MR small's biographical SKETCH OF PROF. ADAM FERGUSON. 633 



the experiment, by causing such as had never had any access to see the transla- 

 tion, to give the meaning of those pieces which tliey repeated ; and they declare 

 that, on comparing the Gaelic and the English, they were entirely satisfied with 

 the justness of the translation. Mr Percy, in his preface to ' Reliques of old 

 English Poetry,' tells, that he himself had often done this, and found the inter- 

 pretation which he had got extempore correspond with the English translation, 

 with which they had no access to be acquainted. Either these persons were 

 inspired, or Ossian's Poems are authentic."* 



In the bitter attack on M'Pherson by Shaw, that writer refers to this state- 

 ment of Smith as follows ; — " Mr Smith mentions Dr Percy's ' Reliques of An- 

 cient Poetry,'' in which he says the Doctor confesseth, that he himself heard pieces 

 of it recited ; and being compared with the translatio7i, exactly corresponded. 

 Dr Percy does not understand a syllable of the Erse, and therefore could be no 

 judge. The truth is, Dr Blair and Professor Ferguson, when Dr Percy was 

 at Edinburgh, took care to introduce a young student from the Highlands, who 

 repeated some verses, of which Professor Ferguson said, such and such sen- 

 tences in Fingal were the translation. Mr Smith, if he looks into the second and 

 third editions of the ' Reliques,' will find the observations there no longer ; and 

 that Dr Percy, on reflection, had just reason to suspect that this young student 

 had previously been taught the part he recited, and the lines might as readily be 

 any common song as the original of Fingal ; for they knew it was impossible for 

 an Englishman to detect it."f 



This treatise gave Ferguson some annoyance, and on the 21st of July 1781, 

 he gave a formal denial to Shaw's statement, in the public prints. 



In his advertisement, he quoted the passage from Shaw, and added, " to pre- 

 vent any inferences which might be drawn from my silence, I think it material 

 to declare that the above passage, so far as it relates to me, is altogether false ; 

 and that I never was present at the repetition of verses to Dr Percy by a young 

 student from the Highlands." 



When the pamphlet of Shaw and the advertisement of Ferguson were 

 brought under the notice of Dr Percy, he also wished to vindicate himself. 

 Being, however, at a distance from his papers, he could only trust to his recollec- 

 tion at the time, and wrote the following letter to Dr Blair, enclosing the draft 

 of an advertisement which he proposed to insert in the newspapers. 



" Alnwick Castle^ 17th August 1781. 



" Dear Sir, — I have at length gained a few moments of leisure, and will now 

 endeavour to give you a full and true account of what may have occasioned the 

 indecent liberty which has been taken with our names in the pamphlet you 

 mention. 



"In autumn 1765 1 spent a week with you most agreeably at Edinburgh, 



* Gallic Antiquities, p. 96. f Shaw''s Inquiry, p. 25 



