The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-27 00:00:00

Time but the impression deeper makes,
As streams their channel deeper wear."
(Loud cheering.) All the world has joined in admi-
ration of these exquisite lines ; but our wonder at
them becomes greater when we recollect that they
were written by the poet on the anniversary of
Mary's death, after he had concluded the labours of
the harvest field, when resting on some corn
sheaves, with his eye fixed on the evening staor,
whose growing light " proclaimed the speed
.f
winged day." (Cheers.) To us, and to Scotchmen
the
every part of the world who can appreciate
reca fidelity of his pictures, the poems of Burns possess,
a peculiar and indescribable charm ; they
scenes of early youth, long
n hours the beautiful
gotten, and realise in w g
akiunseen, but still unfor-
w olrfidsewotfotthhee pploeeatsmint tfiheledsStraoldiveeresesd
Dsoroeftani
“ ,
goats bleating aloft,
In life's morning march, when my bosom was young;
I hAneardd
knewmy the sweetowanuntlstrains
which the corn-reapers
sung."
(Cheers.) But the universal admiration with which
the poems of Burns have been hailed, not merely
in his own country, but over the whole civilised
world, prove that, great as his graphic powers were
they were the least of his varied gifts. (Cheers.)
It was the depth of his feeling, his warm expansive
love for all mankind, the touching pathos which
shone forth in his pieces, which everywhere went to
the heart. His tenderness extended even to inani-
mate objects. The hare, the field mouse, the moun-
tain daisy, have been celebrated in his songs. Above
all, he possessed in the highest degree that great qua-
lity without which, in the trial of time, all others
' are but as tinkling brass—a due appreciation of the
dignity of human nature, and a determination to
assert it. (Loud cheers.) To him we owe those
noble lines now become as household words in every
land of freedom :
! " The rank is but the guinea stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that."
(Cheers.) To this quality also he owed many of
the misfortunes with which his life was embittered.
Had he condescended to flatter the great, to conci-
liate the affluent, to fawn upon the multitude,
might have earned ease and comfort in life ; but he
disdained to do arm of the three. Therefore he was
neglected by his cotemporaries—therefore we are
now raising statues to his memory. (Cheers.)
Gentlemen—lt is said that Burns was a Radical.
I know he was; but I do not respect him the less
on that account. (Cheers.) I wish we had more
Radicals like Burns. (Continued cheering.) Most
_men of his ardent and poetic tempernment are in-
dined to those opinions, and were so especially in
his day. They see in others the generous feelings
of which they are conscious in themselves. It is
well they are so ; they would miss their miosion if
they were not. Genius is the moving power of the
moral world. Experience is the fly-wheel which
regulates the movements of the mighty machine ;
without the first it would stand still ; without
the second it would be torn in pieces.
It is by the counteracting influence of the
two, as by the antagonistic action of fire and
water in the material world that the equilibrium of
nature is preserved; and thus is secured at once
the life, the progress, and the stability of nations.
(Hear.) But if Burns was a Radical he was not
less a patriot. He was no advocate for domestic
broils or foreign interference, for what said he to the
Dumfries Volunteers, of whom he was a member ?
" Be Britons still to Britons true,
Amang yourselves united ;
For never but by British hands
Maim British wrangs be righted."
(Cheers.) A more serious charge brought against
Burns is that his life was sometimes irregular. some
of his poems effusions which, however, admired at
the moment, his warmest friends must now lament.
Gentlemen, in reference to this charge I will not
repeat the common excuse that his frailties were
those to which men of an ardent and poetic mind
have in all ages been most subject. I disdain any
such apology. I recognise no exemption from moral
responsibility in the sons of genius. I know rather
that from him to whom much is given much also
will be expected. But I say he was a son of Adam.
Let him that is without sin among you throw the
first stone. (Cheers.) I would answer in the words
of Bolingbroke, when reminded of the faults of his
great political antagonist, Marlborough—" Yes, I
know he had faults • but he was so great a man
that I have forgot what they were." (Loud cheers.)
And I would recommend his detractors to imitate
his example—to expiate passing faults by lasting
benefits to his species, and like him to cause the
spots on the sun to be forgotten in the lustro of his
rays. (Cheers.) But one great moral truth I extract
from the fate of Burns, and that is, that no lasting
fame is to be acquired, even by the brightest genius
save that which is devoted to the purposes of virtue,
