Ossian Collection > Essay on the authenticity of the poems of Ossian

OF OSSIAN'S POEMS. 23
" and of aged heroes, famed in war," as-
semble under Galgaciis, whom, by common
consent, according to the usual manner of
the Celtic nations, they had chosen for their
leader. Immediately before the battle, Gal-
gacus addresses his soldiers, in a speech, fidl
of good sense and knowledge of the respec-
tive interests of the contending parties ; full
of temperate valour and patriotic eloquence.
Making every due allowance for the manner
of the ancient writers, of framing speeches
for the personages whom they introduce, it
seems scarcely possible to suppose, that such
a writer as Tacitus could, without some
foundation in fact, put such a speech as this
into the mouth of a mere savage.
The conduct of the battle, too, on the
part of the Caledonians, evinces, notwith-
standing their final defeat, very considerable
judgment and military skill. Their masterly
evolutions and undaunted bravery had, more
than once, by the acknowledgment of the