hall probably hear more of the fame kind after the prefent poems make their appearance. Whether thefe fufpicions are fuggefted by prejudice, or are only the effects of ignorance of facts, I fhall not pretend to determine. To me they give no concern, as I have it always in my power to remove them. An incredulity of this kind is natural to perfons who confine all merit to their own age and country. Thefe are generally the weakeft as well as the most ignorant of the people. Indolently confined to a place, their ideas are very narrow and circumfcribed. It is ridiculous enough, to fee fuch people as thefe are branding their ancestors with the defpicable appellation of Barbarians. Sober reafon can eatily difeern where the title ought to be fixed with more propriety.

"As prejudice is always the effect of ignorance, the knowing, the men of true tafte, defpife and difmifs it. If the poetry is good, and the characters natural and ftriking, to them it is a matter of indifference, whether the heroes were born in the little village of Angles in Juteland, or natives of the barren heaths of Caledonia. That honour which nations derive from ancestors worthy or renowned is merely ideal. It may buoy up the minds of individuals, but it contributes very little to their importance in the eyes of others. But of all thofe prejudices which are incident to narrow minds, that which measures the merit of performances by the vulgar opinion concerning the country which produced them, is certainly the most ridiculous. Ridiculous, however, as it is, few have the courage to reject it; and I am thoroughly con

vinced, that a few quaint lines of a Roman or Greek epigrammatift, if dug out of the ruins of Herculaneum, would meet with more cordial and univerfal applause than all the most beautiful and natural rhapfodies of all the Celtic bards and Scandinavian fcalders that ever exifted."

After the publication of Temora, Mr. Macpherson was called to an employment which withdrew him for fome time both from the mufes and his country. In 1764 governor Johnstone was appointed chief of Pensacola, and Mr. Macpherson accompanied him as his fecretary. If we are not mistaken, fome difference arose between the principal and his dependent, and they parted before their return to England. Having contributed his aid to the fettlement of the civil government of that colony, he vifited feveral of the Weft-India islands, and fome of the provinces of NorthAmerica, and returned to England in the year 1766.

He foon returned to his ftudies, and in 1771 produced "An Introduction to the Hiftory of Great Britain and Ireland," 4to. a work which, he says, "without any of the ordinary incitements to literary labour, he was induced to proceed in by the fole motive of private amufement." The fubject of this performance, it might reasonably be fuppofed, would not excite any violent controversial acrimony; yet neither it nor its author could escape from several moft grofs and bitter invectives.

His next performance produced him neither reputation or profit. In 1773 he publifhed "The Iliad of Homer" tranflated, in two volumes, 4to. a work fraught with

vanity and felf-confequence, and which met with the moft mortifying reception from the public. It was condemned by the critics, ridiculed by the wits, and neglected by the world. Some of his friends, and particularly Sir John Elliott, endeavoured to refcue it from contempt, and force it into notice. Their fuccefs was not equal to their efforts. After a very acute, learned, and witty critique, which was univerfally afcribed to a gentleman ftill living, and inferted in the Critical Review, the new tranflation was confeffed to poffefs no merit, and ever fince has been configned to oblivion.

About this time feems to be the period of Mr. Macpherson's literary mortifications. In 1773, Dr. Johnfon and Mr. Bofwell made the Tour of the Hebrides; and in the course of it, the former took fome pains to examine into the proofs of the authenticity of Offian. The refult of his enquiries he gave to the public in 1775, in his narrative of the Tour, and his opinion was unfavourable. "I believe they (i. e. the poems, fays he) never exifted in any other form than that which we have feen. The editor or author never could fhew the original; nor can it be fhewn by any other. To revenge reafonable 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 had formerly nothing written. He has doubtless inferted names that circulate in popular ftories, and may have tranflated fome wandering ballads, if any VOL. XXXVIII.

can be found; and the names and fome of the images being recollected, make an inaccurate auditor imagine, by the help of Caledonian bigotry, that he has formerly heard the whole." Again, "I have yet fuppofed no impofture but in the publisher, yet I am far from certain, 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 ftrong temptation to deceit on the other, especially to deceit of which no perfonal injury is the confequence, and which flat'ters the author with his own ingenuity. The Scots have fomething 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 sturdy moralift who does not love Scotland better than truth; he will always love it better than enquiry, 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 prefent ftate of the whole Erfe nation, the Lowlanders are at least as ignorant as ourselves. To be ignorant is painful; but it is dangerous to quiet our uneafinefs by the delufive opiate of hafty perfuafion."

