e for a
foundation to build upon: yet through these failures my system will be in
some degree supported: at least from a detection of these errors, I hope to
obtain much light. For, as the Grecian writers have preserved a kind of
uniformity in their mistakes, and there appears plainly a rule and method
of deviation, it will be very possible, when this method is well known, to
decypher what is covertly alluded to; and by these means arrive at the
truth. If the openings in the wood or labyrinth are only as chance
allotted, we may be for ever bewildered: but if they are made with design,
and some method be discernible, this circumstance, if attended to, will
serve for a clue, and lead us through the maze. If we once know that what
the Greeks, in their mythology, styled a wolf, was the Sun; that by a dog
was meant a prince, or Deity; that by bees was signified an order of
priests; these terms, however misapplied, can no more mislead us in
writing, than their resemblances in sculpture would a native of Egypt, if
they were used for emblems on stone.

Thus much I have been obliged to premise: as our knowledge must come
through the hands of the [564]Grecians. I am sensible, that many learned
men have had recourse to other means for information: but I have never seen
any specimens which have afforded much light. Those, to which I have been
witness, have rather dazzled than illustrated; and bewildered instead of
conducting to the truth. Among the Greeks is contained a great treasure of
knowledge. It is a rich mine; which as yet has not been worked far beneath
the surface. The ore lies deep, and cannot be obtained without much
industry and labour. The Helladians had the best opportunities to have
afforded us information about the antiquities of their country: of their
negligence, and of their mistakes I have spoken; yet with a proper clue
they may still be read to great advantage. To say the truth, there is
scarce an author of them all, from whom some good may not be derived.

What has been wanting in the natives of Greece, has been greatly supplied
by writers of that nation from other countries, who lived in after-times.
Of these the principal have been mentioned; and many others might be added,
who were men of integrity and learning. They were fond of knowledge, and
obtained a deep insight into antiquity: and, what is of the greatest
consequence, they were attached to the truth. They may sometimes have been
mistaken in their jud