MAG 
people, can fed them to be received with great Intereft by 
many lovers of poetry ; and, as hopes were given of the 
recovery of other remains of the kind, a fubfcription was 
fet on foot to enable Macpherfon to leave his employment, 
and vilit the Highlands for that purpofe. Of this million, 
or of his leifure, the fruit was the epic poem of <£ Fingal,” 
with feveral other poems, faid to be compofed by Ollian, 
the fon of Fingal, king of the Highlands. The next year 
brought forth “ Temora,” an epic poem, with other fmaller 
ones, alfo in the name of Oflian. A warm controverfy 
was foon kindled relative to their authenticity, in which 
the Scotch were in general on the fide favourable to tire 
national honour, whilft many oppugners arofe in the 
fouthern part of the ifland. Tile improbability of the 
exiftence and prefervation of regular epic poems among 
the uncivilized people who had not the ufe of letters, the 
abundance of poetic ornament, and the elevation and de¬ 
licacy of moral fentiment, together with the freedom from 
all mixture of puerility and extravagance, u>ere regarded 
by the unprejudiced as ftrong prefumptions againlt their 
being real lpecimens of ancient Erfe poetry. They met 
with a number of enthufiaftic admirers, not only in Great 
Britain, but on the continent, into feveral languages of 
which they were tranflated. They were commented upon 
by critics, and admitted as evidence of manners and cuf- 
toms by hiftoriansand antiquaries. The blind Oflian was 
placed next to the blind Homer, and the mountains and 
heaths of the Highlands were converted into claffic ground. 
A Hate of uncertainty refpeCting works become fo famous 
could not be permitted to laft; and the originals were 
loudly called for. Expectations were frequently given of 
their appearance, but were not fulfilled ; and the fuppofed 
tranflator, inltead of convincing or conciliating the lcep- 
tical, attempted to filence them by a tone of arrogant af- 
fumption. For this he was feverely chaftifed by Dr. John- 
fon in his Tour to the Hebrides ; and a menacing letter 
which this attack provoked from Macpherfon was retorted 
by the great author in terms of defiance. The contro¬ 
verfy, however, continued during the life of Macpherfon, 
and can fcarcely be faid to be yet terminated; although 
the late mafterly difcuflion of the topic by Mr, Laing 
feems to have produced a general opinion that at leatt the 
great mafs of the poems is modern fiClion ; and curiofity 
is now moltly limited to the enquiry how far it may have 
had a foundation in the traditionary (lories (fill current in 
the Highlands. Seethe article Ossian. 
Mr. Macpherfon, who was found to have talents for 
bufinefs as well as for invention, was taken, in 1764, by 
governor Johnfon, to Penfacola in Florida, as bis lecretary. 
After executing his office in fettling the government of 
that colony, he vifited feveral of the Weft-India iflands, 
and fome of the Nortb-Anierican provinces, and returned 
in 1766. Refuming his literary purfuits, he pnbliffied, in 
1771, “An Introduction to the Hiltory of Great Bri¬ 
tain and Ireland,” 4to. This work is elegantly written, 
and contains much valuable matter ; but its partiality to 
Celtic origin brought upon the author fome controverfial 
attacks in a (train of illiberal inveCtive. The fuccefs of 
his Offian tempted him to undertake a talk from which he 
derived neither profit nor reputation. This was a “ Tranf- 
lation of the Iliad of Homer,” in 2 vols. Ato. 1773, writ¬ 
ten in the fame kind of poetic and disjoined profe in 
which his Erfe remains were given. At its firft appear¬ 
ance it underwent a (torm of ridicule and criticifm, and 
was foon difmifled to total oblivion. From this period 
he feems to have confined himfelf to hiftorical and politi¬ 
cal compofition; and fuch.was his indultry, that in 1775 
he publilhed “ The Hiltory, of Great Britain, from the 
Reitoration to the Acceffion of the Houfe of Hanover,” 
2 vols. 4to. It was accompanied with two other volumes 
of “ Original Papers,” ferving as documents and autho¬ 
rities, for the Hiltory; thefe were chiefly fuch as had been 
collected by Carte, the hiftorian, from the Stuart papers 
in the Scotch college at Paris, and the papers of the houfe 
«f Brunfwick-Lunenburgh in the pofleffion of Mr. Duane j 
M A C 5 } 
but many were added which had Been procured by Mr. 
