In reply to the objection founded on the imitations, Sir John 

 Sinclair gives the following quotation from a literary journal: " That 

 Mr. Macpherson in the short space of time in which he was employed 

 in translating the works of Ossian, should have scraped together such 

 a quantity of unconnected passages as it is contended he has done, 

 and that he should by a hint taken from one author, and a word from 

 another, have wrought up such uniform and beautiful descriptions, 

 as that of the desert Balclutha for example, are facts utterly incre- 

 dible." 



AVe cannot see where the incredibility lies. Macpherson, as he 

 himself confesses, " served an apprenticeship in secret to the muses," 

 and that it was the usual length of apprenticeships, seven years at 

 the least, may well be conceded. He had also received a classical 

 education, taught the classics, and was therefore familiar with some 

 of the principal authors of Greece and Rome. He wrote and pub- 

 lished the poem of the Highlander, with other poems, and of course 

 had his attention early turned to Highland scenery. Writing poetry 

 was the favourite occupation of his life. What time he actually em- 

 ployed in fabricating Ossian, and in scraping together materials for 

 the structure, has not been ascertained, nor is it a matter of any impor- 

 tance to learn. But that he did scrape from various quarters the 

 great mass of his descriptions, it is marvellous incredulity to doubt. 

 Many also had been his pioneers in the same employment, and when 

 he did not choose to consult the original authors, he could find 

 enough for his purpose, at second hand, in such productions as the 

 Gradus ad Parnassum ; Flavissa Poeticce ; and in Bysshes and 

 Gildon's Arts of Poetry. Macpherson, in his preface, has asserted 

 that " the making of poetry, like any other handicraft, may be 

 learned by industry ;" and his Ossian is exactly such a proof and 

 illustration of his assertion as we should expect. It is a fine speci- 



VOL. XVI. J 