for the few poems of Burns which we now lament
have long
.since passed into oblivion, and those on
which his immortal fame is restedare as pure as the
driven snow. And, as such, they will form an unseen
bond which will for ever unite Britons and their
children in every part of the world -- a
bond white will survive the maturity of colonies,
the severance of empires; and " Auld Lang-
syne" will hold together the wide-spread
descendants of the British empire when grown into
independent States—
" Tho seas atween them since hae
Gentlemen, I have detained you too long, and I
conclude in the words of the poet—
" A last request permit me here,
When yearly ye assemble a',
One round, I ask it with a tear,
To him, the Bard that's far awa."
The learned chairman then resumed his seat amidst
tremendous cheering, and the toast was drunk with
the most enthusiastic demonstrations of delight.
Colonel BURNS, who on rising to reply, was
received with great applause and waving of hand-
kerchiefs, said—Sir Archibald Alison, ladies and
gentlemen, I heartily thank God that he has
prolonged my life to see such a glorious day—a day
on which so many thousands are assembled in every
quarter of the globe to do honour to the memory of
the bard. I remember my mother telling Mr.
M‘Diarmid of Dumfries that my father once said to
her, " Jean, they will ken me better a hundred
years after this than they do now." (Loud cheers.)
I heartily thank you that you have given me the
occasion of being present to join in this glorious
meeting—presided over, as it is, by the celebrated
historian of Europe—supported by such a galaxy
of talent as is here in the persons of Judge Hali-
burton, Principal Barclay, Mr. Monckton Milnes,
Mr. Glassford Bell, and many others. (Cheers.) In
no part of the world will this occasion be more
celebrated with enthusiasm than in the far East,
where I have come from, and where I have spent
so many years of my life. And here I may appro-
priately quote the lines of Col. George Anderson
Veitch, the author of many " Burns' Birthday
Odes," from his " Exile in India" :-
1 k" The music of Scotland is sweet mid the scene,
But, ah I could you hear it when seas roll between
'Tis then, and then only, the soul can divine
The rapture that dwells in the songs of langsyne."
(Cheers.) Ladies and gentlemen, I have joined, as
a leal Scot, as a warm admirer of the bard. in doing
honour to his memory ; and permit me, as his son,
to thank you for the enthusiasm with which you
have responded to the toast.
Mr. Stombridge Ray sang, with much taste and
feeling, " Highland Mary.'
Band—" The Campbells are eomin'."
Mr. DALGLISH, M.P., then gave " Lord Clyde
and his Companions in Arms." He said that the
toast fortunately did not require the eloquence of
the talented chairman to make it come home to
every heart. Sir A. Alison had told them that in
addition to the title of Queen of England, her most
gracious Majesty had added that of Empress of
India. (Hear.) He thought it would be wrong in
him to detain the assembly with any detailed state-
ment of the reasons why they should receive the
toast, with all the honours, for it was enough to
say that owing to the undaunted bravery of our
soldiers and the skill of their commanders, a most
treacherous
retainedmutiny had b
for
England—(cheers)—but
suppressed,a and India
the present occasion he gthoughtan c
therehe e
was
—ab
claim
n
on them to drink the toastn with redoubled enthu-
siasm, for the gallant y that fouhgyhta
mupa(l).inbothrne
plains of Hindostan was commanded
in Glasgow. (Cheers.) They were al la
organised, v
aware
with
how
h
soon after his arrival in India heoig
great care, an army which had performed such in-
comparable services for the country. He n
allude to Lord Clyde's advance and successfueled not
move-
ments, or to his achievements at eawnpore or Luck-
now ; but there were other men connected with
Glasgow who distinguished themselves to h great
extent in India. Need he mention the name of the
gallant colonel, the son of their illustrious chair-
re an—(cheers)—who, having lost an arm in the cause
of his country, had since been more successful in
another field (laughter) having gained the
hand of one of their loveliest citizens ? (Loud cheers
and laughter, in which Sir A. Alison heartily
joined.) Neither would he allude to the gallant
Col. Kerr, who, alone with his unaided native
troops, hadC won such laurels on the field of battle ;
and to the son of their own townsman, Mr. Macnee.
(Cheers.) He therefore trusted that the toast which
he proposed would be received with all the honours.
(Cheers.)
The toast was drunk with all the honours, the
band playing, " See the conquering hero comes."
The Rev. Principal BARCLAY proposed the next
toast—" Both Houses of Parliament "—which,
a
though not immediately connected with the occa-
sion on -which they had met, was still a subject in
which every individual in the British empire was
more or less interested. (Hear, hear.) He, there-

