"melodies of their cadences, and the structure "of their verses. From these he concludes, "that it is the easiest thing in the world to com66 pose in Gaelic verse; that no art whatever is "discoverable in the specimens published by

66

Macpherson; and that they only exhibit "the "same rythm or cadence with his measured prose.”"In answer to this, it is only necessary to ob"serve, that in the specimens published by Mac

66

pherson, Gaelic scholars recognise the same "melodies and the same structure to which they "have ever been accustomed; and surely they

66

are at least as good judges in this case, as the "learned ears of Mr. Laing. Rhyme was used 66 among the Gael, merely as an aid to the me 66 mory: it was not necessary that the rhyming "words should be found at the end of each line; "if the same sound recurred in any emphatic "syllable of two lines, it was thought sufficient. "Mr. Laing thinks this a very easy mode of com"position; but if he would try his talents on "blank verse, he would probably discover the "difficulty of giving melody and force to num"bers, even where no rhyme at all is re"quired."

Here I shall take leave of the anonymous defender of Ossian; but in so doing,

I must acknowledge the great service he has rendered in this controversy, particularly in the Gaelic part, where I own myself deficient, though little more so, it seems, than my antagonist, whose pretensions to the knowledge of that language, the unknown author has sufficiently exposed.—This task performed, there appears no great difficulty in answering the rest of Mr. Laing's argu

ments.

After having, as already mentioned, accused Macpherson of stealing many of his most brilliant passages from others, he at last represents him as pilfering from himself; for his great sagacity has found out, that Fingal is little more than a transcript of the Highlander, a poem, said to be finished by Macpherson, when only twenty-one years of age. The plot of one, he tells us, exhibits the very outlines of the other. And to prove the assertion, he contrasts several passages of the poems, that have, according to him, a near resemblance.

The two poems so far agree, that in

both

both, one prince invades the territories of another. This is a circumstance found

in every history or epic story. Lewis the ninth of France invading Egypt, proved at first successful; but, conquered at last, is taken prisoner, and only released on paying a ransom. Regulus, after a series of victories, is likewise overcome and made captive, but sent back by the Carthaginians with a view to obtain peace. Æneas landed in Italy; subdued his rival Turnus in single combat, and would have spared his life, had he not beheld the belt of his friend, whom he had killed, upon him. In the Highlander, Seveno, king of Norway, makes a descent upon Scotland, and is oppesed by Indulph, the king of that country. The two most prominent figures in the poem are young Alpin and Haco. The former conquers the latter, but, out of admiration of his bravery, permits him to return home with the remainder of his followers. Fingal does the same to Swaran, because he is the brother of Agandecca, of whom he was passionately fond in his youth, and still continued at

tached

tached to her memory. The motive for this act of generosity is widely different from the other.

As to the similarity of phraseology in some of the compositions, instead of Macpherson transplanting them from the Highlander into Fingal, it is more likely, if taken at all, it was from the original of the latter, to adorn the former: for, as the translator confesses an early acquaintance with his native poet, it is natural to suppose, he would borrow freely from compositions, which, shut up in the obscurity of an unknown tongue, might be imitated without any great danger of detection.

The description of the sun, shews that the style of Ossian has on some occasions a great resemblance to that of the scriptures; what may have given them a still greater appearance of being so, is, that Macpherson, in the early part of life taught school, which brought him acquainted with the sacred writers, and gave him a facility of imitating them. But whatever air of oriental diction,

the

the translation has received in consequence, a person who saw the originals, in the possession of the late Mr. Mackenzie, avers, that the ground-work of the principal scenes, facts, and characters, is truly Celtic; and the attempts of introducing embellishments are seldom, if ever, for the better.

It has been a general complaint, that the sentences in Macpherson's version, are cut so short, and constructed in such an abrupt and starting manner, that it is difficult to follow the thread of the narration. In the original, we are told, no such perplexity occurs. There is likewise less rant and swell, with more circumstantial description. My informer farther says, he saw a translation of one book into verses, corresponding as near as possible with the original. There Ossian appears in his true colours, without any extraneous ornament, and to much more advantage, than in Macpherson's translation.

That the Gaelic originals are not composed from the English version is evident; because