64 



To convince such sceptics as Doctor Graham, we shall produce 

 a few examples in which the marks of imitation are still more 

 decisive : 



I " Happy," said the Queen of Sheba to Solomon, " are thy men, 

 and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, 

 and hear thy wisdom."— 2 Chron. ix. 7. 



" Happy are thy people, O Fingal ; thou art the first in their 

 danger, the wisest in the days of their peace." — Fingal, book v. 



Micaiah the prophet says to Ahab, "I saw all Israel scat- 

 tered upon the hills, as sheep that have no shepherd."—! Kings, 

 xxii. 17. 



Hidallan, in Comala, says, " the nations are scattered on the 

 hills !" Here Macpherson stopped short. The introduction of the pas- 

 toral simile did not suit the drama of a hunting age; besides, it would 

 have too plainly discovered the source from which he drew. 



The prophet Isaiah asks, " who hath measured the waters in the 

 hollow of his hand ?" and the spirit of Loda in Ossian echoes, " the 

 blasts are in the hollow of my hand !" 



Sternholdand Hopkins, in their translation of the first Psalm, say 

 of the wicked, that 



Like they are unto the chaff. 

 Which wind drives to and fro. 



And Macpherson in Cathloda repeats, "his words are wind — wind, 

 that to and fro drives the thistle." He could not say chaff, for that 

 would indicate too improved a state of society for the age of his 

 refined sentimental heroes. 



Eliphaz in Job says of the wicked, "by the blast of God they 

 perish ; and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed." — Job. 

 iv. 9. 



