The Sun.
London, England, 1849-09-15 00:00:00

ROBERT BURNS.

A very fine historical painting by Mr. Stewart
Watson, of the inauguration of Robert Burns, as
poet laureate of the Masonic Lodge, Cannongate-
Kilwinning, Edinburgh, in 1787, is now being exhi-
bited in Great Queen-street, Lincoln's Inn-fields. The
admirers of this great bard will look upon it with
considerable interest, when they know that it is the
only historical picture, justly so called, in which he
has been introduced, and that it represents a period of
his life when his genius was first fully appreciated,
and fitly acknowledged. No more happy epoch in
the poet's brief but brilliant career do we think
could have been selected than that which the artist
has so skilfully delineated upon canvas. Burns, it
will be recollected, had hitherto been unfortunate ;
the farm of Mossgiel, which he and his brother
Gilbert entered upon at the death of their father,
turned out to be unsuccessful ; and, to
add additional weight to that calamity,
his marriage with Jean Armour, afterwards Mrs.
Burns, to whom he was most fondly attached, was not
only strongly opposed, but prevented by her austere
and somewhat relentless parents. Although his misfor-
tunes did not diminish his zeal for the cultivation of
poesy and song, they at length drove him to the
determination to accept an overseer's situ-
ation in Jamaica, where, perchance, the expression
of his patriotic feelings and noble sentiments
might have been forgotten in the merciless occupation
of the slave-driver. Having, at the suggestion of a
few friends, published a volume of poems, the proceeds
from w hich enabled him to pay the passage out, he
was just on the eve of starting on his long journey
when a letter from Dr. Blacklock, assuring him that
he would meet with encouragement in Edinburgh,
completely altered his intentions. On arriving in the
capital his poems soon became popular, and men of
rank and power were not above according to him their
approbation and applause. Under such circumstances
it may easily be imagined what the feelings of the
poet must have been. The painter, then, has taken
advantage of this period, and has not only exposed,
perhaps for the first time, the interior of a masonic
lodge, but has enabled us at a glance to obtain
a clearer insight into the character of Burns,
and the relation in which he stood to the world
around him than many common place memoirs. The
poet is in the act of receiving a wreath of laurel from
the president, and the attitude in which he is placed
by the artist is dignified and manly, and entirely in
keeping with the character of a man who could pen that
beautiful and spirited dedication to the gentlemen of the
Caledonian Hunt, in which he says—" Though much
indebted to your goodness, I do not approach
you, my lords and gentlemen, in the uqtal
style of dedication, to thank you for past favours ;
that path is so hacknied by prostituted learning, that
honest rusticity is ashamed of it. Nor do I present
this address with the venal soul of a servile author,
looking for a continuAnce of favours. I was bred to
the plough, and am independent. I come to claim
the common Scottish name with you my illustrious
countrymen, and to tell the world that I glory
in the title. His countenance, which is well
painted, full expression being given to his fine
and lustrous eyes, is copied from an engraving
which Mrs. Begg, the poet's sister, pronounced to be
the most faithful likeness of her brother, and we be-
lieve the painter was fortunate enough to obtain au-
thentic family portraits, miniatures, and engravings
of the other characters he has included in the cere-
mony. Among those most prominently introduced
may be mentioned Earls of Glencairn and Buchan;
Lords Napier and Monboddo ; James Boswell (John...
son's biographer), Henry Mackenzie (the " Man of
Feeling"), Sir David Hunter Blair, Sir William
Forbes ; the lusty and merry Captain Gorse ; Pro-
fessor Dugald Stewart; Dalrymple of Grangefield.
There are also a considerable number of other charac-
ters less prominetly put forward, such as Nichol and
Cruickshank, master of the High School ; Dunbar
(" ratlin' roarin' Willie"), Mr. Millar, of DalswinttFn,
Wand and Creech, the publisher. Mr. Wand tsonhisscmonacnenperioonf
of his subject is extremely happy,
execution entirely successful. The perspective is
excellent, and the colouring is neither too tame nor
too overcharged. We understand that the painting
was originally intended for the lodge whose proceed-
ings it reflects, but, owing to their funds being to li-
mited to admit of its purchase, it has been sent to
London, in the exp.etation of its meeting with a ready
market.

DUNBAR DISTRICT lIORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.
—The autumnal exhibition and competition of this so.
cicty, which is annually on the advance, took place in
the Assembly Rooms on Thursday, September 6. The
dWay surpassed the largest expectations of competitors
and visitors. The prizes were judiciously awarded by
the judges, Messrs. Robert Mossrna,n. gardener, Thurs-
ton; George Boddie, Dunglass; and M. Campbell, Spott.
A numerous party sat down to a very handsome dinner,
served by Mr. Cossar, of the George Inn. The duties
of chairman and croupier were ably discharged by Pro-
vost Kelly and the Esv. Thomas Burnet.—Barwick and
Kelso Warder.