpolations,
which  are  known  to  exist  throughout  these  admirable
productions,  render  the  utmost  caution  necessary,  especially