Diary of John Quincy Adams, volume 1
1785-04-23
In the afternoon I went into Paris. Saw Mr. West and Dr. Ruston who propose going to England, next week. I afterwards went to see for a Cabriolet; I saw several, but they ask 120 livres for the hire of one, from this place to L'Orient. Spent the evening 255with Mr. Jefferson, who is a great admirer of Ossian's poems: which he thinks are indisputably genuine.1
The Poems of Ossian, Edinburgh, 1762, were allegedly
translated from authentic Gaelic by the Scottish poet James Macpherson. Dr. Samuel Johnson,
among others, thought that they were traditional elements blended together and passed off
as an ancient poem, a verdict generally agreed upon after Macpherson's death. Jefferson had
maintained a strong interest in the work for years (Jefferson, Papers
, 1:96–97;
100–102).