Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

56 DISSERTATION ON
character to their prince. The inferior chiefs
made this ideal character the model of their
conduct. ; and, by de?:ri?es, brought their minds
to that generous spirit which breathes in all the
poetry of the times. The Prince, flattered by
his bards, and rivalled by his own heroes, who
imitated his character as described in the eulo-
gies of his poets, endeavoured to excel his peo-
]i!p in merit, as he was above them in station.
Tliis emulation continuing, formed at last the
general charticter of the nation, happily com-
pounded of what is noble in barbarity, and vir-
tuous and generous in a polished people.
When virtue in peace, and bravery in war,
are the characteristics of a nation, their actions
become interesting, and their fame worthy of
iniinortality. A generous spirit is warmed with
noble actions, and becomes ambitious of per-
]>etuating them. This is the true source of
that divine inspiration, to which the poets of
all ages pretended. When they found their
themes inadequate to the warmth of their ima-
ginations, they varnished them over with fables
supplied with their own fancy, or furnished by
absurd traditions. These fables, however ridi-
culou-^. had their abettors ; posterity either im-
j^Iicitly believed them, or through a vanity mu
ti'.ial to mankind, pretended that they did.
They loved to place the founders of their fa-
milies in the days of fable, when poetry, with-
out the fear of contradiction, could give what
cliaraeler she pleased of her heroes. It is
to this vaiiity that we owe the preservation of
what remain of the more ancient ])oems. Their
poetical meiit made their heroes famous in a
country where heroism was much esteemed
and admired. The posterity of these heroes,
or those who pretended to be descended from
them, heard with pleasure the eulogiums of their