New-York daily tribune., 1859-01-26
r., mo. ess,s,ias sou,irzss Of cc7ii.i esteem .rd

! TIE Hle JAWS 7 BgNDT W. -nlIpIl'e1 % - PO-i
to the t,.st Upon rising he SEls1ei VIA ten'
ptsiaous s,um of ,spp'suse. lie ssii
spyycg ~ JANEs T. BEAor.
M. PRFspyy1 ,ND C,lSrLEvTy: II ! la-L Tnien'
al the decesse oe Barns, was comp1rsuysy sv1. '''
nessiu alton then niaLt-Ws n set Lax nignt 10
commemorate his rrestnes, and render hcnage 20 bis
memory. Tie natives of many climes 'errount this
esial board. Here sni now national ard iai,yiiusi
sLtlpsthr are bsnishAd that We m y VIZ with each
other hoI or - a ceriu. which hss alike delighted
and illumibed he humsn race. We celebrate d,y
bot memorable fer the prcgres, ot proves 9 p'yes
fO9cenOt sncrimsOn-d on tn historic psse Dyrec rus
Of biood-not made stately by the advent or triumph
of boa ted nesge-uor associated With tle insignia or
rappings Of worldly pomp or power. We are al she
altar Of Poetry--we stand beside one Of whs- ilaleek
calls
"shnDe. . creed nor c9de conanei,
he 4ss psPai.a a. yAs'-.sy A. --5li r''''n''-
The cheerful liquids which furnish our Inspiration may
vel b employed on such an occasion. The crest
poet NJ are hefe Ia honor has said,
"Wiea neebuI, srger a plea,
A. iust wUd 50 vlt csn b.
How es,y eaa ihe barley orse
IL sye The chea;cs sEyers fee
To tlste the barrel
CcncurDg With you in this sentiment, anu thanking
your Committee for enabling me to meet the sons "
Scotia shall say lew words Of him whose immortal
lines have given glory 10 the name aid history OF hs
native lard. fine writer has remarked taat, a.
though gsrius the heir Of fame, the loss OF HE s
the cunOItiun On which the btigbt reyerson must Os
oarned-ibat fame i the recOmpense, nos OF tue
living, but of the dead-s temple standing over the
grave, sud tue flame OF irs altas Einded from the
ashes Of the crest HaIlitt tells ne that fame IS
the spirit of man surviving hlmself, and describes
II, fnitfer a. tfe sound which the stream OF high
thoughtscsTes down tofhure ages, making, ,as II how'
deep, distant murmuring eyern0re, Ike tue waters
Of the mighty ocean. Such tame atten IS tne career
Of him whom genius ilunines. That divine principle
moving over the earth, often sends lts htfui but
brilliant CLEAN 10 establish holy and immortal tenn
pie, where the humble object OF lts luiter seemed
destined for perpetual obscury. II turns aside ca
piicously from the proud ures and gorgeous display
Of wealth ard station, TO coasscrate for ever loEy
cot in Sratford Cr Avon or by the banks OF boDnie
Doon. The achievements ard the distinction of tue
migttest rulers pale in their luster when compared
with the intellectual radlaticns OF Shakespeare
or Burns. Think Of the poor home where, one
hundred years ago Burns was born-that home which
within the first week Of bis existence, gave way
before the pitlless storm, as It the very elements
were resolved that lis narrow limits should not con-
tair the infant form of him whose fame was destined
TO ill world. As Carlyle says, There arose,
among those secend hard acting figures, MINES tor
nt t part Of the eighteenth century, once mors giant
original mHni of those men who reach down
20 perennial deeps who take rank with the heroic
among uen; and he was born IN poor Ayrshire
hut" Worthy tribute from ons great Scotsman to
another. We find this humble boy intent upon the
life of Hannibal and the history Of Sir William Wal-
lace the boOss which, he tens us, most captlvated his
youthful mind. We see him walk many mi'es % the
Leelp Ward the scene of Wallaces rect, . with as
much deyout elthusasm as ever pilgrim did to the
Loretto." The poor peasant had even then WITHIN
nm the feeble bat struggling hope that bis own
object of pilgrim devotion. Aresdy he nurmured
