New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-08-19
MACPHERSON AND OSSIAN
LITERARY SENSATION OF THE ElGH-
TENTH CENTURY.

PiuERSoN Containing Particular ac and
Of His Famous 3nnrre, Yin influence OF the OssI
anlc Poems. By Bailey oau''ue''' Pc ~
Macmillan co.
The quarrel over the authenuct! Vi "'' a.,
., OssIan no longer interests the public as IL au
In the days when Macpherson was ca.'ea a '",,
and Samuel Johnson was called pru'e, =" '.'a
dis,opce NJ time the controversy hardly seems
worthy of the anmosites which IL arouse' va
Saunders's book shows that the questoh as " ~.
origin of these poems can never pe se" 49,
line It's interest at the present day Is u"e " ''
fact that "Ossian' whether genuine antique VI
n modern fraud lies ut the foundation OF scieh,'"c
,.,,, 7 o,g 400 the question was raised whether
Tho yreot enics for example Homers poems IA"
ono author or many, but II was not unti WIN
published his famous essay In l''o that ,"e ~
Of ,nultplex authorship took scientinc shaPe' Inv
hattie over "Oss!an' had then been raging heaIH
hof n century Internationally the vigorous DIS
mute which began In Edinburgh over Macphcrso"
work which was transferred to London ana '',e''
% nearly every capital Of Western Europe had
great influence In shaping the scholarly opinion u
which Wolf appealed. The result mas peen p
s,s,snt and no, unsuccessful campaign against me
unity OF almost every great poem that has descend
cd to civilization from barbaric times "ehes's
aud the Nibc,ungcnlcd share with the Had the
effects Of that disintegrating criticism which Mac
pherson took be personal anront Even 'hos'
who deny the conclusions OF modern analysis con-
cede It's utility to learning. New interest was
awakened along the whole line OF antique re-
search Commentaries the Bible ana on III"
classics took on unexpected forms. and an army OF
men trained In minute literary scepticism searched
everywhere for new fields OF investigation. Before
the upheayal of which the Ossanic controversy was
"A symptom. not "A cause. II might have been pos
sible for n European scholar TO take seriously inc
assertion OF tho Hlndoos that one man. Nyasa
wrote all the vedas and also the Mahabharata.
frtn fling N
comparison. But row IT IS taken for granted that
such a statement IL merely a legendary way OF
saying that lat some time or other order and Sc
uuence given 20 what was before mere con-
gerics Of distinct compositions b. various authors.
II would have been possible once 10 have maintained
that the mixture Of myth and history In the NJ
beiungenied was due to the imagination Of a single
mnn: but now IL Is difficult to conceive OF such a
literary structure without framework OF more an
cient Songs and ballads. The effect OF the revou-
ton In criticism was not only analytic but syn
the'ic. We TO 1t The kaevaa. The epic
songs OF the Films wcr" handed down from remote
times almost to the middle OF the present century
by oral tradition alone. They have preserved from
almost fabulous antiquity a strain OF high po-
etic genius. When L6nnrot fused these songs into
definite whole and produced epic poem as long
a. the Had. and as rounded AMI compete. It was
nowhere challenged. although IT'S materials had been
handel down from mythical age
u
not awaken an interest In the songs and ta.es Of
the people Professor Crane has noted. without
a mark Of surprise. that the word popular" In the
sense II now bears with reference 10 songs and
tales was frst used nv Montague THAT one In the
rl tide of the Renaissance he adds. should
have been able appreciate AT her true value the
Muse ~ the people IL indeed remarkable. when We
consider that the mos, momentous consequence Of
that movement 10 open n chasm between the
literature Of the people and the literature OF the
cultivated which has not yet In France been ade-
auatc,y bri lgci over" what be said Of France
now could have been said Of every nation In Eu-
rope when Macpherson undertook the task forced
upon him By his friends. There good reasons
why culture should have arrived at n due appreca-
ton ~ the popular poetry earlier In Scotland than
IN other countries. II the home ~ loyalty to-
warl the exllcl Stunrts. whose misfortunes had
made them the embodiment OF national sentiment.
The stcrnest efforts OF the English Government
were devoted the tota destruction Of the Gaelic
language. II denounced as barbarous and
uncouih dialect The natural effort 10 repel OPP
preston lei research. In the winter OF 1855 there
appeared In The Scots Magazine the English
translation Of a Gaelic poem entitled "Fraoch's
Death" II was accompanied by n letter In which
the translator called attention to the great quantity
~ Gaelic 10 be found In the Highlands That
such compositions existed was. said the writer. "a
fact we'll known any who had toerabe
acquaintance with Gaelic: II II were not for the
neglect or rather the adherence which had over
taken that emphatic language their merit would
be ut once recognized" The author OF this letter
and Of the translation Jerome Stone. the son
OF A sailor who had worked hts way through 81.
Andrews University. had taught himself Hebrew.
and rs a teacher Of Dunkeld. on the borders OF the
Highlands. had set himself 10 learn Gaelic. or Irish.
az called II. In order to converse with the peo-
pc among whom he lived. II he had not died at
the early age Of twenty-nlnc Celtic learning would
e,J rit.r nj fbe Dada
controversy never would have taken place Mr.. .
Saunders has little doubt that Macpherson was
acquainted with the translation made by Stone.
II. may have known also that collections OF High
land poetry in the original language had been made
I'm recent years by one two enthusiasts and per-
haps his own views respecting the fragments which
he himself collected may have been influenced by
the general impression OF educated Highanders
that the Gaelic poetry epic In It's character.
Originality was the disease OF the period. Even
,ransiators fe't like Pope. obligation Of ndeuty
Educated at Aberdeen and at Edinburgh. Macpher-
son had all the preiidces % his time. His earliest
literary efforts long narrative poems. the very
,Itles OF which are known only TO those familiar
with his career Almost the only passages In them
which suggest the achievement that was TO make
him famous those referring to war AMI battle
As his attention. according to his statement,
was drawn TO the poetry Of the Highlands very
eary he may thus have mbibed his taste for war
like description In the hope OF some time bccom-
ing n minister. he maintained himself by teaching
His poems apparently brought him no fame. He
mlght have been a teacher or n country clergyman
70 the end Of his days II he had not fallen In with
John Home, n Presbyterian minister. who was
driven from his pulpit for writing the weli-known
play OF Douglas" Home had long been curious on
the subject Of Highland poetry. Macpherson was
able 10 explain many OF the customs OF the High
landcrs and to describe the poetry 10 which they
,oved To listen. When he added that he had some OF
this poetry In his possession Home eagerly desired
TO see IT, As nv understood no Gaelic he succeeded
with much entreaty In persuading Macpherson to
translate one OF the poems which he thought most
Interesting The shyness with which Macpherson
approa ched this task was characteristic. Few men
ever undertook less willingly than he the labor
which made them famous. Mr. Saunders attributes