3.'i0 THANSACTION« OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. IV. 



To a communication which was addressed to him on behall of the 

 Highland Society of London, for the purpose of ascertaining when he 

 intended to pubHsh the original poems of Ossian, MacPherson sent this 

 reply : 



Norfolk Strekt, July 4th, 1784. 



My Dear Sir, — I received the favour of your letter dated yesterday, and I am 

 sorry the gentlemen should think of giving themselves the trouble of waiting on me, 

 as a ceremony of that kind is altogether superfluous and unnecessary. I shall adhere 

 to the promise I made several years ago to a deputation of the same kind, that is, to 

 employ my first leisure time, and a considerable portion of time, it must he to do it 

 accurately, in arranging and printing the oriyinals of the poems of Ossian as they 

 have come to my hands. Funds having been established for the expense, there can 

 be no excuse but want of leisure for not commencing the work in a very few months. 



MacPherson died in 1796, without fulfilling his promise, although 

 twelve years had elapsed since the Gaels in India with generous enthu- 

 siasm contributed ;{^ 1,200 Sterling for publishing the original poems of 

 Ossian. Mr. MacKenzie, Secretary of the Highland Society of London, 

 was appointed as one of his executors by MacPherson, and ;!f 1,000 

 Sterling was bequeathed to him for publishing those poems. Mr. Mac- 

 Kenzie died before he was enabled to complete the work which was 

 committed to him, and to which he applied himself with great faithful- 

 ness. 



Mr. George MacKenzie was the only executor who chose to serve 

 among those whom Mr. Johu MacKenzie had appointed. As he could 

 not undertake the publication of the Gaelic poems of Ossian, he trans- 

 ferred the MSS. to the Highland Society of London. A Committee 

 was appointed by that society on the 17th of May, 1804, to superintend 

 the publication of the poems in their original language. The Committee 

 examined the MSS. and foimd that, although some of the smaller poems 

 were wanting, the principal poems were extant. It was resolved to pub- 

 lish the poems that were already available, and to employ every diligence 

 in order to recover such poems as were missing. The proof-sheets w. re 

 revised by the Rev. Alexander Stewart, who is favourably known as the 

 author of a Gaelic Grammar. In 1807, nearly half a century after the 

 publication by MacPherson of his translation of Ossian, the poems of 

 Ossian in the original Gaelic were published in three volumes, with a 

 literal translation into Latin, as the title-page sets forth, by the late 

 Robert Macl-'arlan, A.M., together with a Dissertation on the authenticity 

 of the poems by Sir John Sinclair, Bart., and a translation from the 

 Italian of the Abbe Cesarotti's Dissertation on the controversy respecting 

 the authenticity of Ossian, with notes and a supplementary essay by 

 John Mac Arthur, LL.D. Sir John Sinclair, who was a scholar of great 