within himself what stterward he pronounced as ioI'
That l. FOR poor suld Sco,land'sssie,
some usefIi plan, or B,at could make
o. sng song at least
The ambition. which prompted this. s:pira-
tion enriched the world with the spirit string
lyric, Scots Via hae wi Wallace blei, and
hat genial greeting, " Aud Lang Syne." We
trace our hero n the early intellectual guidance
vi an olu woman, OF whom he says she had, sup
pose the largest collection in the county OF tales and
sor g. concerning devils ghosts, fairies, brownies,
witches warochs spurkes kepies, elt-canies, dead
lights, wraths, appariioh. csntnps. gaets, ensnaht
ed toTe =, dragons and o'her trunpefy' Little dld
the guide aud ina zine that she was furnishing her
Young pupil with the material for - Halloween and
i Tam OShanter to say nothing OF - Souter
Johlie" and the " Devl and Doctor H0rnbook.' The
great power Of biz mind was alrsady fashoning nto
shapes Of poetic beauty and interest the confused
material of the danes rude telchiug. Images
destined to be eternized were already fixing
themselves on tie young poets eye OF which we
NAV indeed ray, that it was even then "in q fine
phrenzy rolling thst large, dark eye, in which Prot
Walker said " the most striking index Of his genius
resided" and 10 which Sir Walter Scott aDndes thus:
"IIever saw such another eye in a human head,
though have seen the most distinguished men of my
time Ii was tnecbieyous eye, rs she might have
told Us, whom the poet At the age of si1een-wen his
thoughts first chrystalzed in ver:e-caed " bonnie,
sweet sOntie las the eye that admitted from the
bright orbs Of Mary Campbell the Influences which
when God had called her from earth, made her seem
to him as the lines to Highland Mary make her
sppe5r to us. Applause. Tbs. 81 ardent aud too
general passion for women stirred ia his heart, and
marred TO degree, the prosperity OF his Life, was
known 10 none better than himself, "a We may inter
iroI the lines suggesting Poets epiteph in ~hi,h
The ncor irtsb,aut below
Was qick 20 learn, and wise 70 know
And kesuly felt the friendly glow,
And soi.er fame;
But thoughtess folies lsi hin low,
AID stained lis ane.'
We folow with profound interest, the career Of this
earnest, ambi'ioas, proud young bard, who looked
without favor upon the rank which was but the
guireastsmp, feeling all the while tue mans the
gowj. We hear him, B alusiOn 10 the grea er pro-
gIess and success OF bis cOmpeer- and scnooieows,
exclaim, az he referred To their advance: a." wa,
ssndt lille in the merket-place only lef the chase
Of the butterfly from flower to flower 10 hunt fancy
from whim to whiIn." There lie stood, somewhat
sloof from the world, acting on what Or johnson
called his defensive pride. Bat the world had an
and heart open TO notes atunod in the deep rneo
dies Of nature. And when the images Of truth were
painted by him 10 the language of truh-when ne re-
produced the sentiments, passions and feelings OF our
nature-he STAINED his pinnacle by one gigantic
bouId.' Even at the moment when he coutem-
plated becoming Gn exile from his native land.
ms poems commanded the universal admir- atom vi
BE countymen. The learned professor and the h1m-
be osiler alike celgated in his lines and goried IN
bis triumph. From the first svas Of his success, he
erected & tomb over the neglected remains OF his
brother-IOet, Ferguson. How eyentiD, chtekered,
UpTuteLt ard yet brilliant, bis career up 20 the time,
in 1896, when find him in sickness, sorrov, and
DEBT at Dumiits, undergoing LIS iast Illness not as
aye told with the ostentston Of philosophy, bn.
with iruness vel Sc feeling; msint ining too, the
urdying capacity for h.nor, which developed Itself
even at That solemn period, WIN, thinking Q, the