published some of it in 1763,[20] and made away with the evidence of what
he had done, when he found that his conduct was blamed. I can see no
other way out of the maze of testimony." But by 1872 Mr. Campbell had
come to a conclusion much less favorable to the claims of the Gaelic
text. He now considers that the English was first composed by MacPherson
and that "he and other translators afterward worked at it and made a
Gaelic equivalent whose merit varies according to the translator's skill
and knowledge of Gaelic."[21] On the other hand, Mr. W. F. Skene and Mr.
Archibald Clerk, are confident that the Gaelic is the original and the
English the translation. Mr. Clerk, who reprinted the Highland Society's
text in 1870,[22] with a literal translation of his own on alternate
pages and MacPherson's English at the foot of the page, believes
implicitly in the antiquity and genuineness of the Gaelic originals.
"MacPherson," he writes, "got much from manuscripts and much from oral
recitation. It is most probable that he has given the minor poems
exactly as he found them. He may have made considerable changes in the
larger ones in giving them their present form; although I do not believe
that he, or any of his assistants, added much even in the way of
connecting links between the various episodes."

To a reader unacquainted with Gaelic, comparing MacPherson's English with
Mr. Clerk's, it certainly looks unlikely that the Gaelic can be merely a
translation from the former. The reflection in a mirror cannot be more
distinct than the object it reflects; and if Mr. Clerk's version can be
trusted (it appears to be more literal though less rhetorical than
MacPherson's) the Gaelic is often concrete and sharp where MacPherson is
general; often plain where he is figurative or ornate; and sometimes of a
meaning quite different from his rendering. Take, _e.g._, the closing
passage of the second "Duan," or book, of "Fingal."