320 TKANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. IV. 



poems which could not be otherwise than valuable and entertaining in an 

 eminent degree. MacPherson, 'accordingly, entered on his labours in 

 1760 under tlie most favourable auspices. Wherever lie went, in the 

 prosecution of his laudable mission, he received kindly recognition and 

 ready assistance. So successful were his efforts, and so indefatigable 

 was his diligence, that in 1762 he published in one volume his translation 

 of Fingal and sixteen other poems ; and that in 1763 he published 

 another volume containing Temora and five other poems. As Dr. Clerk 

 remarks. " The publication of these poems excited the wonder of literary 

 men throughout Europe. They were translated into French, German, 

 and Italian, and speedily ran through various editions. They commanded 

 the admiration of Napoleon, of Goethe, who in his ' Werther' gives 'the 

 Songs of Selma,' and of Schiller, who speaks of the 'great nature of 

 Ossian.' " The Abbe Cesarotti, a professor in the University of Padua, 

 who translated the poems of Ossian into Italian, thus lucidly sets forth 

 the general impression -which those poems made . "The appearance of 

 the poems of Ossian was a phenomenon so unexpected and extraordinary, 

 that it is not surprising they should have excited, during even a period of 

 enthusiasm, doubt and astonishment. In a country scarcely known to 

 history, mountainous, difficult of access and almost constantly shaded 

 with mists ; in a state of society the most unpolished, wretched and 

 barbarous, without trade, without learning, without arts and sciences, 

 how could such a transcendent genius arise who may be said to dispute 

 the palm with the most celebrated poets of the most civilized nations, 

 and with those even who for so many ages have been considered models 

 ofart.-* This novelty was too much at variance with the generally 

 received opinion, to be implicitly believed without controversy. Was 

 there truly an Ossian ? Was he really the author of the poems which 

 have been published under his name? Can this be a spurious work ? 

 But when ? How ? By whom ? Those are questions which for a 

 length of time have agitated and divided public opinion in England, 

 while Europe regarded with veneration this surprising phenomenon." 

 Davies, the famous Welsh scholar, after examining the Claims of Ossian 

 with critical severity, was led thus to write : " These poems do credit 

 to Caledonia. The Gaelic originals constitute a splendid monument 

 of its language. The Fingal and Temora, upon subjects so interwoven 

 with the feelings of the people, set this corner of the island far above 

 poetic competition, not only with any Celtic tribe, but we may almost say 

 with any nation in Europe."* 



There were not wanting those who maintained, that it was impossible 

 *The Claims of Ossian, p. 326. 



