d

In the close of his book he might have at large expreffed fome fenfe of gratitude for the many courtefies that had been fhewn him. He might at leaft have faid, the barbarous people fhewed us 'much kindness;' but the laft paragraph is frigid and unanimated to an excess of affectation, and must ever fuffer by a comparison with the conclufion of Mr. Pennant's Tour, which, as well for its elegance, as the benevolent fpirit which it evidences, I here infert.

I look back to the North, and with a grateful ' mind acknowledge every benefit I received, from the remoteft of the Hebrides to the prefent fpot; whether I think of the hofpitality of the rich, or the efforts of unblameable poverty, ftraining every nerve to accommodate me, amidst dreary hills and ungenial fkies. The little accidents of diet or of lodging, affect not me: I look farther than the mere differences of living or of customs, to the good heart, and extenfive benevolence, which foftens every hardship, and turns into delicacies the groffeft fare. My conftitution never yet was difpofed to apathy, for which I can claim no merit, • but am thankful to the author of my frame.'-And, in a quotation from the Religio Medici of Sir Thomas Brown, he adds :-"I feel not in myself "thofe common antipathies that I can difcover in "others: thofe national repugnancies do not touch "me; nor do I behold with prejudice the French, "Italian, Spaniard, or Dutch, much more my fellow

fubjects, howfoever remotely placed from me. But, "where I find their actions in balance with my coun "trymen's, I honour, love, and embrace them in "fome

I i 4.

"fome degree. I was born in the right climate, but "feem to be framed and conftellated unto all all

places, all airs, make unto me one country; I "am in England every where and under every me"ridian."

I must here observe, as it was a circumftance that gave him fome trouble after his return to England, that during his ftay in the Hebrides, Johnfon was very industrious in his enquiries touching the Earfe language, with a view to afcertain the degree of credit due to certain poems then lately published and afcribed to Offian, an ancient bard, who, till then, had fcarce been heard of. His opinion, upon the question of their genuinenefs, is pretty decifive, and will appear beft in his own words.

I fuppofe my opinion of the poems of Offian is already difcovered. I believe they never exifted in any other form than that which we have seen. The editor, or author, never could fhew the ori

ginal *; nor can it be fhewn by any other. To revenge reasonable incredulity by refufing evidence, is a degree of infolence with which the world is not yet acquainted; and ftubborn audacity is the laft refuge of guilt. It would be eafy to fhew it, if he had it; but whence could it be had? It is too long to be remembered, and the language formerly had nothing written. He has doubtlefs inferted names that circulate in popular stories, and may have tranf⚫lated fome wandering ballads, if any can be found; and the names, and fome of the images, being re

Johnfon had required, that it fhould be depofited in either the king's or the marifchal college at Aberdeen, and submitted to public infpection; but this was never done. • collected,

• collected, make an inaccurate auditor imagine, by the help of Caledonian bigotry, that he has formerly heard the whole.

I asked a very learned minifter in Sky, who had used all arts to make me believe the genuineness of the book, whether at last he believed it himself; but he would not anfwer. He wifhed me to be deceived, for the honour of his country; but would not directly ⚫ and formally deceive me. Yet, has this man's teftimony been publicly produced, as of one that held Fingal to be the work of Offian.

It is faid, that fome men of integrity profefs 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 fix lines. They remember names, and, perhaps, fome proverbial fentiments; and, having no diftinct ideas, coin a resemblance without an original. The perfuafion of the Scots, however, is far from univerfal; and, in a question fo capable of proof, why fhould doubt be fuffered 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 fome peculiar fortune, an unwritten language, written in a character which the natives probably never beheld.

I have yet fuppofed no imposture, but in the publisher; yet, I am far from certainty, that fome ⚫ tranflations 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 de'ceit on the other, efpecially to deceit of which no 'perfonal injury is the confequence, and which flat

ters

с ters the author with his own ingenuity. The Scots ⚫ have something to plead for their easy reception of

an improbable fiction: they are feduced by their ⚫ fondness for their fuppofed ancestors. A Scotchman must be a very sturdy moralift, who does not love Scotland better than truth; he will always love it better than inquiry: and, if falfhood flatters his vanity, will not be very diligent to detect it. Neither ought the English to be much influenced by Scotch authority; for of the past and present ftate of the whole Earfe nation, the Lowlanders are, at leaft, as ignorant as ourselves. To be ignorant is painful; but it is dangerous to quiet our uneafinefs by the delufive opiate of hafty perfuafion.

But this is the age in which thofe who could not read, have been fuppofed to write; in which the giants of antiquated romance have been exhibited as realities. If we know little of the ancient Highlanders, let us not fill the vacuity with Offian. If we have not fearched the Magellanick regions, let us, however, forbear to people them with Pata⚫gons.'

No fooner did this ftrong and unequivocal declaration of Johnfon's opinion of the poems of Offian appear, than Mr. James Macpherson, the publisher of them, not only repelled the charge of forgery therein contained, but, in a letter to the author of it, threatened him with corporal chastisement. If Mr. Macpherson had known his man, he would probably have forborne the thought of fuch a revenge. To fhew his contempt of him and all that he was able to do that could hurt him, Johnson returned the following brief but fpirited anfwer:

Mr. JAMES MACPHERSON,

No date.

I received your foolish and impudent letter.Any violence that fhall be attempted upon me, I ⚫ will do my beft to repel; and what I cannot do for myself, the law fhall do for me; for I will not be hindered from expofing what I think a cheat, by the menaces of a ruffian. What would you have me retract? I thought your work an impofition; 'I think fo ftill; and, for my opinion, I have given ' reasons which I here dare you to refute.Your abilities, fince your Homer, are not fo formidable; and, what I hear of your morality, inclines me to credit rather what you fhall prove, than what you • fhall fay.'

Whether Johnson was apprehenfive that his adverfary would put his threat in execution, or that he meant to fhew all who came to fee him, that he ftood upon his guard, he provided himself with a weapon, both of the defenfive and offenfive kind. It was an oak-plant of a tremendous fize; a plant, I fay, and not a fhoot or branch, for it had had a root, which being trimmed to the fize of a large orange, became the head of it. Its height was upwards of fix feet, and from about an inch in diameter at the lower end, increased to near three: this he kept in his bed-chamber, so near the chair in which he conftantly fat, as to be within reach.

But this precaution for his defence turned out to be unneceffary. Johnson's letter, above inferted, put an end to the dispute between him and Macpherson; but, by other perfons, it was continued with a degree of afperity equal to that which was shewn in the con

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