Refuses of Parliament. Cheers.).
The toast having
been received wth great
fore, had great pleasure in proposing the two
applause,
the name of the members of :Parliament who are
Mr. BUCHANAN, in retufning thanks, said—in
present, I beg to return thanko
Principal for the toast which he has. proposed and
to the Very Rev,
also to this meeting for the manner
been received. (Applause.) I regret tha..+. nowtmber
In which it has
of the House of Lords should be present ; 2I am
sure that it does not arise from any want of in!.'est
in the commemoration which we are now celebrating
The muse of Burns has wide sympathisers, and h6'
spoken to the heart of the peer as well as the pea-
sant. (Cheers.) The highest rank and the most cul-
tivated intellect alike confessed the power of his
genius; and dull, indeed, must be the feelings of the
man who lusts not responded with patriotic emotion
to " Scots wha ha'e wi' -Wallace bled"—(cheers—
who has not warmed with firmer self-reliance
to the stirring strain, " A man's a man for a' that,"
or been melted with the pathetic cadences of " Man
was made to mourn." (Renewed cheers.) Of one
thing, at all events, I am sure, there can be no true
representative of the people, certainly none of the
Scottish people, who has not felt in the depths of
his soul a sympathy with the noble sentiments of
our national bard. Long may therebe found in our
representatives that genuine independence, that
contempt for affectation, pretence, or hypocrisy, that
high-souled scorn of whatever is mean or untruth-
ful, which emanated from the bard of Ayrshire.
(Cheers.) To such men may safely be entrusted a
nation's destinies. They will neither truckle to the
great and powerful, nor court the voice of the
crowd. (Hear, hear.) So long as a Bri Pa
tish rlia-a
ment shall maintain its independence, it will have
the resepect of such meetings as this. (Cheers.)
Mr. H. G. BELL said—Every one has felt that it
is not always on those occasions when he is most
anxious to say something worthy of being listened
to, that he is best able to satisfy his own wishes.
I confess that to-night I feel my mind almost over-
powered when I reflect on the grandeur of the de-
votion—not national only, but world-wide—that is
being paid to the memory of one man. I question
whether such an amount of grateful and affec-
tionate remembrance was ever before concentrated
and so extended. The question naturally occurs-
-Whence all this gratitude ?—honourable alike to
him who occasions and him who cherishes it; surely
no unworthy sentiment, since it ascends to the
Creator through the person of one of his created.
Whence this gratitude ? Simply because that
Scottish peasant added more than most men to the
stock of human happiness ; and he did so by throw-
ing wider open the gate of human knowledge.
(Cheers.) The most valuable of all knowledge is
knowledge of ourselves, and it is that the poet
teaches. Great as the benefactor of his species is
-zvho extends the confines of science, not less great
is hft whose finer eye looks with a clearer percep-
tion io.to all the subtle mechanism of the human
heart. Cheers.) Robert Burns invented no steam
engine,
smiles ; he
but. he knew the secret source of tears and
called up thou
u.iscovered no new planet, but he
stars, for he touchetli• as with a fierY
thong: a.
that twinkled in the soul like
latent emotion until it . finger, every
qtarted into light ; he made
us no richer in worldly
how divine a thing human 10" may
wealth, but he taught us
be ; he taught
us the nobility of earnest patri.o
tism and unflinch-
inc, manliness •, he taught us how t
il,ftndent with
hese, or any of
these, may make the darkest life resp
a gleam of inward lustre. (Cheers.) HenZ'e comes
it that thousands of his fellow-men, who neve:saw
him in the flesh, have to-day met in every quartOr
of the globe to do him honour
i; hence it comes that
it the mght
Of the whole world's good wishes with him goes ;
Blessings and prayers, in nobler retinue
In
sFollown this
lwondrousl
ipnogt e
sn ta te l' '
Than sceptred king or laurelled conqueror knows,
intensified
by the con-
sciousness that Burns was essentially, and, from his
cradle to his grave, our countryman—a Caledonian.
The country to which other great men' have be-
longed seems often to have been an accident of
birth. There appears no reason why Shakspere
might not have been born in Scotland, and Beattie
or Campbell in England. But Burns never ! He
was a concentration of the genius of Scotland. His
patriotism was Scotch—
Wha for Scotland's King and law,
Freedom's sword will strongly draw,
Freeman stand, or freeman fa',
Let him on wi' me I"
(Loud cheers.) His delight in the beauties of ex-
ternal nature was Scotch—
" Their groves o' sweet myrtle let foreign lands reckon,
Where bright beaming summers exalt the perfume ;
Far dearer to me yon lone glen o' green breckan,
Wi' the burn stealing under the lang yellow broom."
His loves were Scotch, and the happiest moments
with the objects of his love were in the midst of
Scottish scenery—
" Ye bank and braes and streams around
The Castle o' Montgomery,
Green be your woods and fair your flowers,.
Your waters never drumlie ;
There simmer first unfaulds her robe,
An' there the langest tary ;
For there I took the last fareweel
0' my sweet Highland Mary."
(Applause.) His noble independence was Scotch—
" Is there for honest poverty
earliest
l forie a' t hat .
Wha hangs his head and a' that,
The coward slave we pass him by—
(Loud We dare be
s poorarst and that."
aspirations
cheers.) His
were Scotch—

