Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

72 DISSKRTATIOM OX
rnign of Fergus, the son of Ere or Arcath, tra-
dition is dark and contradictory. Some trace
up the family of Fergus to a son of Fingal
of that name, who makes a considerable figure
in Ossian's Poems. The three elder sons of
Fingal, Ossian, Fillan, and Ryno, dying with-
out issue, the succession, of course, devolved
upon Fergus, the fourth son, and his posterity.
This Fergus say some traditions, was the fa-
ther of Congal, whose son was Arcath, the fa-
ther of Fergus, properly called the first king
of Scots, as it was in his time the Gael, who
possessed the western coast of Scotland, be-
gan to be distinguished by foreigners, by the
name of Scots. From thenceforward, the Scots
and Picts, as distinct nations, became objects
of attention to the historians of other countries.
The internal state of the two Caledonian king-
doms has always continued and ever must re-
main, in obscurity and fable.
It is in this epoch we must fix the beginning
of the decay of that species of heroism which sub-
sisted in the days of Fingal. There are three
stages in human society. The first is the re-
sult of consanguinity, and the natural affection
of the niembers of a family to one another.
The second begins when property is establish-
ed, and men enter into associations for mu-
tual defence, against the invasions and injus-
tice of neighbours. Mankind submit in the
third, to certain laws and subordinations of
government, to which they trust the safety
of their persons and property. As the first is
formed on natuie, so, of course, it is the most
disinterested and noble. Men, in the last,
have leisure to cultivate the mind, and to re-
store it, with reflection, to a primeval dignity
of sentiment. The middle state is the region of
complete barbarism and ignorance. Ab^ut the
bfi;innin^- of tiie fifch ctiituiv, the Scots and