The opinions above declared by Dr. Johnfon incenfed our author fo much, that he was prompted by his evil genius to fend a menacing letter to his antagonist, which produced the fevere, fpirited, and farcaftic reply which has been already printed in the European magazine. Whether his warmth abated, or whether he had been made fenfible of his folly by the interpofition of friends, we know not; but certain it is, we hear no more afterwards of this B b ridiculous

idiculous affair, except that our author is fuppofed to have affifted Mr. Nicol in an answer to Dr. Johnfon's Tour, printed in 1779.

In 1775 Mr. Macpherson publihed The Hiftory of Great-Britain, from the restoration to the acceffion of the house of Hanover," in two vols. 4to. a work which has been decried with much clamour, but without much argument or proof. The author appears to have been influenced by fome prejudices in favour of the Tory party; but his performance as far as we have had an opportunity of comparing his narrative with his authorities, is not liable to the cenfure thrown out upon it. In this publication he certainly acted with great fairnefs, as along with it he published the proofs upon which his facts were founded, in two quarto volumes, entitled, "Original Papers. containing the fecret Hiftory of Great Britain, from the refloration to the acceffion of the houfe of Hanover. To which are prefixed, extracts from the Life of James II. as written by himfelf." Thefe papers were chiefly collected by Mr. Carte, but are not of equal authority. They however clear up many obfcurities, and fet the characters of many perfons in paft times in a different light from that in which they have been ufually viewed. Soon after this period, the tide of fortune flowed very rapidly in Mr. Macpherson's favour, and his talents and indufry were amply fufficient to avail himself of every favourable circumftance which arofe. The refiftance of the colonies called for the aid of a ready writer to combat the arguments of the Americans, and to give force to the reafons which influenced

.

the conduct of government, and he was felected for the purpose. Among other things (of which we fhould be glad to give a more particular account) he wrote a pamphlet, which was circulated with much induftry, entitled "The Rights of Great-Britain afferted againft the claims of the Colonies; being an answer to the declaration of the General Congrefs," 8vo. 1776, and of which many editions were published. He alfo was the author of "A fhort Hiftory of the Oppofition during the laft Seffion of Parliament," 8vo. 1779, a pamphlet which, on account of its merit, was by many afcribed to Mr. Gibbon.

But a more lucrative employment was conferred on him about this time. He was appointed agent to the nabob of Arcot, and in that capacity exerted his talents in feveral appeals to the public in behalf of his client. Among others, he published " Letters from Mahommed Ali Khan, Nabob of Arcot, to the Court of Directors. To which is annexed, a State of Facts relative to Tanjore, with an Appendix of Original Papers," 4to. 1777; and he was fuppofed to be the author of "The Hiftory and Management of the East-India Company, from its Origin in 1600 to the prefent Times, vol. I. containing the Affairs of the Carnatic; in which the Rights of the Nabob are explained, and the Injustice of the Company proved." 4to. 1779.

In his capacity of Agent to the Nabob, it was probably thought requifite that he thould have a feat in the British parliament. He was accordingly in 1780 chofen member for Camelford, but we do not re

collect

fpeak in the house. He was alfo rechofen in 1784 and 1790.

For a few years laft paft his health began to fail, and he returned to his native country in expectation of receiving benefit from the change of air. He continued however to decline, and after lingering fome time, died at his feat at Bellevue, in Inverness, on the 17th of February 1796.

He appears to have died in very opulent circumftances, and by his will, dated June 1793, gave various annuities and legacies to feveral perfons to a great amount. He alfo bequeathed 1000l. to John Mackenfic, of Figtree court, in the Temple, to defray the expence of printing and publishing Offian in the original. He directed 3c0l. to be laid out in erecting a monument to his memory, in fome confpicuous fituation at Bellevue aforefaid, and ordered that his body should be carried from Scotland, and interred in the Abbey-church of Wettminfter, the city wherein he had paffed the greatest and beft part of his life,

He was accordingly brought from the place where he died, and buried in the poets-corner of the church.

Interefting biftory of Don Pedro and Dona Ignez de Caftro. From Murphy's Travels in Portugal.