" Even then a wish, I mind its power,
A wish that to my latest hour
Shall strongly heave my breast,
That I for poor auld Scotland's sake
Some useful plan or book could make,
Or sing a sang at least."
Shall Scotland not •be proud of her peasant poet—
" Who murmur'd to the running brooks
A music sweeter than their own I"

(Cheers.) ' Show me a song-writer from the days ,
of Anacreon to the days of Beranger, who comes
within a thousand miles of him. (Immense ap-
plause.) All social and friendly gatherings do good
to the hearts of care-worn men ; but we have
assembled here to-night with a nobler motive than
to eat and drink •and be merry. We have assem-
bled to do justice to the better parts of our nature,
by declaring our veneration for a true bard who
died in poverty, but who has made us heirs to
the priceless riches of his own effulgent mind. I
leave the theme with reluctance, but it has already
been descanted on with an eloquence that has
charmed us all with a copious grace and beauty
peculiar to the rich, genial, and refined mind of an
Alison. (Applause.) The toast I have the honour to
propose is " The Poets of England." I do not
know whether it is meant to be limited to the
living poets ; if so, their number, I fear, is small,
taking the word poet in its true and proper sense.
But I think it may be understood to comprehend
all those poets who shed, about twenty-five years
ago, so brilliant a light over the literary horizon.
Their bodily presence has been taken from us, and
it is a somewhat sad thought for those who, like
myself, have been privileged to look upon their fine
and thoughtful foreheads, and to hear their living
voices, that nothing now remains of a Byron, a
Coleridge, a Wordsworth, a Southey, a Shelley, a
Rogers, a Hemans, and a Landon, but the moulder-
ing dust in their graves. Yet, though dead, they
still speak to us solmenly and sweetly—none with
more sweetness than Wordsworth, because none
with a truer and purer human love and under-
standing. The sacred key was intrusted to the
keeping of them all, by which the deeper heart of
man is unlocked ; and the electric thrill emanating
from them diffuses itself through all lands—
" One touch of nature makes the whole world kin I"
(Applause.) Of living poets I shall not pretend to
speak ; but, as Wordsworth in his beautiful sonnets
on personal feeling says, he will mention two
female portraitures " pre-eminently dear"—
"The gentle lady, wedded to the Moor,
And heavenly Una with her milk-white lamb—"
so I shall venture to name two poets as standing
conspicuously out among all our living minstrels,
and sending abroad from their resounding lyres
richer and nobler melodies than any of their com-
peers. You will not doubt that r mean Alfred
Tennyson, and the high-minded lady Mrs. Barret
Browning. (Cheers.) Their styles are altogether
different, eaoh marked by its own originality ; but
in the works of both there is a repertory of dig-
nified and graceful thoughts, of deep, glowing feel•
ings, of suggestive and lofty imaginings, which
have worthily won for them a place far up the
sacred mount. Of them, and of all who labour at
the same delightful tasks, we say with universal

voice—
" Blessings with them, and eternal praise,
Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares ;
The poets who on earth have made us heirs
Of Truth, and pure delight, by heavenly lays ?"
(Loud applause.) Permit me to couple with my
toast the health of an English poet now present,
whose English heart is not the less sound that it
has in it some Scotch affections, which inspired him
with a poet's yearning to do honour with us to
Scotia's bard. Mr. Moiackton Milnes—(applause)
--so well known for his more recent exertions in
the canse of legislative and. social improvement,
has written, among other effusions of great energy
and beauty," Memories of many Scenes." I hope
that to-night will enable him to add to them a fresh
memory which he may deem worthy of cherishing,
and that he will at least believe that " poor auld
Scotland," whilst it remembers departed, welcomes
living genius. (Prolonged applause.)
Mr. MONCKTON MILNES, in acknowledging the
toast, said—l have been labouring under some in-
disposition, and am particularly unfitted to address
you upon this great occasion. But, nurtured as I
have been in the love and admiration of Robert

