The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-20 00:00:00

THE FIRST VISIT OF ROBERT
BURNS TO EDINBURGH.
TO JOHN WILSON, ESQ.,
PROFESSOR OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY
OF EDINBURGH.
Sir—l presume upon a casual meeting with you
many years ago, which you may have forgotten, but of
which I have very pleasurable recollections, to express
' to you my thanks for your admirable vindication of the
' character of Burns, which, had it possessed less vitality,
would have been smothered beneath the rubbish of pro-
' fessedly friendly apologies. A kindred spirit has now
done justice to his memory.
You are mistaken in supposing that Burns performed
' his first journey to Edinburgh on foot. You have read
his epistle to Tennant of Glenconner, and the lines
" And next my auld acquaintance Nancy,
Since she is fitted to her fancy,
And her kind stars hag airted till her
A quid chield wi' a pickle siller." •
This " guid chield" was George Reid, of Barquharry,
then an extensive farmer, and afterwards factor to the
Earl of Eglinton. My father visited Mr. Reid annu-
ally, and by him was introduced to Burns. You will
find in the list of subscribers to the Kilmarnock edition
of the poet's works, the name of " Archibald Prentice,
farmer in Covington Mains," down for twenty copies, a
fact the " apologists" have omitted to state, although
they have carefully recorded the names of Earls and
Countesses, Lords and Ladies, who patronised him
when his fame was throughout the land. It was ar-
ranged by Mr. Reid that Burns should, on his journey
to Edinburgh, make the farm-house at Covington Mains
his resting-place for the first night. All the farmers in the
parish had read with delight the poet's then published
works, and were anxious to see him. They were all
asked to meet him at a late dinner, and the signal of his
arrival was to be a white sheet attached to a pitch-fork,
and put on the top of a corn-stack in the barn-yard.
The parish is a beautiful amphitheatre, with the Clyde
winding through it, with Wellbrae hill to the west,
Tinto and the Cutter Fells to the south, and the pretty,
green, conical hill, Quothquan Law, to the east.
My father's stack-yard, lying in the centre, was
seen from every farm-house in the parish. At length,
Burns arrived, mounted on a " pownie," borrowed of
Mr. Dalrymple, near Ayr. Instantly the white flag
was hoisted, and as instantly were seen the farmers
issuing from their houses and converging to the point
of meeting. A glorious evening, or rather night, which
borrowed something from the morning, followed, and
the conversation of the poet confirmed and inci eased
the admiration created by his writings. On the foilow-
ing morning he breakfasted with a large party at the
next farm-house, tenanted by James Stodart, brother
to the Stodarts the piano-forte makers of London ; took
lunch, also with a large party, at the Bank, in the
parish of Carnwath, with John Stodart, my mother's
father, brother to the late Robert Stodart, of Queen-
street, in your ancient and magnificent town ; and rode
into Edinburgh that evening on the " pownie," which
he returned to the owner in a few days afterwards by
John Sampson, the brother of the immortalized " Tam."
Mr. Sampson took with him a letter to Mr. Reid, in
which the poet expressed the great pleasure he had
experienced in meeting his friends at Covington.
My father was exactly the sort of man to draw forth
all the higher powers of Burns' mind. He combined
physical with mental strength in an extraordinary de-
gree ; had a great deal of practical knowledge ; had
read and thought much ; had a high relish for manly
poetry ; much benevolence; much indignation at op-
pression, which nobody dared to exercise within his
reach ; and no mean conversational powers. Such was
the person to appreciate Burns, aye, and to reverence
the man who penned " The Cotter's Saturday Night ;"
and, accordingly, though a strictly religious and moral
man himself, he always maintained that the virtues of
the poet greatly predominated over his fault 3. I once
heard him exclaim, with hot wrath, when somebody
was quoting from an Apologist : " What, do they apolo-
gise for him 1 One half of his good, and all his bad,
divided among a score o' them, would make them a'
better men."
' When a lad of seventeen, in the year 1809, I re-
sided for a short time in Ayrshire, in the hospitable
house of my father's friend, Reid, and surveyed, with
a strange interest, such visitors as had known Burns.
I soon learned how to anticipate their representations
of his character. The men of strong minds and
trong feelings were invariable in their expressions of
admiration ; but the prnsy, consequential bodies all dis-
likei him as exceedingly dictatorial. The men whose
religion was based on intellect and high moral sentiment
all thought well of bins ; but the mere professors, with
their " twa mile prayers and half mile graces," de-
nounced him as " worse than an infidel."
Again, allow me .to express my gratification that jus-
tice
Lai been done to the memory of Burns by a kin-
dred spirit. lam yours, very truly,
ARCHIBALD PRENTICE.
Manchesler Times Office, March 8,1341.

COTTON CROP OF THE UNITED

STATES.

The receipts of cotton at the ports of the United
States, to the latest dates, begin to show a consider-
able falliag off, as compared with those at the same
period of last year ; the qu:lntity in each being as
follows :

1840
1841 880,043

Decrease
So far, however, the failing off in the present year
does not appear to countenance the very lore esti-
mates of the crop that have recently caused so
much speculative buying at Liverpool. The
quantity received to the corresponding dates in
1840, was pretty exactly half the entire supply of
the year. If we assume that to be also the case
in 1841, the crop will amount to 1,760,000 bales,
which, with the stock on hand at the commencement of
the year, will be quite adequate to the consumption.
It seems probable, however, that the receipts would
diminish considerably from the date of the last a,z-
counts. Owing to the great falling-off in the export
(being only 359,669 bags this year, against 629,376 at
the corresponding period of last year), the stock in the
ports was accumulating fast ; and the planters, finding
that their cotton did not meet a ready market, would
be inclined to keep it at home in preference. to letting it
lie under heavy charges at the ports. The stock in the
ports, at the latest dates, was 408,562 bales, against
367,873 at the corresponding period of last year.—
n chester Guardian.