Morning herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1837-1840, 1840-07-17
[ rrom the Montreal Herald

lsrom the Montreal HERALD
! We had in our possession Saturday the identi-
cal pair of bibles presented by the immortal Burns
| 10 the dearest object Of his affections, Highland
Mary, on the banks of the winding Ayr, when he
spent with her zone day of parting love" They
are In remarkable good preservation, and belong to
descendant of the family Of Mary's mother, Mrs
Campbell, whose property they became on the death
Of her daughter, and subsequently Mrs. Anderson,
Mary's only surviving sister, acquired them. The
circumstance Of the bible being in two volumes,
seemed at one time to threaten its disne berment
nirs. Anderson having presented volume to each Of
riage, their brother William prevailed on them to
dispose OF the sacred volumes to him. Or the first
blank leaf of the first volume is written. in the
handwriting Of the immortal bard, Sand We shall
not swear by my name falsely am the Lord. Levit
18th chap 18th verse - and the CORES pom
leaf cs the second volume, "Thou shalt not for
swear thyse but shalt perform unto the Lsrd thine
blank leaf of each volume, there are the remains of
" Robert Burns, Mossgiel," in his handw rting be-
meath which is drawn masonic emblem At the
end OF the first volume there is lock of Highland
Mary's lair
There is mournful interest attached to these sa-
cred volumes-sacred from their contents, and ga.
cred from having been a pledge of love from the
most gifted of Scotlands bards TO the artless object
of his affections from whom he separating, no
more to meet on this side the grave The life of
Burns full of romance, but there is one cir
cumstance in il all romantic and full of ints
those which attended and followed the gift of these
volumes. He was young when he wooed and won
the affections OF Mary, whom he describes as ga
warm-hearted charming young creature as
blessed man with generous love" The attach
ment was mutual and forms the subject Of many of
his earlier lyrics, well as of the productions of
his later years, which shows that it very deep
rooted. Before he was known to fame, stepped in
poverty to the very dregs, and medtatns an escape
TO the West Indies from the remorseless fangs of
hard hearted creditor, he addressed to his dear
girl" the song which begins:
Will We ca 10 the Indies nv MARY
And leave auld Scotia's shore,
w And eeG So the The A adlsss ny a'y
But neither Burns his Mary were doomed to
"cross the Atlantic's roar" nor to realize those
dreams of mutual bliss which passion or enthusiasm
had engeHdered in their youthful imaginations.-
Burns called to Edinburgh, there TO commence
his of fame, which was to terminate in chill
poverty, dreary disappointment and dark despair
while Mary's happier lot, after transient CLEAN of
the sunshine of life, to be reno we'd to a better
and happier world. Her death shed sadness over
his whole future lie, and spirit of subdued grief
and tenderness display ed whenever she was the
subject of his eonv ersation writing. Witness as
follows:
&" We banks an braes an streams around
The castle o. Montgomerie,
Green be your woods, and fair your flowers
Your waters never drumlie;
There simmer first unfaulds her robes,
An there they Largest tarry,
For there took the last farewell
O'my sweet Hieand Mary"
In a note appended to this song, Burns says
60 This was composition of mine in my early life,
before was known at all to the world. Nj High
land lasse a warmhearted charming young
creature ever blessed man with generous love.
After pretty long trial of the most ardent recipro
cal affection, met by appointment on the second
Sunday Of May, in a sequestered spot on the banks
of the Ayr, where we spent day in taking fare
well before she woald embark for the West High
lands to arrange among her friends for eur
tunn following, she crossed the sea to meet me at
Greenock, where she was seized with a malignant
fever, which hurried my dear girl to her grave in
few days, before could even hear OIL her illness
1t was at this romantic and teresting meeting on
the banks Of the Ayr that the bibles before were
presented to Mary; and he must have a heart of
stone indeed who can gaze on them without his ina
gnaton calling feelings in his bosom too big for
uttorance. On that spot they exchanged bibles and
plghted their faith to each other, the stream dvd
ing them, and the sacred book grasped by BOTH over
Its purling waters. This was the only token Of af
lection each had to give the other, and the wealth of
the Indies could not have procureda better or more
appropriate one.
IN Lockhart's Life Of Burns, we are informed that
several years after the death of Mary, the ami.
versary Of the day which brought him the me Lam
choly intelligence he appeared, as the twilight adj
vanced, Tin the language OF his widow every sad
about something's" and though the evening was
cold and keen one, in September, he wandered iat
his barn yard, from which the entreAties of his wife
could not, for some time, recall him. To these
treaties he always promised obedience, but these
promises were but the lip-kindnesses Of affection
made than forgotten, for his eye was fixed
on heaven, and his unceasing stride indicated that
his heart was also there Mrs. Burns last approach
to the barn yard found him stretched on a mass of
straw, looking abstractedly on planet which, in
clear starry sky. shone like another moon, 4" and
having prevailed on him to return i1to the house.
instantly wrote, as they still stand, the follow
sublime verses, g To Mary in Heaven" which have
thrilled through many breasts, and drawn tears from
many eyes, and which will live the noblest of the
lyric. Of Burns, while sublimity and pathos have a
re spondng charm in the hearts OF ScotsmcR.
To Mary I'm Heaven.
Thou lingering star, with less'nng ray
That oy'st to greet the early morn,
Again thou usherst In the day
My Mary from my soul was torn.
o Mary dear departed shade
Where is thy place Of blissful rest1
Seest thou thy lover lowly laid,
Hearst thou the groans that rend his breast
That sacred hour can forget
Can forget the hallow'd grove,
Where by the winding Ayr we met.
To live one day of parting love 7
Eternity will not eface
Those records dear of transports past;
Thy image at our last embrace;
All little thought We twas our last
AYR gurgling kissed his pcbbled shore.
Oerhung with Wild woods, THO ming green:
l..l H..