Be irns, and accidentally connected with the fortunes
of his family, I gladly acceptedthe proposal to act
aetrop
sioononooefs of the arbiters of the merits of the poems
bedeining yhisouhronguourest, and for myself tohf youedistwinicll-
have seen the poem to which the prize has been ad-
judged, and have, I hope,not considered 't th
unwor y
of the occasion; but it becomes me here to say a
word respecting the unsuccessful candidates for the
crown, many of whom have produced works of deep
feeling and noble expression, and all of them ap-
peared impressed with the real greatness of the
character it was proposed to them to celebrate.
(Cheers.) In the phrase of one, they all recognised
"The glorious and poetic peasant
Driving his laurelled plough."
In the words' of another, they appreciated the
character of the people, who read by turns
"The Psalms of David and the Songs of Burns."
(Cheers.) Two impressions, indeed, which seem to
me altogether erroneous, prevailed in many of the
poems—the neglect of the poet by his contempora-
ries, and the connection between his poetic gifts
and the sorrows and discomforts of his life. Now, I
believe that the worth of a great poetnever received
a more rapid acknowledgment from a nation than
Scotland has given to Burns, from the first letter of
Dr. Blacklock to the celebration of this hundredth
anniversary. lam equally convinced that the poetry
of Burns was the joy and sustenance of an exist-
tenee not otherwise favoured by fortune. True, the
lights of the poetic temperament cast their shadows,
as they will always do ; true, there was in him that
earnest melancholy, which is ever the reverse of the
true metal of genuine humour. But without his
poetryßurns must have been as much an exile from
his native land as Dante, whereas, with it, the inci-
dents of his common and private life have become
the events of a century; the songs composed for
the merriment of an obscure tavern club have set
millions of tables ringing with delight; the natu-
ral outpourings of his affections have become the
stimulus and the interpreter of youthful passion in
ten thousand breasts ; and the religious bickerings
of a remote province have been made vocal with the
most stirring trumpet tones of civil and religious
liberty. I remember being in Prussia some 14 years
ago, when the Censor of the Press condemned a
spirited translation of " A man's a man for a' that"
as hostile to the order of society, and calculated to
set class against class. I should be very glad to
have that censor here to-night, and to ask him whe-
ther this, and the thousand other festivities now
taking place, exhibited hostility and ill-will to man-
kind ? (Cheers.) You have done me the honour
of connecting my health with the poets of England.
When Burns was writing the poetry of England
was mainly represented by the languid grace of
Cowper, and the wit of Peter Pindar, and I do not
know how much of the great revival which followed
may be attributed to the influence of your bard. I
wish I could anticipate any such phenomena in our
days. We have, indeed, a }aureate whom we can
boldly match with any of his predecessors, yet I am
conscious that the tendency of the time is rather to
enjoy and rest upon the poetry that has gone before
it than to add to the imaginative store of the world.
Perchance it must be so. Our thoughts have not
already been expressed in as good music as words
can supply, and our business is rather to ap-
preciate and apply, them—just as Burns took up the
screed of some old ballad that touch his fancy, and
transformed it into a poem for his own and for all
time. Those, indeed, who desire to combine the plea-
sures of the composition of verse with the duties of
active life will rejoice to remember that Burnsmade
an excellent and diligent exciseman, as Wordsworth
an accurate stamp distributor; and instead of
amenting that such men were so employed, they
wit.? delight in every combination of rare talents
and ha: TA toil. Who shall say whether, if the
umstances of the life of Burns been
and repose, his wonderful powers
otinibuotgwsheatorilocetior beenhafvoei.4.., '
obscured and contracted ? But
be this as it may, I am sure that the passionate
admiration which brings together the multitudes of
this evening would not have been excited. The
sorrows of the great have ever been the aliment of
the veneration of mankind : and the victims of mis-
fortune in high places have even attained super-
natural powers, without any very close scrutiny
into their character and conduct. But the time
comes when even the sad stories of the deaths of
kings" fail to move the popular imagination ; and
yet, even then, the heart of a nation is stirred to
its depths by the recollection of suffering genius,
and something of a sacred halo surrounds the poet
who has endured and striven like a man. (Great
applause.)
" John Anderson, my Jo."
Song by Mr. Robson,
Mr. A. DENNISTON, writer, Greenock, then gave
the next toast—" The Peasantry of Scotland."
The toast was drunk with great applause.
Mr. BLANCIIARD JERROLD gave " The Poets of
Scotland, and my friend Mr. Peter Cunningham."
