Ossian Collection > Life and letters of James Macpherson

yOHNSON. 197
a preface and postscript. Johnson was not
likely to forget the indignation which he had
felt when the fraud was detected, or thereafter
to look kindly on any other Scotch work of
doubtful authenticity.
Finally, it does not appear that at the time
when the poems were published, Johnson made
the slightest effort to investigate the grounds
on which they were pronounced authentic. He
thought them a mere book of the hour, and paid
them no serious attention. It is possible that
he knew nothing of the announcement that the
alleged originals were to be seen at Becket's
shop ; but in any case he took no notice of it.
Some twelve years later, when the reputation
of the poems seemed to be firmly estabhshed,
he went out of his way to attack them ; and the
strength of his language led to a furious corre-
spondence with Macpherson.
In spite of all the ridicule and attack to
which they were subjected in London, the
poems continued to grow in favour in this
country, and they began to make their way
abroad. They ultimately became very popular
on the continent, where they soon appeared in
various languages. About this time a reputa-