Macpherfon himfelf. Although in this publication the 
author difcovered a confiderable predilection for the Stuart 
family, and appeared to have placed too much confidence 
in the reprefentation of fads made by James II. in the 
manufcript memoirs of his own life, yet it certainly made 
a very valuable addition to the knowledge of that im¬ 
portant part of Englifli hiltory. Whatever offence it 
might have given the zealous friends of civil liberty, he 
was far from having injured himfelf in the opinion of thofe 
who at that time conducted the government of the coun¬ 
try j and, when the reii(lance of the Americans called forth 
the pen, as well as the fword, of authority, his was en¬ 
gaged as one of the ableft. His pamphlet entitled “ Tire 
Rights of Great Britain aflerted againlt the Claims of the 
Colonies,” 1776, obtained great applaufe for its force of 
Ityle and argument, and was indultrioufly circulated. He 
alfo wrote “ A fhort Hiltory of the Oppofition during the 
lalt Selfion of Parliament,” 1779, which was much ad¬ 
mired ; and it is probable that his affiltance was siven to 
government in other political pieces. His ferv’ices re¬ 
ceived an ample reward in the lucrative poll of agent to 
the nabob of Arcot, whofe concerns with the Ealt-India. 
company were at this time multifarious and perplexed. 
Mr. Macpherfon wrote feveral appeals to the public in 
behalf of this potentate; and, it being thought neceflary 
that the nabob (hould have a reprefentative in the houfe 
of commons, he was returned in 1780 for the borough 
of Camelford, and was re-eleCted in 1784 and 1790.. His 
health declining, he retired for the benefit of his native 
air to a feat which he had built called Bellevue, near Lv- 
vernefs, where he died in February 1796. His exertions 
were productive of opulence; and among his bequelts 
was the Ann of ioool. to defray the expenfe of printing 
and publilhing the Original Offian. He alfo directed 300I. 
to be laid out in a monument of him, to be ereCted in a 
confpicuous lituation at Bellevue; and be ordered his re¬ 
mains to be interred in Weltminlter-abbey, where they 
were accordingly depofited in Poets’ Corner. Gen. Biog. 
MACPHER'SON’s STRA'IT, a channel in the Mergui 
Archipelago, between Bankes’s. Ifland and St. Sufanna. 
Lat. 10. 37. N. 
MACQUAR'RIE TSLAND; a newly.difcovered ifland, 
in the latitude of about 54, S. fo named in compliment to 
the governor of the Britilh poflelfions of Aultralafia. This 
difcovery has opened a fruitful field to adventurers in the 
fea-filhery ; and the enterprife of thofe individuals who 
have profecuted the filhing at Macquarrie Ifland has been 
abundantly rewarded. Upwards of. 80,000 feals were 
caught at that ifland in the courfeof a few months. 
MACQUER' (Jofeph), an eminent chemilt, was born 
at Paris in 1710. He was brought up to phyfic, smd be¬ 
came a doctor of the faculty of medicine in the univer- 
fity of Paris, profeifor of pharmacy, and cenfor-royal. 
He was alfo a member of the Academy of Sciences of Tu¬ 
rin, Stockholm, and Paris ; and lie held the medical and 
chemical departments in the Journal des Savans.. Mac- 
quer made himfelf well known by feveral ufeful and po¬ 
pular works on chemiftry, of which fcience he was one 
of the molt fuccefsful cultivators, before the new model¬ 
ling which it has received of late years. His publications 
were, 1. Elemens de Chymie Theorique, 1749-1753, iamo. 
2. Elemens de Chymie Pratique, 2 vols. nmo. 1751-1756. 
3. Plan d’un Cours de Chymie experimentale & raifonnee, 
i2ino. 175.7; drawn up in conjunction with M. Baume, 
who, leCtuied on chemiftry in .partnerfhip with him. 4. 
DiCtionnaire de Chymie, z vols. 8vo. 1766. Thefe works 
have been tranflated into Englifli and German; the Dic¬ 
tionary, particularly, by Mr. ICeir, with great additions 
and improvements. 5. Formulae Medicamentorum Ma- 
gillrali.um, 1763. 6. L’Art de la Teiuture de Soie, 1763, 
And he had a lhare in the Pharmacopeia Parifienfts of 1758. 
This meritorious writer died in 1784. 
MACQUER' (Philip), an hiftorical writer, brother to 
the preceding, was born at Paris in 1 720. He was brought 
3 up 
\ 
