ceive how an author can write under the influence of prejudice, and not sensible of being acted upon by it."[1] This gentleman, who had not seen Mr Laing's History, probably conceived his observation to be one which would go bitterly home to the feelings of his opponent; but we fear Mr Laing's feelings regarding the Celts were a strong armour against the arrow, as we have heard that he was personally partial to the Highlanders, so much so as to he designated by those who knew him, "a regular Celt." Mr Laing's dissertations en the Poems of Ossian had the merit of causing to be produced "The Report of the Committee of the Highland Society, appointed to inquire into the nature and authenticity of the Poems of Ossian," conducted under the superintendence of Henry Mackenzie, published in 1805.
At the same period, Mr Laing brought the controversy to a final issue, by publishing a work, which, with a sneer in its designation he entitled "The Poems of Ossian, &c. containing the poetical works of James Macpherson, Esq., in prose and rhyme, with notes and illustrations." The nature of the "notes and illustrations "may easily be presumed; the work indeed is a curiosity in literature. The edition of Ossian is a very splendid one; and, like an animal decked for sacrifice, the relentless editor introduced it conspicuously to the world, with the apparent purpose of making its demolition the more signal. Within the same year, Mr Laing's line of argument was answered by Mr M'Donald, and two years afterwards, a long and elaborate work, complacently termed a "confutation," was produced by the reverend Mr Graham, who, however, made a somewhat unlucky development of his qualifications for this task, by quoting the "De Moribus Germanorum" of Tacitus, referring entirely to the Teutonic nations, as authority concerning the Celts. Mr Laing never confuted his arguments, having never made the attempt.
In the mean time, Mr Laing's controversial disposition had prompted him to discover another subject, in the treatment of which he excited a still greater degree of wrath. In 1804, he published an edition of his History of Scotland, to which he prefixed two volumes, containing "A Preliminary Dissertation on the participation of Mary queen of Scots in the murder of Darnley." The purpose of the treatise was, with the author's usual decision and boldness, declared in the title, and through the whole of the lengthy detail of two volumes on one historical incident, he never wavers in the slightest degree from the conclusion of guilt Having first formed his opinion in the matter on good grounds,—it is charitably to be presumed—he lays down and arranges his documents and arguments with the precision and conciseness of a lawyer, and no more hints at the possibility of the innocence of the queen, than the crown lawyer at that of his victim. Few who have ever read this extraordinary work can forget the startling exactness with which the arguments are suited to the facts, and to the guiding principles of the whole narrative of the renowned event laid before the reader. "Mr Laing's merit," says a writer in the Edinburgh Review, who refers to this work as to one peculiarly characteristic of his genius, "as a critical inquirer into history, an enlightened collector of materials, and a sagacious judge of evidence, has never been surpassed. If any man believes the innocence of queen Mary, after an impartial and dispassionate perusal of Mr Laing's examination of her case, the state of such a man's mind would be a subject worthy of much consideration by a philosophical observer of human nature. In spite of his ardent love of liberty, no man has yet presumed to charge him with the slightest sacrifice of historical integrity to his zeal. That he never perfectly attained the art of full, clear, and easy narrative, was owing to the peculiar style of those writers who were popular in his youth, and may
- ↑ Rev. Mr Gallie's Letter to the Highland Society Commitee, —Report 39.
