46.] [Footnote 92: Memoir in the Globe edition of Scott's poems.] [Footnote 93: Scott adopted the conclusions of Malcolm Laing, who edited Macpherson's poems and adduced parallel passages from "a mass of poetry, enough to serve any six gentle readers for their lifetime," as the reviewer says.

The most of these parallels were found in "Homer, Virgil, and their two translators; Milton, Thomson, Young, Gray, Mason, Home, and the English Bible." Although he was convinced by the argument, Scott saw that the editor was in some cases misled by his own ingenuity.] [Footnote 94: Later, however (in the essay on Imitations of the Ancient Ballad, 1830), he said: "In their spirit and diction they nearly resemble fragments of poetry extant in Gaelic." By this time he was probably reverting to the earlier opinion which had made the more vivid impression.] [Footnote 95: For the _Northern Antiquities_, edited by Robert Jamieson and published in 1814, Scott wrote an abstract of the _Eyrbyggja Saga_, using, as one would conclude from his introductory words, the Latin version made by Thorkelin, who published the saga in 1787.

The purpose of the publication required the historical and antiquarian rather than the literary point of view, and accordingly we find Scott's notes occupied with historical comment.] [Footnote 96: In 1804 Weber came to Edinburgh in a deplorable condition of poverty, and was employed and assisted in literary work by Scott during the following nine years.

In 1813 he was seized with insanity, and challenged Scott, across the study table, to an immediate duel with pistols.

Scott supported Weber during the remaining five years of his life in an insane hospital.