Goodisson, William: A historical and topographical essay upon the islands of Corfu, Leucadia, Cephalonia, Ithaka and Zante: with remarks upon the character manners and customs of the Ionian Greeks : descriptions of the scenery and remains of antiquity discovered therein, and reflections upon the Cyclopian ruins, illustrated by maps and sketches (London: Thomas and George Underwood, 1822)

P H E F A C E.

M1TF0RD, speaking of Homer as a historian,
observes, “ the authority, however, of the great
“ poet as an historian, has, in modern times, been
“variously estimated; among the ancients it was
“ less questioned. As it is of the highest import-
“ ance to the history of early ages, that it should
“ have its due weight, I will mention here some
“ of the principal circumstances of proof in its
“ favour: others will occur hereafter. In Homer’s
“ age then, it should be remembered, poets were
lf the only historians; from which, though it does
“ not at all follow, that poets would always scru-
“ pulously adhere to truth, yet it necessarily fol-
“ lows, that veracity in historical relation, would
“ make a large share of a poet’s merit in public
“ opinion: a circumstance which the common use
b