Ossian Collection > Fingal of Ossian

i8 The ATTESTATIONS of many GENTLEMEN, &c.
Pofleffion of the Public : Becaule, whatever Rank they are al-
lowed to hold as Works of Genius ; whatever different Opinions
may be entertained concerning their poetical Merit ; they are
unqueftionably valuable in another View, as Monuments of the
Tafte and Manners of an ancient Age, as ufeful Materials for
enlarging our Knowledge of the human Mind and Characfler ;
and muft, beyond all Difpute, be held as, at leafb, one of the
greateft Curiofities, which have at any Time enriched the Re-
public of Letters. More Teftimonies to them might have been
produced, by a more enlarged Correfpondence with the High-
land Counties : But, I apprehend, if any Apology is neceffary,
it is for producing fo many Names in a Queftion, where the
confenting Silence of a whole Country was, to every unpreju-
diced Perfon, the ftrongeft Proof that fpurious Compofitions,
in the Name of that Country, had not been obtruded upon the
World.
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