Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1859-02-01
THE INTELLIGENCER.

GIvE Rtlph Waldo Emerson time aud cOmpO-
sure and cOngenial theme, aud lew men can
write or speak more fitting or expressive words.
We have Published several tributes to Barns
from different snurces-but none more readable
Than this extract from EnersOa's speech al the
Boston celebration:
Yet how trucn pOetiS he And the poet, too,
nF puOr men, 0G grey hnd len, aud the guernsey
coat, and the blouse. lie has given Voice to all
the experiences Of common life; he has rndeared
the farmhouse and cottage, pqtcheS aud puvcrty,
beans aud barley; ale, the poor mans wine;
hardship, the fear Ol debt, the dear society Of
weanS aud wife, or brothers and sisters, proud
II each other, knowing so CeW, aud finding
tmeniS for want aud ObScurity, in bnNS anl
thought What love Of nature, and, shall
SayiH Ufmiddle class nature. Not great Goetkc.
in the stars, or like Byron, on the ocean, or
Moore IN the luxurious East, but in the hoincly
landscape which the poor see around them =
1leak leagues Of pasture and stnhhlc, ice, and
'leet an,l rain, aud snow chnkCd brook, birds,
n1rcS, field mice, thiStlcS, and heather, which
ne daily knew. How many "Bonny Doom"
lnd John Anderson my jncS," aud "Anll lang
been applied lOl And his lnve.SnngS still WOO
,nd melt the youths and maids; the framework,
the country holiday, the fishing coble, arc still
his debtors to-day.
And as he was thus poet Of poor, anxious,
cheerful, working humanity, so he had the Ian.
guage oflow life. He grew up in rural dis.
nici, speaking patOiS unintelligible to all but
natives, and he has made that loSland Scotch
DHric dialect Of fame. 1t is the only example
in history Of language made classic by the GO
MUS nf single man. But more than this, he
had that secret Of genius To draw from the bot
ON of society the strength Of its speech, and
IStOnlSh the ears NJ the polite with these arleSS
words, better than art, aud literc ofall offence
through his banty. 1t seemed o lious TO Luz
ther that the devil should have all the beS,
tunes, he would bring them into the churches;
md Burns knew how to take from fairs, anl
sypSyS, blackSmilhS. and tlrOvcrS, the speech Of
the market and street, and clothe it with mel.
ndy.
But ! am detaining Won ton long. The mem,
rry Of BnrnS,-l am afraid, heaven anil earth
nave taken too good care of il, To leave u any.
thing to say. The west winds are murmnrins
it. Open the windows behind yun, and harken
for the incoming tide, what the waves say of il.
f&e doves perching always on the caves OF the
stone chapel opposite, may know something
about It, Every name in broad Scotland keeps
his fame bright. The memoryof Burns. every
mans. aud boys and girls hea carries snatch.
eS o' his songs, aud can say them hv heart, And
what is Straugc-t Of all, never learned them from
4 book, hut from mouth To mouth. The wind
whispers them, the birds whistle them, the corn,
barley, and hnlruSheS hnaTSelv rustic them: nav,
the muSc.boxes at Geneva ave framed and
'oothed to play them; the hand organs of the
Sayoyard> in ail cities repea; them. aud the
chimes OF bells ring them in the spires They
are the property and the splace o. mankind.