CRITICISM.--The result was as follows: Certain Ossianic poems did exist,
and some manuscripts of ancient ballads and bardic songs. A few of these
had formed the foundation of Macpherson's so-called translations of the
earlier pieces; but he had altered and added to them, and joined them with
his own fancies in an arbitrary manner.
_Fingal_ and _Temora_ were also made out of a few fragments; but in their
epic and connected form not only did not exist, but lack the bardic
character and construction entirely.
Now that the critics had the direction of the chase made known, they
discovered that Macpherson had taken his imagery from the Bible, of which
Ossian was ignorant; from classic authors, of whom he had never heard; and
from modern sources down to his own day.
Then Macpherson's Ossian--which had been read with avidity and translated
into many languages, while it was considered an antique gem only reset in
English--fell into disrepute, and was unduly despised when known to be a
forgery.
It is difficult to conceive why he did not produce the work as his own,
with a true story of its foundation: it is not so difficult to understand
why, when he was detected, he persisted in the falsehood.
Pages:
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562