The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-07-10
CHAPTER VIII

Burns So pear man from hls BIRTH and an e.
cseman from necessity bot OH say lthe sterling
iude pendent British spirit oppression might bend but
could not subdue. Litter 70 Ar. GrdtgHI
have been listening for the last half
hour 20 the wilt music Of an Eolian harp.
Hos eXqnisitely the tOEes rise and fall i--
now, sad, now sOlemn-nOw near, now dis
tant The nerves thrill, the heart sOftens,
the imagination swakes as we listen. What
If that delightful instrument be animated by
living soul, and these f fnely-modu ulated
tones be but Jhe expression Of its feelings 7
What If these dying, melancholy cadenc 5,
which So melt and sink into the heart, be-
what we 50 naturally interpret them-the
meiodious sinkngs Of aedeep- seated and
hopeless unhappiness Nay, the fancy is
TOO wild for even a dream. But are there
none Of those Wild analogies which run
through the whole of nature and the whole
q art, % sublime 1t into truth ? Yes, there
haze been such living harps among us ;
beings, the tones Of whose sentiments, the
melody Of whose emotions, the cadences of
whose sorrows, remain to thrill and delight
a1d humanize our souls They seem born
Tor others, not for themselves. Alas, for the
bapless companion Of my early youth
A'as, for him, the pride of his country, the
friend Of my maJurer manhood But my
naarratve lags in Its progress.
Ny vessel lay IN the Clyde for several
weeks during the summer Of 1898, and
found time TO indulge myself il brief tour
along the western coasts or the kingdom,
from Glasgow TO the Borders | entered
Dumiries 10 a calm, lovely evening, and ass
ed along one of the principal streets TIE
shadows 0f the houses on the western side
were stretched halfway across the pavement,
while, on the side opposite, the bright sun
shine seemed sleeping on the jutting rregu-
lar fronts, and high antique gables. There
seemed a world Of well.dTessed company this
evening IN town, and | learned, on inauiry.
that all the arlstocracy Of the adjacent coun-
try, for twenty miles round, had come IN to
attend county ball They were huttering
along the snnny side Of the street, gay as
butter1ies-group succeeding group. On
the opposite, in the shade, solitary indivi-
dual was passing slowly along the pavement.
| knew him at a glance. Ii was the first
poet, perhaps the greatest man, of bis age
and country. But why so solitary Ii bad
been told me that he ranked among his
friends and associates many Of the highest
names IN the kingdom, and yet tonight not
one Of the hundreds who FILTERED past ap-
peared 70 recognise him. He seemed too
but perhaps fancy m.sied me-as L care
worn and detected ; panied, perhaps, that
not one among so many Of The great should
have humility to notice a poor excIseman.
| stole up 70 him un0bseryed, and tapped
him On the shoulder there was a decided
fierceness m his manner as ne turned
abruptly round, but be recognized me,
bis expressive countenance lighted up ia y
moment, and shall never forget the Dearti-
ness with which he grasped my hand.
We quilted the streets for the neighborng
fields, and after the natural interchange Of
mutual congratulations
"How i it,' inquired, 4" that you do
rot seem 70 have q single acquaintance
among sll the gay and great OF the cJun-
Try III
"I lie under quarantine" be replied ;
tainted bY the plague Of liberalism. There
is not one Of the hundreds we passed to-
night whom ! could not once reckon among
my numates.'
TIE intelligence stunned and irri,Stei me
How infinitely absurd ~ said. DO
tuey dream Of sinking you into a common
man Y'
Even so, ne Tel0Ined. DO they not
all know ! have been a gauger for the last
FIVE years T.
The fact had both grieved and incensed
me long before. | knsw, too, that Pye en-
Joyed his salary a. poet laureate of the time,
and Dibdin the song writer, bis pension oi
Two hundred a-year, and l bushed for my
country
Yes" he ocntinued--the illAssumed
coidDess OF his manner giving way before his
/ highly excited feelings" they have assign
aI me my place among the mean and de-
graded, as their best patronage sud only
yesterday, after an official threat OF dismis-
sion, ! was told il was my business TO act.
not TO think God help NE what nave
done to provoke such bitter insult! have
syer discharged my miserable duty-ds
charged, Mr. Lindsay, however repugnani
to my feelings, as an honest man anC
though there awaited me no promotion, va,
silent. The wives or sisters of these whom
they advances over me haa bsstards to SON,
Of the - iamiy, and 20 their influence
was necessarily greater. Bat nov they
crush me into the very dust. take an in
terest in the struggles Of the slave for hi.
freedom | express ny opinions as if my
self were free mar and they threaten t