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

INTRODUCTION.
of this Essay. It may suffice to say,
that it has been long admired, both at
home and abroad, by persons whose
taste and Uterature will not suffer by
a comparison with those of any man
whatsoever.
But, laying aside the consideration
of the merits of these poems, if they
are indeed as ancient as they are re-
presented to be, they furnish, as Mr
Hume has remarked, " one of the great-
" est curiosities, in all respects, that
*' ever was discovered in the common-
" wealth of letters/' * They evidently
afford a fair promise of throwing much
light on the early history and manners
of an interesting people ; and the few
* See Mr Hume's Letter on this subject to Dr
Blair; Report of the Committee, p. 8.