Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1859-01-28
Prom the y. Y. Pos;-l
uEECHER ON BURNs.

than was gathered last evening TO hear the Rev.
Mr.. Beecher's discourse on the Scotch poet burns.
Besides the usual eagerness TO listen 70 THIS pow.
erful speaker, there was special curiosity felt
to learn what a clergyman might think OF the
man. Burns, in his day, was not iAvorite OF
the Kirk, nor has the lapse Of hundred years
greatly mitigated the severity with which !.
regards the author of "Holy Nillie's Prayer,
and sundry things of that sort But Beecher
is not an ordinary clergyman; his large philoso.
ply, his liberal Judgment, his generous and
kindly sympathies, enable him to step oatside
of the conyenticle, and TO treat men and things
on the broadcast principles OF humanity. Il
In disposing of the vices and fIailties OF Burns,
therefore, he was not embarrassed, as others IN
his position might have, been; he discerned the
real nature Of the man and the peculiarities Of
his circumstances; and without compromising
with SIM could yet distinguish between the es-
sential excellence of the heart and the dehle-
tnents gathered around 1t by the accidents oil an
untoward position and an nnfuldlled destiny. Jr
Burns inherited his nature, he said, roma
father who was man of head, heart and hands;
of stern piety, of indomitable will Of 4 sense OF
honor that went clean to his bones; and Of
mother of calm, sweet gentle, heavenly aiiec-
ions, whose centre was her heart, and that was
full Of profound religious feeling. Her soul
reached forth To things invisible and Infinite IS
to an unbounded ocean. She was good house
keeper Ito the making of which Mr.. Beecher
thought more was required than to the making
of governors-"as nations are governed l-out
while she wrought she sung. The treasured
ballads of her nation, beautiful, t:aye ana
touching, she poured into the ears OF her child,
till the wind-harp OF his own spirit yibrated in
fearful and joyful unison. How many sweet
songs aud sounds, said the speaker, there are IN
the world-how many songs OF birds and SOUNDS
of musical Instruments But when all IS SAID,
no man has invented any musical instrument,
nor has Nature set in all her choir anything
which for sweetness is like a mothers voice
singing around the house while she labors, and
children are falling to sleep singing hymns and
ballads children sleeping 10 dream OF angels,
and awake and say mother With such q
father aud such a mother Burns could not help
himself and of course he must be an aApollos
arrow. With such a mother for q bow and such
father for string-and the bow abides in
strength, and the strength of his naked arrow
still flies and sounds in flying. -
Mr.. Beecher then gave an impressive sketch
of the early life of Burns, his poverty, his lg-
norance, his trials, his education, his stormy
passions-and bringing him to the reign Of his
manhood, with all the obstacles and temptations
of his lot abou: him, proceeded to consider the
vices of his career Aud ia this part OF his dis
course he was particularly striking and happy.
He said: y 4stAtl4R s1rs2 aeAss
81 believe the better Psychologists are agreed o
that in the human system there IS q portion oil
the nervous mass whose function is to produce
general sensibility. Thus n sound OF music
1nlIInK upon tne car VIII HI Ouc VIII
sen sibilty, while another will receive 1t calmly.
The nervous system of one receives the impress
sion more largely than the other. This fact be-
comes apparent in morbid conditions oil life,
when sounds, of no consequence at other times,
ill the mind with exciting emotion. So in esli.
mating the power of feeling lin any mind, we
must look into the combinations and separate
faculties of the mind and their normal power,
and next TO the general sensibility of the whole
nervous system, under the influence of which
the special frculties are tempered. Some men
with strong minds are not well tempered, and
are deficient in general sensiblity. Their feel;
lings are gradually worked up. They have cool
and collected nature. They heat as iron heats.
Other men heat rs powder heats-it is a touch
and an explosion. 1t is no trouble TO some to
maintain IN equal, temperate medium; they are OF
so equal unimpassioned and inexcitable q nature.
The sins of such men are usually on the uot-do-
ing side. But such men are unfit judges of
those who have an acute sensibity. Men who
hear thunder as if it were but n hand knocking
at the door are not fit judges of the acoustics.of
men to whom any small sound upon the door
sounds like thunder. Burns was man who
had this excessive sensibility. His capacity for
generating sensibility was prodigious. His one
nature carried enough for twenty common men
Of mere force Of feeling. He never trickled
drop by drop; he gushed He never ran
slender thread of silver water; he came down
booming all abroad like one OF his own streams
when shower has broke aud burst upon the
mountuin. There was no proportion between
the cause and the effect. A mouse, flower,
had him in their power. His heart was upon
the daisy which went under his ploughshare.-
All parts of his nature were subject to this grand
overflow. He suffered as though fends possess
sed him, he enjoyed as though angels carried
him in their bosom. There he stands like
mountain OF his own land, often capped with
storms and oftener shrouded with mists, often
laundering with the sound of waters which
rolled down, tearing up roads and sweeping
away bridges; hut there also birds brooded and
sung, there also sweet flowers found foot room.
Now our problem is, how shall this very
sensitive creature, with aheart which every
body could kindle, but nobody could put out,
make his way up into that life from poverty and
rudeness, into SUGGEST 1t is not the question
how well q man can carry cup full of
water without splitting, but how well he can
carry quart cup briIn full over stormy, rough
road ut night; it is not how well compounded
machine can raise just enough draught TO get
along, but how an engine that makes more steam
than il can work--that trembles as it runs with
open furnace doors, that sings at every seam
and Misses at every rivet with overcharge of
steam-how shall it get along? 1t is not the
question We propoundto you to-night-what is
right? what is duty?-ail are agreed as to that;
but what shall this Robert Burns do with that
nature, compounded Of such astonishing oppo-