The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-22 00:00:00

WORDSWORTH, by TAMES MONTGOMERY, by HOGG,
the Ettrick
.Shephel:d, by CHARLOTTE SMITH, by,
FRANCIS BENNOCIT, by ROBERT TANNAHILL, and
by a variety of others. Finally, there is this prize
poem in his honour, together with 620 other poems
by the unsuccessful competitors for the honour
awarded by the decision of Messrs. MONCKTON
MILNES, TOM TAYLOR, and THEODORE MARTIN—
by whose hands the latest votive garland of homage
has been placed recently upon the tomb of the
glorious Ploughman-Poet. The decision comes like
the echo of the Muse who hailed ROBIN as her
own inspired Bard :
" And wear thou this,' sho solemn said,
And bound the holly round his head ;
The polished leaves and berries red
Did rustling play,
And Into a passing thought she fled
In light away."

----
day passed most auspiciously. An ode, written for
the occasion, by Thomas Campbell, was admirably
recited by Mr. Conway, the distinguished tragedian,
and a song by Mr. Jerdan, to the measure of " Scots
wha hae Wi' Wallace bled," was effectively sung by
Sinclair. (These productions were printed in the
Sun of May 27th and 28th.) M‘Gregor's bagpipes
and Gow's band kept alive the harmony of the
evening ; and after Lord Aberdeen left the chair, a
second revival was formed, with the Bard of Hope
presiding. Mr. Mayne, the author of " The Siller
Gun," a Dumfriesshire descriptive poem, Wilkie,
Campbell, Keith Douglas, member for the borough,
K. Finlay, member for Glasgow, Mr., Laurie (Sir
Peter), Jerdan, and others were called up by the
toasts, and nearly £4OO were subscribed in the hall.
The sculptor received £3OO for his work, and the
balance collected went to the general fund. Yet,
perhaps, the most gratifying and memorable cir-
cumstance connected with the meeting was the
introduction of young Burns to Mr. Charles Grant,
the result of which was a cadetcy in India, from
which the recipient has returned a staff officer, and
will be present either at the Glasgow or Dumfries
tribute on Tuesday, the 25th, one son being pro-
mised to each meeting. .

The great Irish Landlord demonstration, fixed
for the 27th inst., at the Rotunda, bids fair to

The greatest credit is certainly due to the three
gentlemen who undertook the responsibility of
selecting the Prize Poem for the Burns Centenary,
their decision has been so prompt, and yet mani-
festly, from the whole tenor of their report,
arrived at only after the most careful deliberation.
Imagine the labour involved in the process of such
a choice as this—a choice that so many might re-
gard, at the best, as invidious. A single poem—
the best—to be picked out of a metrical chaos of no
less than six hundred and twenty-one ! Conceive
for a moment the tedium and monotony of reading
through 621 poems (many of them, of course, we
may rest assured, merely so-called)—all upon the
same subject : no doubt many of them exceedingly
good, some of them decidedly indifferent, and pos-
sibly a few—but let us hope, for the sake of the
three judges, a very few—positively execrable. It
is not extravagant, it is, in fact, only reasonable, to
surmise as much in regard to a formidable total of
621 metrical productions, upon any given subject
A journalist's experience—particu-
arty, we should imagine, a provincial jour-
nalist's experience—would afford sufficient
surety' that the character of these 621 Burns'
Memorial Poems has not been inaccurately conjec-
tured. It must have necessitated the exercise of
an extraordinary power of endurance to sit down
in solemn conclave and break the seals of these
mysterious parquets of verse—many- of them, in all
human probability, penned by competitors having
the faintest possible idea, if any, of the nature of
spondee or dactyl, of trochee or anapaest. Yet
the accomplished member for Pontefract, the face-
tious Secretary for the General Board of Health,
and the humorous and scholarly half of the delight-
ful BON Gum:mit—evidently entered upon their
task, as the sailors say, " with a will." Beginning
thus with the will, they have contrived swiftly
and surely to work their way through all this
formidable array of manuscript. Not without
some degree of hesitation (as they confess) they
have at length definitively chosen one cut of the
two best poems submitted to them for selection,
and to the fortunate writer of the successful pro-
duction awarded the prize of fifty guineas. The
second best—No. 8,904—is distinguished by incom-
parably the happiest among all the distinguishing
mottoes yet particularised—" Dowered with the
hate of hate, the scorn of scorn, the love of love."
As to the mottoes affixed to the poem, to the un-
known writer of which the promised premium has
been awarded, they are the titles simply of two
of the great Ayrshire Ploughman's most famous
compositions—" A man's a man for a' that,"
and the opening. line of BRUCE at Bannock-
burn. The lucky number of this successful
tribute to the memory of Scotia's Bard is not par-
ticularised in the report: upon this and all other
matters relating to it the general curiosity will
doubtless soon enough be satisfied. By a happy
coincidence--just upon the eve of the hundredth
anniversary of the poet's birth on the 25th of
January, 1759—the National Portrait Gallery has
been opened down at Westminster, and although
the collection as yet only numbers fifty paintings
in all, there upon the walls of the gallery (No. 55)
hangs the portrait of the great song writer of Cale-
donia. It is the veritable likeness painted by
ALExANDEE. NASMYTII, and retouched by Sir
HENRY RAEBURN, and presented to the nation in
the June of last year by JOHN DILLON, Esq., its
generous possessor. It exactly accords, this por-
trait, with the graphic description of the poet's ap-
pearance sketched by the pen of Dr. CURRIE in his
Life of BURNS :" where the biographer writes—

