For oft, too oft, forgetful of his God, Poor earthly man betrays his native clod. Her name is Zeala—through the world she flies, Once on a time, as this celestial maid, A lecherous friar compressed her in his cell. And infants trembled at this Moloch's name. Thus erst; but now he sees his power decline. No bloody trophies more bedeck his shrine; The Moor or Jew, condemned to public scorn. Yet still on Tajo's banks he holds his court, Thither the zealots of the West resort; A hooded band, th' emissaries of Rome, Support his empire, and surround his dome. In the first porch of this stupendous place Stands Persecution, with an iron face. In his right hand a scorpion scourge he bears, Betinged with human blood and human tears; And in his left he grasps a band of fire Ready to light the dread funereal pyre. Cut deep in stone above the monster's head, ΕΙΔΕ ΚΑΙ ΦΟΒΟΥ clearly may be read. In the remotest part of this abode Is the apartment of the grisly god. There Phoebus never shows his cheerful face; Dame Superstition, his beloved bride, Beads from Loretto, Agnus Dei's from Rome, Behind his throne, to catch his dire commands, His armour-bearer, Fanatismus, stands. Screws, racks, and pulleys, sulphur, pitch, and tar, With other implements of holy war, Lie piled around him, all in order fair, As in the Tower our guns and pistols are. ADDRESS BEFORE THE FIGHT. "Servants of the Lord! Deans, doctors, priests, and levites, hear my word- Mute for a while his myrmidons remain: The Prelate saw the cause, and smiling said, A turtle waits you, and a haunch of doe- As when the sun with his impressive ray The sullen skies their wonted face assume, JAMES MACPHERSON. 1738-1796. Ossian Macpherson, as he was called, after a literary habit of his time, was the son of a farmer, was born at Kingussie in the ancient Highland district of Badenoch, and was educated for the kirk at the universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh. While he was still a youth, several poetical compositions from his pen appeared in the Scots Magazine, and at the age of twenty he published an epic in six cantos, entitled "The Highlander.' Among his other efforts the most conspicuous was an ode on the arrival of the Earl Marischal in Scotland. His introduction to general notice, however, was effected, not in the character of author, but of translator. While travelling as tutor to Mr. Graham the younger of Balgowan, in the summer of 1759, he met, on the bowling-green at Moffat, the Rev. John Home, author of "Douglas." In his possession at the time he had some transcripts of Gaelic poetry which he had taken down from the recitation of old people in his native district. These remains excited at once the interest and the admiration of Home, and, obtaining translations of a few of them from Macpherson, he sent them to Dr. Hugh Blair, Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres at Edinburgh University. Blair at once pressed Macpherson for translations of the remaining pieces in his possession, a request with which, after some demur, the young tutor complied; and as a result Blair published at Edinburgh, in 1760, a small volume, entitled Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland, and translated from the Gaelic or Erse language. This small volume excited an immediate and intense interest in the northern capital, and presently Macpherson was commissioned to make a tour through the Highlands for the purpose of collecting and preserving further remains of Gaelic poetry. His enterprise enlisted the interest of many Highland gentlemen, chiefs, and sennachies, who gave him ancient MSS. in their possession. Mr. Gallie, afterwards minister in Badenoch, and Mr. Macpherson of Strathmashie, gave him their assistance in the interpretation of obsolete words. And in 1762, having removed to London, Macpherson published, under the patronage of Lord Bute, two volumes of literal prose translations, entitled |