poems, translated by Mr. Jones, inquiry is made; "To whom belongs the square 66 grave, with the four stones on its cor"ners? It is the grave of Madoc, the " fierce knight." Numberless other passages, equally similar in thought and expression, might be produced, from authors entirely ignorant of each other's writings; besides, many of Mr. Laing's pretended similitudes, are so faint, and far fetched, as to be scarcely perceptible. Any ingenious person, by picking, as he does occasionally, a few words from different places, and tacking them together, might form innumerable such immitations. A thinking man must perceive, that men's actions, ideas, modes of composition, are, ever have been, and always will continue the same: for, as the wise man says, "The thing that hath been, is that " which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." The book of nature is equally obvious and familiar to all mankind. It affords the very very same idea to the contemplative mind. Supposing the works of Homer had reached us, a poet describing the onset of two armies, would naturally compare them to waves dashing against the shores, or the violence of two streams foaming and mixing together. The cries of the combatants could not but remind him of the noise occasioned by these boisterous elements, or the roaring sound that a strong tempestuous wind makes in the trees of a forest. 66 "One of those sources of detection on which "Mr. Laing peculiarly insists," says my anonymous assistant, "and where his reasonings seem "particularly plausible, is the imitations he has "discovered in the address to the sun, in the poem of Carthon. That the majestic appearance of the sun in the firmament should have "excited similar ideas in the minds of Milton "and Ossian; and that these two poets, being "both old and blind, should have expressed "their feelings in nearly the same terms-might ·66 perhaps be believed without any great stretch "of credulity. Our author, however, having "discovered these similarities, urges it as an ir"resistible proof, that Macpherson pilfered the leading 66 66 leading ideas from Milton, and completed his "address with other plagiarisms, which Mr. 66 Laing adduces. We are happy on this occa"sion to be able to produce the original of this "address, taken down from the mouths of per 66 sons who had it from their ancestors, and who "had committed it to memory before Macpherson was in existence. A copy of this address "in Gaelic was taken down from the mouth of 66 46 an old man in Glenlyon (a glen in the nor"thern part of Perthshire) by the Rev. James "Macdiarmid of Weem, in the year 1765. "Another copy of it was taken down by a Cap"tain Morris, from the mouth of an old man in "the Isle of Sky, in the year 1763; and was by Captain Morris given to the Rev. Alexander "Irvine of Ranoch. Both the old men had "committed this poem to memory in their younger years. These two copies, taken down 66 by persons unknown to each other, from the "mouths of persons equally unacquainted, and living at a great distance of place, we have 66 66 compared, and found to correspond almost exactly: we give the one taken down by Cap"tain Morris, without the least variation, to the "public. The beauty and melody of the ver"sification appear unequalled to those acquainted “with the language. As our readers may feel a "curiosity to compare the original copy with the "translation "translation of Macpherson, we have given a "version of the Gaelic word for word; the beauty "of the original is thus greatly obscured, but the fidelity of that translator will appear conspi 66 cuous: "O Ussa fèin a shiùbhlas suas, "Cruinn mar làn-sciath chruaidh nan Triath, "Do sholus atha buan, a Ghrian! "Thig thu mach na d'aille thrèin "A's faluichidh na Rèill an triall; "Co tha dàna bhi na d'choir? "Tuitidh darag bho'n chruaich aird, "Tuitidh carn fui' aois a's scòrr; "Traighidh a's lionaigh an cuan, "Caillear shuas an Rè san speùr; "Thussa a d'aon a chaoi fui' bhuaigh "An eibhneas do sholuis fèin! "Nuair a dhubhas mu'n domhan stoirm, "Le Torruinn borb a's Dealan beàrth, "Fiamh ghàire am bruaillean nan speùr. "Dhomhsa tha do sholus faoin, "Scaoilidh cùl is òr-bhui ciabh "Air aghaidh nan nial sann ear. "No 'n uair a critheas thu ann sann iar " 'S math gum bheil thu 's mise fèin "Ar "Ar bliadhnai a tearna o'n spèur, "Biodh eibhneas ort fèin, A Ghriann, " 'S i seàltuinn o neoil air an raon, "Air fear-siubhail fui' bheùd 's e mall." "O thou, who walkest above, round as the "full-orbed hard shield of the mighty! whence " is thy brightness without frown, thy light that "is lasting, O Sun! Thou comest forth in thy 66 powerful beauty, and the stars hide their course: "the moon departeth from the heavens, shrouding "herself under a cloud in the west. Thou art "alone in thy course: who is daring enough to 66 come nigh thee? The oak shall fall from the lofty mountain's side; cairns and rocks shall "sink under the power of age; the ocean shall "ebb and flow: the moon shall be lost above in "the heavens! Thou alone for ever in thy "strength, rejoicest in thy own light! When the "storm darkens round the world, with thunder "terrible and lightening fierce, thou lookest in 66 thy beauty from the loud noise, smiling in the "disorder of the skies. But to me thy light is "vain! never shall I see thy countenance, either "when K |