1892-93.] THE PRESENT ASPECT OF THE OSSIANIC CONTKOVERSY. 335 



the Sean Dana and of the Gaelic Ossian is far more beautiful and musical 

 than the Gaelic of Leabhar na Feinne ; and that, indeed, the classical 

 Gaelic of Scotland is to be found in those two books or collections. It 

 has to be boldly and confidently maintained, that the modern assailants 

 of MacPherson and Dr. Smith must produce much stronger arguments 

 than the airy sentimentality in which they indulge, before they can 

 ■convince any honest student of the entire controversy regarding Ossianic 

 poetry, that those two men were forgers or literary impostors and nothing 

 more. 



It must be granted, in all candour, that were he so disposed, MacPher- 

 son could easily have lessened or avoided altogether the severity of the 

 ■opposition which he had to encounter in connection with the poems of 

 Ossian. It is evident, that he had a remarkable measure of that lofty 

 independence and pride that lives on through every generation in the 

 hearts and minds of the race to which he belonged. Who could blame 

 him for thus reasoning, when Hume and Johnson were levelling the 

 shafts of ridicule and disparagement against him, that, as he was success- 

 ful in gaining a reputation in the world of letters, perhaps more enviable 

 and more extensive than their own, he could afford, in obedience to the 

 warmth of his Highland pride, to ignore themselves and their persistent 

 abuse .' It may be fairly held, that much of the Ossianic poetry which he 

 once possessed, was lost during his sojourn in Florida, and while he was 

 ■engaged in the discharge of important official functions, which must 

 have occupied very much of his time and attention. Nor is it at all 

 unlikely, that Gaelic poems of much value were mislaid and ultimately 

 lost, during the time that passed between his death and the transmission 

 to the Highland Society of London of all the material that remained. 



Very forcible is the opinion of the Abbe Cesarotti : " But whatever 

 may be thought on the subject, the works of the Celtic Homer (Ossian) 

 do exist. They are all of the same brilliant and harmonious colouring, 

 and they have a certain author. Let the author have existed in the 

 times of Caracalla or of St. Patrick ; let him be a native of Morven or 

 •of Ulster ; let him belong to the family of a pett}' king or to' that of a 

 simple Highlander, it is all the same to those who consider him in the 

 light of a poet. Let such as do not like to name him Ossian call him 

 Orpheus. Doubts may be entertained whether Fingal was his father, 

 but no one will say that he was not the son of Apollo." " I confess," says 

 Dr. Blair, " I cannot avoid considering the discovery of the works of 

 Ossian as an important era in the annals of taste and literature, and the 

 share which I have had in contributing towards it as a part of my life by 

 which I have deserved well of this age and posterity." 

 8 