Mr.
RPE.TAEI IINp
CllNH"'oGfriacaart
srtaepirlies,dp.
proposed "The
ro
City of Glasgow and its Civic Rulers."
oUTEaT,.
The LORD PROVOST replied.
Mr. BAILLIE COCIIRANE, of Lamington—Ladies
and gentlemen—As you have so cordially re-
sponded to the poets of England, and also
to the poets of our own country, it is most
suitable that on such an occasion we •should
also toss off a bumper to the poets of Ireland ; and
although assuredly I am not the person capable of
doing justice to that toast, still, if Irish traditions
be correct, this toast should at all times be pro-
posed by a. Scotchman, for I find that in various
works Ireland asserts that she not only bestowed
sovereigns to the name of Scotia on our native land,
but also that we are indebted to her for all our
Highland airs. We are sold that when the inhabi-
tants of Munster and Leinster d the Brehons,
or, as they were called, the legislative bards, from
Ireland, they took shelter in the wilds and pastures
of Scotland. A legislative bard is not a position
well ascertained in our constitution. We possess
poets, we possess legislators,
and we possess gentle-
men who are both poets and legislators, like my
gifted friend Mr. M. 7.llilnes ; but although I have
heard him make many excelleit speeches, I never
heard them set to music, nor can believe he will
move his important amendment on the Reform Bill
in the Spenserian metre. But it does not require
any assurance to conviice us of the extreme beauty
of the Irish melodies. The lyrical power has not
expired with Cormac and O'Carolan. The name of
Sheridan and of Moore, and Sheridan's illustrious
granddaughters, of Goldsmith, of Lever, of Morgan
of the author of the" Angel's Whisper" and "Rory
O'More," our honoured guest of this evening,
Samuel Lover—all these testify that the cunning
has not deserted the land, and that the fire of Irish
talent still burns like the inextinguishable lamps of
Kildare's shrine. But there is one bond of union
between the minstrels of the two countries, that is,
the feeling of independence and the love of country
that each awakens. Moore and Lover are as dear to
Ireland as Burns is to Scotland, and who shall say
what an effect these great men may, have had on the
destinies of their respective countries. Forinstance,
there was a time a century ago when our nationality
was endangered—when Scotlandhadbeen converted
into that battlefield " where those who conquer
do not win, and they must lose who gain." The
nation felt that a stranger was in the land, and
his cold hand was laid on iti.heart. Aye, at that time
there was danger, not for our national, but
our mental independence—for:a feeling was growing
up in the south hostile to our progress ; but, in spite
of all feelings of jealousy,. Scotland, after a pause,
marched on England, not in military array, but in
the less dazzling march of mind and intelligence
and this march, the echo of which is still heard
throughout the land—this march was preceded by
Robert Burns. (Cheers.) Ay, and there is another
point of sympathy between the lyrical poets of the
two countries. In most cases we find that the bard
is neglected during his lifetime. Mr. Lover has
done a great and a good work for Ireland in collect-
ing those immortal lyrics, which, but for him might,
in time, have been lost. What a long list of names
is there of those who, like Carolan, died neglected;
and what shall we say of the last days of Richard
Brinsley Sheridan ; but all countries can testify—
" How nations, slowly wise, and meanly just,
To buried merit raise the tardy bust."
Who erected a monument to Robert Ferguson, many
years after his death ? Why, a brother poet, Robert
Burns. The hand of genius possesses its noble army
of martyrs. See Camoens dying in a garret—Tasso
lying on straw in a madhouse—Milton in poverty
—Otway choked with the food doled out in charity
—Chatterton always the melancholy Chatterton,
and most so in his death. Yes, and afterwards
justice is done to departed genius—Tasso is crowned
on his deathbed; Petrarch in the Capitol of Rome;
and now the memory of Burns is crowned by the
one unanimous cry of love and admiration, which
echoes beyond the Indus and the Atlantic waves.
When Mr. Lover returns to Ireland, if he is asked,
as Macduff asks Ross, " Stands Scotland where she
did ?" he will answer in his own nervous language
—he will tell of the enthusiasm he has witnessed—
he will testify that there is no danger of our nation-
ality being lost where its master-spirit is so honoured.
" The friends we have tried
Are by our side"
this day, in the persons of the honoured sons of the
immortal poet ; and when we behold citizens of all
countries combining in this tribute to departed
greatness, we may anticipate, as the poet antici-
pated, the day when.
"Man to man the wide world o'er, shall brithera be."
Mr. SAMUEL LOVER replied.
The Hon. Judge HALIBURTON, on rising to pro-
pose the next toast, was received with immense
cheering. He said, I accepted the invitation to
appear here to-night with peculiar pleasure. 150
years have elapsed since my family left the borders

