46 THE REALITT OF THE TROJAN WA]R. May 18, 



DiJJertation to juflify the Account of the "Trojan War, 

 given by Homer, in oppojition to that of John Mac- 

 Lauritiy Efq. Lord Dreghoru. 



An attempt to prove that Troy was not taken by the 

 Greeks, feems to me more calculated to lliew the very 

 great ingenuity of the writer, than to convince the 

 reader. 



It may, witk fafety, be maintained, that letters were 

 uied in Greece a confidcrable time prior to the Trojan 

 war. They a-.e mentioned by a variety of authors, as 

 brought into Greece from Phoenicia, by Cadmus the 

 founder of Thebes, who lived, from the belt accounts, 

 above a century previous to that period. It appears, 

 from the Pentateuch, there were letters before the de- 

 calogue ; and the Egyptians are fuppofed to have been 

 the original inventors. Suidas too gives us part of the 

 writings of Orpheus, who was one of the Argonauts : 

 But fuppofe the Greeks had, in general, known little 

 of writing, it is very plain from Homer, they had, bards 

 in every court ; and the kingdoms then in Afia and 

 Greece were little better than thofe of the thirty king- 

 doms into which Britain was formerly divided, as meu- 

 %ioned by Dr. Henry, in which they alfo had their bards 

 in this country. The accounts of the Trojan war were 

 communicated by means of thefe bards, little flower 

 than thofe of othei's are at prefent, by means of print- 

 ing. The accounts of different bards were checks one 

 upon another, and popular tradition, upon them all. It 

 was, therefore, a work which requii-ed infinite judge- 

 ment, tafte, and genius, from all tliefe to fearch out 

 the truth ; to make it one confiftent flory, divilible in- 

 to proper parts for finging or rehearfing ; and thus to 

 be the firft in inventing a new fpecies of poem, of fucli 

 a nature, and fuch an extent, and executed fo as ne- 

 er to be equalled. 