whatever.

THE SUN, LONDON, `SATURDAY EVENING, JANETA

SACRED .1

TABM,

9NIC

SOCIEI'Y,
,L.

The rehearsal of the London Choir for the Handel Fes-
tival took place at this hall last night. The choruses from
"Solomon" were those selected for practice, and the per-
formers numbered nearly 1,700. The manner in which so
large a body of vocalists gave these difficult choruses
authorises the post hopeful anticipations for tha success of
the great Festival. Under the vigilant and efficient superin-
tendence of Mr. Costa, great correctness and precision were
finally attained in the difficult choruses of " May no rash
intruder," and " Draw the tear from hopeless love." The
first of these, the beautiful Nightingale Chorus, was loudly
applauded by the visitors. Though a small space was
allotted to strangers, the audience was numerous, and the
interest evidently taken in the success of the vocalists must
have been most encouraging. The wonderful unison to
which no large a body of voices was brought rendered the
effect of some of the choruses truly impressive.

LATE

Mr. Reuter's :

EWS.

The following telegrams have been received at

VIENNA, JAN. 21.

According to a telegram just received here from
Naples, dated Thursday last, the state of the King's
health had improved.
On his recovery his Majesty is expected to leave
Lecee (where he is now staying) for Naples.
In the meantime the Crown Princess is still at
Vienna.

PARTS, JAN. 22.

Great uneasiness is felt in consequence of the
announcement in the Independence Beige, that a
treaty of alliance had been concluded between
France and Piedmont.•
Itentes (before opening of the Bourse), flat,
68f. 70c.
The Moniteur of this morning contains the fol-
lowing :—" The Emperor has received a letter from
the Emperor of Austria, announcing the death of
the Archduchess Maria Anne (aunt of the Emperor
Francis Joseph). The Emperor Napoleon has gone
in mourning for four days."
"A despatch from General Devaux announces
that Si-Sadok and his family, all abettors in the
disturbances among the tribes of the Aures in
Algeria, have been arrested."

BERNE, JAN. 21.
The National Council has voted a credit of half
a million in order to change immediately the guns
of the 'whole federal infantry into arms of precision.

TURIN, JAN. 21

The Chamber of Deputies has commenced the
discussion respecting the modification of the law
concerning the National Guard.
The commander of the Austrian troops has asked
the municipality of Ferrara to provision the citadel,
but the municipality has refused.
The Austrian Government has requested the

,overnment of Tuscany to assist the Austrian forces
with men and money in case of war. The Tuscan
Ministers were divided in opinion.
The Grand'Duke has gone to Naples.

The Paris correspondent of the Times (second

edition), says :

" M. de la Ronciere le Nourry, Captain in the
Imperial navy, has returned from his mission to
Berlin and St. Petersburg. At Berlin, it is said, he
received from the Prince Regent the Cross of Com-
mander of the Prussian Eagle. What he has
obtained in the Rusk= capital I cannot say; but
that he had a private interview with the Czar, and
that he is setting out for Turin, are positively
affirmed. In diplomatic circles it is not doubted
that his mission to Prussia as well as to Piedmont
is political, and intimately relating to tie important
topics of the moment. _ , _

"A letter from a personage now and for a long
time past officially resident at Vienna, speaks of
war as being a mere question of time, and all but
inevitable sooner, or later. lie says that such is

the Opinion of the Vienna Cabinet ; that Austria
has made up her mind and is preparing seriously for
it ; that she will not begin ; but that she will not
allow herself to be intimidated by the threats or
demonstrations of France."