America—(hear, hear)—and I am the first of that
family that has ever made its appearance in its
fatherland—(cheers)—and the reception that you
have been so good as to accord to me to-night over-
powers me in a way that I cannot well express
what I feel on the occasion. I have been honoured

by being requested to propose a toast which, I am
sure, every one who hears me will receive with a

most cordial and affectionate response—" The
Clergy of Scotland." When it was first proposed
to me to give this toast, I confess that I was con-
siderably embarrassed. (Laughter.) It did not
appear to me particularly appropriate that so vene-
rable, so pious, so zealous, and so learned a body as
the Church of Scotland should be given to the
humble author of Sam Slick. (Roars of laughter.)
I thought, perhaps, that it might more appropri-
ately have been given by one nearer home, and one
better able to do justice to such a subject; but a
moment's reflection taught me that nothing was
required of me but to propose it, for it was a toast
that spoke for itself, as the clergy had their bond
of union with the country in the feelings, in the
sympathies, and in the hearts of the people. (Hear,
and cheers.) Nothing, therefore, remained for me
but to propose it, for, like the sublime inscription
in St. Paul's Cathedral to the immortal architect--
"Si monumentum, quteris circumspice,"

their eulogium is to be found in the character of the
people, in the institutions they have fostered, and in
that comprehensive system of education which they
encourage that has made Scotland pre-eminent
among the nations. (Cheers.) Having said this much
I should feel that I had done all that was required

of me ; but the clergy of Scotland are not the whole
Scottish Church, and there is a very large body of
Scottish clergymen whom they have sent abroad as
learned as those that are resident, as pious, as
laborious, as self denying, and as useful, in British
North America. (Cheers.) It is easy to talk of North
America as a place that is brought to our borders
by the advantage of steam ; but it is so large a
country, and so widely spread, that it is impossible
to estimate these venerable pioneers in the cause of
civilisation without looking at the map—without
recalling to mind that these vast possessions cover
one-ninth part of the superficial surface of the whole
,globe. The hon. judge commented at some length
on the labours of the Scottish clergy in that distant
and wide-spread region, and the high estimation in
which they were held by the people, characterising,
them as a body of men distinguished for their reli-
gious integrity, frugality, industry, and general
respectability.. He referred to the delusive pictures
which were drawn in connexion with the subject
of emigration to America; and, in regard to the
object of their meeting, expressed his regard for the
memory of Burns, remarking that he himself liked
human nature, that he had studied it, and liked the
simplicity with which Burns had written. Before
concluding his observations, he alluded to the Rev.
Dr. M'Leod, whom he had had the high honour and
pleasure of making acquaintance with on the other
side of the Atlantic, and remarked that the amenity
of his manner and the eloquence of his pulpit ora-
tory would long be remembered by the populations
through whom he had passed. (Cheers.) He was
glad also to see that at the end of a century there
had been time to weave that cloak of charity which
covereth a multitude of sins. (Cheers.) If that
cloak had not been woven within that period, he for
one should have thought little of the clergy or
laymen of Scotland. He called upon them to give
the " Clergy of Scotland—resident and absent—
those here and in North America." (Applause.)
Organ—" Luther's Hymn."
Rev. Dr. M'LEoD, of the Barony, replied to the
toast.
Mr. S. F. TROTTER proposed the health of " Col.
Burns and the other existing relatives of the poet,"
which was' warmly responded to.
Colonel BURNS and Mr. ROBERT BURNS BEGG
acknowledged the compliment.
Mr. WM. BURNS proposed " The Centenary
Celebrations all over the World."
Mr. BUCHANANAN, M.P., proposed "Our Guests,"
coupled with the names of several of the gentlemen
on the platform.
The toast was drunk with all the honours.
Bailie HOULDSWORTIT, proposed " The Festival
Committee," which was received with loud applause.
Mr. C. R. BROWN, in reply, said—Mr. Chairman,
were I to use the ordinary stereotyped phraseology,
and say that the committee never expected such a
pleasing recognition of their services, I would sim-
ply be committing great injustice. I have been
connected with many committes, but never expe•
rienced such zealous and cordial co-operation.
(Applause.) But, sir, had the toast been entirely
overlooked in the programme, yet the glorious suc-
cess which has crowned our efforts would, of itself,
have been esteemed a fitting reward. Being the
first centenary festival, the correspondence may
truly be characterised as immense.; yet, all through-
out, we indeed felt that "the labour we delight in
physics pain." (Loud cheers.) In conclusion, sir,
the committee, through me, would venture to ex-
press the hope that this great festival may not ter-
minate in a mere ovation to the memory of the
mighty dead, but that, sooner or later, the embodi-
ment of some such monumental structure as is sha-
dowed forth in the tableaux to my right may soon
grace the metropolis of western Scotland—a struc-
ture really worthy of Glasgow and of Scotland.
Prolonged cheermg.)
The Rev. CHAS. itOGERS, LL.D., proposed "The

