Ossian Collection > Life and letters of James Macpherson

HUME'S LETTER TO BLAIR. 205
l)art of the country, where the names of Ossian
and Fingal, and Oscar and Gaul, are mentioned
in every stanza. The only doubt is, whether these
poems have any farther resemblance to the poems
published by Macpherson. I was told by Bourke,
a very ingenious Irish gentleman, the author of
a tract on the Sublime and Beautiful, that on the
first publication of Macpherson's book, all the
Irish cried out : ' We know all these poems ; we
have always heard them from our infancy ' ; but
when he asked more particular questions, he could
never learn that any one had ever heard or could
repeat the original of any one paragraph of the
pretended translation. This generality, then,
must be carefully guarded against, as being of no
authority.
" Your connections among your brethren of
the clergy may here be of great use to you. You
may easily learn the names of all ministers of
that country who understand the language of it.
Y^ou may write to them, expressing the doubts
that have arisen, and desiring them to send for
such of the bards as remain, and make them re-
hearse their ancient poems. Let the clergymen
then have the translation in their hands, and let
them write back to you, and inform you that
they heard such a one (naming him), living in such
a place, rehearse the original of such a passage,
from such a page to such a page of the English
translation, which appeared exact and faithful. If
you give to the public a sufficient number of such
testimonies, you may prevail. But I venture to
foretell to you that nothing less will serve the
purpose, nothing less will so much as command
the attention of the public.
" Becket tells me that he is to give us a new
edition of your Dissei'tation, accompanied with