He wished me to be
deceived, for the honour of his country; but would not directly and
formally deceive me.
Yet has this man's testimony been publickly
produced, as of one that held Fingal to be the work of Ossian.
It is said, that some men of integrity profess to have heard parts
of it, but they all heard them when they were boys; and it was
never said that any of them could recite six lines. They remember
names, and perhaps some proverbial sentiments; and, having no
distinct ideas, coin a resemblance without an original. The
persuasion of the Scots, however, is far from universal; and in a
question so capable of proof, why should doubt be suffered to
continue? The editor has been heard to say, that part of the poem
was received by him, in the Saxon character. He has then found, by
some peculiar fortune, an unwritten language, written in a
character which the natives probably never beheld.
I have yet supposed no imposture but in the publisher, yet I am far
from certainty, that some translations have not been lately made,
that may now be obtruded as parts of the original work. Credulity
on one part is a strong temptation to deceit on the other,
especially to deceit of which no personal injury is the
consequence, and which flatters the author with his own ingenuity.
The Scots have something to plead for their easy reception of an
improbable fiction; they are seduced by their fondness for their
supposed ancestors.
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