The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1860-02-03

want was ever before him. He worked
hard at all kinds Of work appertainng to
a farm, and was first among the foremost
in everything be undertook. Yet amid
all these untoward circumstances he tound
time to court the muses.. He made time
for he commanded their attendance at
will As the plough turned the furrow.
guided by the skill of his eve and hand,
his great heart and fertile brain turned out
that indescribably beautiful address to the
daisy" The wee, modest, crimson tipped
flower" and bresthed out the tender ner-
cy and warm sympathy of his great nature
in his " Address to Mouse" How ex-
quisiIely beautiful are those two pieces -
How lofty the moral; deep the feeling
and further, how mournfulIy prophetic the
closing verse of the former, when he says ::
Zen thou who mourn'st the Daisv's fate,
IGat fats is thne-no distant date;
Stern ruins plough share drives, eate,
Full on thy bloom,
Till crushed beneath tn furrow's weight,
Shall be thy doom
Whatever he was occupied with, afford
ed ample field for the flight of bis genius
We cannot follow him as closely as we
would like. 1t would take mp too much
time. So, with your leave, we will leap
forward to the time when he first became
known to the world. Simply stating that
in the interval the poet worked hard and
courted much that be was always wei
come suitor and dreaded rival that he
got into quarrel with the kirk folks, and
took the side Of the new light sgainss the
old light, and poured out the biting venom
of his satire upon them that he WAS bro't
before the kirk session for doing what he
ought not to have done, although deeply
iamented by him; that he became known
finally as q maker ofrhymes, who, through
force of circumstances, was about to leave
his native country for the island of jana
cia, to become a slave-driver on planta
ton. An eloquent American has imsgih-
ed him, whip in hand, behind his gang,
singing ga man 8 man for a that" as
he drives them before him. At the soil
citation Of some of his fliends, be WAS in-
duced to have his poems printed previous
to leaving. He got small subscription
list filled up among his admirers, his
brother masons chiefly contributing, aud
the little volume finally appeared from the
obscure press of Kilmarnock, big with the
hopes and fears of the anxious poet. By
this time he had made every arrangement
for leaving Scotland, had taken farewell Of
most of hIs friends, written his last poem
as he supposed-"Ihe gloomy night is
gathering fast"-had paid his passage
money, and had his chest, with his all In
it, on the way to Greenock. Here he and
the chest were brought to halt. The
Kimarnock edition of his poems was out.
and The clear ring of his genius had taken
the wings of the wind and had spread over
The land with wonderful rapidity. and i'm
medateIy there came from one of the lit
erata of Edinburg. an invitation 10 the au
thor to proceed to the capital and issue
second edition. Burns Immediately faced
about and stood toward the east, for Edin-
burgh.
The effect produced by this little volume
of poems has no pareilel in English iitera-
ture 1t va. instantaneously POPULAR
Chambers says: at seemed AS if a new
realm had been added to the dominion OF
the British muse-a new and glorious
creation, fresh from the hand of nature"
Another saws: dad summer sun risen
on a winter morning, in could not have
surprised the lowlands of Scotland more
than this Kimarnock volume surprised
and delighted the people, one and all
The milk maid sang his songs; the plough
men repeated his poems; the old quoted
both. and even the devout rejoiced that
ide verse had at last mixed tone of NOR
xlity with its mirths. Indeed the g e'er so
guid' could not keep hand off this magic
book, for we find one Of them when lend
iny it to a neighbor, cautioniDg hm to
keep it out Of the way of his children for,
SAYS he, "you find them as found mine,
reading it on the Sabbath day" mo
WONDER" says the same writer "thas
such volume found lis way to the hearts
of peasantry whose taste in poetry had
been the marvel of many a writer. The
poems were chiefly on subjects with which
they were familiar. The language was
that of the fireside, raised above the vul-
garities of common life by purifying
expression, and the e1ating fervor of in
spiration And there was such a brilliant
and graceful mixture of theelegant and the
homely, the lofty and the low, the familiar
and the elevated in such rapid success
sion of scenes, which moved to tenderness
or tears, or subdued mirth or open laugh
ter unlocked for illusions to Scripture or
touches OF sarcasm and scandal, or super
stitioHs to scare, anJ of humor to delight;
while through the whole was diffu>ed as
the scent of flowers through summer air.
a moral meaning, a sentimental beauty,
which swee,ened and sanctlfie1 all"
From :henceforth the Scottish tongue
was no longer barbaric, but was msde
classic in night by the sublime trans
forming power Of this Hercules Of song.
Burns is now in Edinburgh making ar
rangemenrs for bringing out a second edi
ton. He opens subscription list, which
is Immediately filled up by all classes
This second volume he dedicated TO the
" Caledonisn Hunt" which comprises
most of the noblemen Of Scotland. in a
strain of" vehement indepenfence,' (as one
Of the critics called it, but what the com
mon people call true msnliness) He says
to them, II do pot approach you my lords
and gentlemen, in the usual style of dedi-