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The genuine history of the Britons asserted against Mr. Macpherson ...

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272<br />

THE GENUINE HISTORY Ot<br />

" old Irilh and <strong>the</strong> inhabitants <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> North <strong>of</strong><br />

" Scotland promifcuoufly call <strong>the</strong>mfelves Gael—.<br />

" <strong>The</strong> Weilh, in antient times, diftinguiflied <strong>the</strong><br />

*' Scots <strong>of</strong> both <strong>the</strong>Britilh ifles by <strong>the</strong> appellation<br />

" <strong>of</strong> Gaidhel —, much <strong>the</strong> fame with Gael, ill<br />

*' <strong>the</strong> pronunciation* Should <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> Scots be<br />

** <strong>of</strong> Irifh extraft, it mufl naturally follow, that<br />

" <strong>the</strong> Pifts fprung from <strong>the</strong> fame fource, a doc*<br />

*' trine no lefs abfurd than it is new '."<br />

I fometimes find a difficulty in difcovering <strong>the</strong>i<br />

immediate aim and direftion <strong>of</strong> our author's ar-<br />

guments. Senfible and acute as he is, <strong>the</strong>y fre-<br />

quently take <strong>the</strong>ir courfe, like an arro.w dif-<br />

charged from a feeble bow, languidly fluttering<br />

in <strong>the</strong>ir progreffion, and wadling obliquely to-<br />

wards <strong>the</strong>ir mark. And he fo confounds <strong>the</strong> pre-<br />

cife terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> quelition, that I am obliged fre-<br />

quently to recur to <strong>the</strong>m again.<br />

This, as <strong>the</strong> margin exprefsly informs us, is<br />

<strong>the</strong> *' third pro<strong>of</strong>" <strong>of</strong> " <strong>the</strong> Caledonian extrafli<strong>of</strong>i<br />

" <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Britilh Scots." And this, and <strong>the</strong> two<br />

preceding, have all fallen into <strong>the</strong> fallacy which<br />

I have noted in my remarks on <strong>the</strong> firfl. <strong>The</strong>y<br />

have all gr<strong>of</strong>sly deviated from <strong>the</strong> point tindef<br />

conlideration. Inftead <strong>of</strong> proving, or attempt-<br />

* <strong>The</strong> fame argument is in Dr. Macpherfon at great length,<br />

p. 115— 128.<br />

ing

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