Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian > Volume 3

172 A CRITICAL DISSERTATlO!f
all circumflances contrived with fo muclr
art, as plainly difcover the Celtic bards
to have beeu not unprafliled in heroic
poetry.
The llory which is the foundation of the
Iliad is in iti'elf as fimplc as that of FingaL
A quarrel arifes between Achilles and Aga-
memnon concerning a female Have ; on
which Achilles, apprehendinjr himfelf to
be injured, withdraws his aflillance from
the reit oi th^ Greeks. The Greeks fall
into great dlllrefs, and befeech him to be
reconciled to them. He refufes to fight
for them in perfon, but fends his friend
Patroclus ; and upon his being ilain, goes
forth to revenge his death,, and kills Hec-
tor. The fubjed of Fingal, Is this : Swaraa
comes to invade Ireland : Cuthullln, the
guardian of the young king, had applied
for affiftance to Fingal, who reigned in the
oppofite coaft of Scotland. But before Fin-
gal's arrival, he is hurried by ra(h counfel
to encounter Swaran. He Is defeated j he
retreats ; and defponds. Fingal arrives in
this conjundure. The battle is for fome
time dubious ; but in the end he conquers
Swaran •, and the remembrance of Swarnn's
being the brother of Agsndecca, who had
once favcd his life, makes liim dlTmifs hin^
honourably. Homer, it is true, has filled
up his flory with a much greater variety of
particulars than OfTian j and in this li^is