Press."
Mr. LOWE (editor of the Critic) replied.
Mr. SAM. LOVER proposed " The Lasses" in a
humorous and happy speech.
Mr. DAVID MARSHALL LANG gave " The Land
of Burns and the Glasgow Ayrshire Society."
Mr. R. B. BEGG proposed " The Chair," which
was received with great cordiality.
The CHAIRMAN acknowledged the toast, and
stated that the recollection of that night would
never be effaced from his mind.
Mr. M'CUBBIN proposed " The health of the
Croupiers, coupled with that of Mr. Dalglish."
Mr. DALGLISH, M.P., briefly replied.
The proceedings were brought to a close about 20
minutes past 11, by the singing of " Auld Lang-
sync," accompanied by the band and organ, and the
company joining in the chorus standing.

NEW WAR SKIPS FOR RUSSIA.

(From the San Francisco Times, Dec. 11.)

Several weeks ago Capt. Davidoff, of the Russian
Imperial Navy, arrived at this port from the Amoor
river, with instructions from the Emperor to have a
steam gun-boat constructed in California for the use
of the Russian Government on the coast of Eastern
Asia. The captain has since that time been engaged
in making examinations of ithe different kinds of
wood produced in this country, with the view of
ascertaining whether that now used for shipbuilding
purposes would answer the desired purpose. The
oak and laurel, now principally adopted by ship-
builders, has answered very well for small vessels
and inland steamboats, for which the usually small
dimensions of the wood seemed to meet every re-
quirement, but whether that material would apply
to as large a vessel as a gunboat, which is to be of
the size of those used in the Sea of Azoff by the
English in the late war, is another question.
The Russian Government has ordered that the
vessel shall be ready to leave California by July
next, and to be in the Amoor River by August.
This demands the utmost despatch ; and the difficulty
of the task is shown by the fact that the timber for
the vessel has yet to be cut from the woods. The
chief trouble, however, is that the timber, after be-
ing cut and conveyed to the Navy-yard at Mare
Island, requires to be seasoned before being put
into the hull of the gunboat.
-The question thus arises whether, in the stated
period, any wood can be made ready for the pre-
scribed purpose, and whether, in fine, the two classes
of timber now used—laurel and oak—can be sea-
soned in that space of time. Any old Californian
who may be well-informed on these matters will
confer a favour by addressing to this journal his
views on the subject, as well as to what are the
most durable woods used for mechanical purposes
in this state. Captain Davidoff has, we believe,
instructions to apply elsewhere to have the vessel
built, in case California does not offer the requisite
natural facilities. The mechanical portion, he
thinks, could not be excelled anywhere in the
world. As an officer of experience in naval con-
struction, he expresses the highest opinion of the
work he has seen, net only at the Navy-yard at
Mare Island, but at the private shipyards in San

Francisco.
At this time, when our own Government is hav-
ing a war steamer built at the public works, ite
would be a double honour to the growing mechani-
cal genius of our young state of California if it could
enjoy the honour of turning out the first vessel for
foreign service on the Pacific. For this reason we
believe that any person having reliable information
on the subjects above referred to will not hesitate
to communicate them. New York has just com-
pleted the largest wooden vessel in
the world for the Russian Government—the Grand
Admiral. Perhaps as that power increases her
commercial operations in the Amoor country, she
may often become a customer of our mechanical

works.
It is a matter of great importance to show, by
incontestable evidence, that California has within
herself not only the mechanical skill for the con-
struction of war ships, but the material of Which
to build them. Eventually we must maintain a
Pacific fleet for the protection of American com
merce on this great ocean. Those ships should
never leave the Pacific, and should be built in Cali-
fornia and of Californian material.