fit 



in his MS., and of no less merit than any of those laid before the 

 pubhc." •:'■• / *- ; r-i •"•'' t: : • ' 



In these accounts ai'e some discrepancies, not, however, of suffi- 

 cient magnitude to invalidate the existence of the Gaelic miscellany, 

 but to cause some hesitation in believing all that is reported of its 

 contents. That it was left at Douay College, and remained there for 

 years, seems unquestionable. It was seen there by gentlemen whose 

 veracity we cannot doubt. But is it not possible that in some cir- 

 cumstances connected with it, they may have been deceived .'* It 

 does not appear that any one of the witnesses whose direct testimony 

 is given on this occasion, examined the MS. for himself, or formed 

 any comparison between it and the translation. This task had de- 

 volved solely upon Farquharson, and they are contented with repeat- 

 ing his observations. Were they assured, or was Farquharson the 

 compiler himself assured, that the supposed originals of Ossian were 

 not transcripts of the Irish Fenian Poems, in which the names of 

 Oisin and Fin so frequently occur ? Were they asked whether they 

 ever heard the name of Patrick in the poems, or if any of them were 

 in the form of dialogue between Oisin and the Irish saint .'' Is it even 

 clearly ascertained that any part of the miscellany was known or 

 designated as the composition of Ossian, son of Fingal, prior to the 

 appearance of Macpherson's work ? Was Mrs. Fraser ever heard to 

 ascribe any part of her collection to the great Celtic bard ? Do not 

 the j^ne large Irish characters of her MS., from which Farquharson 

 enriched his volume, point both to the true character and source of its 

 most elegant " extracts ?" 



Admitting as we do, that Mr. Macgillivray and the other wit- 

 nesses, whom Sir John Sinclair has adduced, have reported truly 

 what they saw, heard, and believed, we should come next to the 

 examination of Farquharson's character as a competent scholar and 



E 2 