THERE are but few perfonages recorded in hiftory, who have been oftener celebrated by dramatic writers than this princefs. There have been no less than five tragedies formed from her pitiful narxative; viz, two in English, one in French, one in Spanish, and one in Portuguese. The latter, perhaps, approaches the neareft to

ferior in point of poetical merit. The author, Senhor Nicole Luis, had no occafion to refort to fiction to heighten the paffions of an audience, as the fimple facts are fufficient to fill up all the fcenes of pity and terror, and to fhew to what lengths love and revenge are capable of transporting the humanmind.

The fubject of this tragical piece is as follows: Don Pedro, fon of Alonfo the fourth, king of Portugal and heir apparent to the crown, having fallen in love with a lady of the court, named Dona Ignez de Caftro, thought he could not fhare the crown which awaited him with a more amiable perfon. She united to all the charms of beauty, the most graceful and accomplished manners. The Prince, waving all confiderations of birth and fortune, was privately married to her` by the bishop of Guarda.

Notwithstanding the nuptials were performed with all the fecrefy imaginable, yet they reached the king's ear, who had premeditated a confort for Don Pedro in the king of Caftile's daughter. He queftioned him as to the truth of the report; but, knowing his father's arbitrary difpofition, he thought it prudent then to conceal the fact.

The nobility also had intimation of the marriage, and the preference given to Ignez had awakened their jealoufy, Hence they took every opportunity of reprefenting her as a woman of the greateft ambition, and pretended that very fatal confequences were to be apprehended from fuch an alliance; they alfo condemned the prince as a rafh and difobedient fon.

The king, who was a man of Bbz weak

weak understanding, gave ear to their calumny, and they worked upon his paffions to that degree, that he refolved to murder the unfortunate princess. Accordingly he fet out to perpetrate the horrid deed, accompanied by three of his courtiers, and a number of armed

men.

Dona Ignez at this time refided in Coimbra, in the palace of Santa Clara, where the paffed her time in the most private manner, éducating her children, and attending to the duties of her domeftic affairs.

The prince, unfortunately, was abroad on a hunting party when the king arrived. The beautiful victim came out to meet him, with her two infant children, who clung about his knees, fcreaming aloud for mercy. She proftrates herself at his feet, bathes them with tears, and fupplicates pity for her children, befeeching him to banish her to fome remote defert, where he would gladly wander an exile with her babes.

The feelings of nature arrefted his arm, juft raised to plunge a dagger into her breast. But his counsellors urging the neceffity of her death, and reproaching him for his difregard to the welfare of the 'nation, he relapsed into his former refolution, and commanded them to dispatch her! at which they rushed forward, regardless of the cries of innocence and beauty, and inftantly ftruck off her head.

Soon after the above tranfaction the prince arrived; but, alas! found thofe eyes that were wont to watch his return with impatience, closed in death. The fight of his beloved Ignez weltering in gore filled his mind with diftrac

tion, and kindled every fpark of revenge within his foul. In all the agony of rage, he called aloud on the avenging hand of Heaven to punish thofe monfters who deprived him of all he held dear upon earth.

As foon as her remains were interred, he put himself at the head of an army, who fympathized with his diftrefs; they carried fire and fword through the adjacent provinces, and laid waste the eftates of the

murderers. The royal

troops could not oppofe them; they fled at the appearance of the gallant avengers of innocence. But the King, wretched man! could not fly from himself; the cries of his grand-children ftill echoed in his ears, and the bleeding image of their unfortunate mother was conftantly before his eyes. Death at length commiferated his fituation, and he expired full of repentance for his accumulated crimes. He was an undutiful fon, an unnatural brother, and a cruel father.

The prince now afcended the throne, in the thirty-feventh year of his age. He no fooner obtained the power, than he meditated to revenge the death of his beloved Ignez. The three murderers; namely, Pedro Coello, Diogo Lopez Pacheo, and Alvaro Gonfalvez, had fled into Caftile, previous to the death of the late king. The prince ordered them to be tried on a charge of high treason, and being found guilty, their eftates were confifcated. Next he contrived to feize their perfous, by agreeing with the king of Caftile, that both fhould reciprocally deliver up the Portuguese and Caftilian fugitives who fought protection in their refpective dominions. Gonfalvez

and