1797-] 
juftly obferves inthe Parmenides, “ Nei- 
ther therefore does any name belong to 
the one, nor difcourfe, nor any fcience, nor 
fenfe, nor opinion.”’ In confequence of 
which, he adds, ‘*It can neither be 
named, nor fpoken of, nor conceived by 
opinion, nor be known, nor perceived by 
any being.” 
Hence it follows that the higheft god 
is not, according to Plato, the immediate | 
_eaufe of the univerfe. For as he is the 
fame with she one, an unifying or uniting 
energy muft be the prerogative of his 
nature ; and as he is likewife fupereffen- 
tial, if the world were his immediate 
progeny, it muft, from the preceding 
theory, be in a /econdary degree fuperef- 
fential, and profoundly one. As this, 
however, is not the cafe, other fubordi- 
nate principles are neceflary to its pro- 
duction. The two great primary caufes 
by which this is immediately effected, 
are particularly celebrated by Plato in the 
Timezus; and are mtelle¢t and foul; by 
the firft of which the univerfe is formed, 
and by the fecond moved. That thefe 
two principles are fubordinate to sbe one, 
and likewife are effentially different from 
each other, is evident from the Sophifta, 
Laws, and Timezus. 
Plato afferts that eimg neither abides, 
nor is meved; and in the twelfth book of 
his Laws, that zvtellec? is moved fimilarly 
toa {phere round its abiding centre. Jn- 
telleé? therefore, according to Plato, is ef- 
fentially pofterior to deimg, and, confe- 
quently, is far inferior to the one, which 
1s fupereffential. Laftly,in the 1imzus, 
he afferts that /ou/ is a niedium between 
an indivifible nature, 7. ¢. intelleét, and a 
nature divifible about bodies, s.¢. the whole 
of that corporeal life which the world 
participates. The one, intelleé?, and foul, 
therefore, which are the three primary 
principles of things, fo far from forming 
a confubfiftent or co-equal triad, are ef- 
fentially different from each other, ac- 
cording to Plato, and have no more 
fimilitude to the Chriftian trinity, than 
{cientiic evidence to the dreams of 
fancy. 
Referving a farther difcuffion of this 
matter to another opportunity, I fhall 
only add at prefent that in the Enquirer 
ro ov, or deing, is erroneoufly confounded 
with ¢o aya%ov, or the good, and that Asyoz, 
’ réafon, is the fame with Plato as rational 
foul. : 
Your's, &c. 
Tuo. TAYLOR. 
_ Manor Place, Walworth, 
For in the Sophifta, - 
Authenticity of Poems of Ofian. , 267 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
STR, 
FrROM what has appeared, once or’ 
twice lately, in the Monthly Maga- 
. -~ . é 
zine, refpecting the Pomms oF Ossran, 
fam in hopes that fome particulars will 
be brought forward, which may enable 
the executors of Mr. Macpherfon, in their 
intended publication of the Originals, to 
give a fatisfactory account refpeéting the 
difputed faét of their authenticity. The 
truth will probably turn, out to be, that 
both fides were wrong in the altercation 
on the fubject ; at leaft this opinion feems 
now to prevail, with impartial judges 
and the learned, in North Britain, 
There muft, certainly, be many tradi- 
tions and fonys amongft the Gaelic people, 
like others under fimilar circumftances, 
concerning their warriors and chieftains, 
however deftitute they may be of con- 
nected hiftory; efpecially. concerning 
thofe who were their leaders, when the 
moft remarkable events took place ; and 
no period of their hiftory could have been 
more interefting than that wherein the 
colonies from Ireland fettled themfelves in 
the weft of Scotland, an occurrence {atig- 
factorily eftablifhed, and which is alfothe 
great epoch they mot generally comme- 
movate. 
Thofe traditions, whether in fong or 
otherwife, Mr. Macpherfon has carefully 
colleéted, and, by an artful combination 
of fuch materials, and the exertion of his 
own genius afterwards in fupplying their 
defeéts, he preduced the Ccelebraced 
poems in gue‘tion. 
That they are genuine, fo far as is above 
reprefented, I believe; and a proof of 
it may be brought, perhaps, however yn 
expectedly, even from Vales ; at leatt the 
following compofition feems to have a 
claim to be admitted as fuch. It is an 
elegy upon fome noted fea captain, a na- 
tive of Freland, if we may judge from his 
name, who is def{cribed fizhting with ano- 
ther, called Cocholyz; and the laf mer- 
tioned perfon, moft probably, muft have 
been Cychullin, the hero who bears fo cons 
{picuous a part with Offa. The poem 
in the original Welch runs thus : 
Maerwmnad Csrroi mab Dairi. 
Dy fynnon lydan dyleinw aces, 
Dyzaw, dyhebgyr dybris, dybrys: 
Marwnad Carrol a’m cyfroes } 
Oer geni gwr garw ei anwydau, 
A oez mwy ei zrwg nis mawr gyglau, 
Mab Daiti dalai lyw ar vor dehau, 
Dathyl oez ei gléd cyn noi adnau, 
Dy fyanon lydan dyleiaw nonau, 
Dyzaw, 


rs pa et ge po ——= ee 





eee 
Sedna Se 
