The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-01-28
- & {; = Mhil.a al ]: 4 .aTt I Z. t,
Tuesday Morning, January %. 1873


the festive board at every recurring an
niversary, was born 25th Jsnuary, 1885,
id d cottage built by his fathers own
hands. two miles from the town of Ayr.
The family was in reduced oircum.
stsnoes. and hard. manual labor and de-,
privation ol ,nlost OF the. comforts OF life
were part of their inheritance. Gilbert
Burns, tho poets brother. has given q
beautiful and tonohing narrative of thoir
youthful Adb ora and Struggles. The life
of The sfasAeE vas \ continued effort to
keep odh8f shs bApdsiof The officers Of
thS !av. sgd sS inproGe bic condition
and afford his children some advantages
of education. These were but few in
deed, but native genius snd o hereditary
sense OF honor supplied the deficiency in
both. and one became a reputable and
intelligent citizen, and the other, more
gifted; attained the distinction and in
curred the, sorrows which too often at,
tend the poetic temperament and organi.
ton. OF himself. the poet says: '''The
okessless gloom Of a. hermit. With the in-,
ogeasipg moilp pfa galley-slaye. brought no
to imy sixteenth year." OF the condition
in wh1eh ths family lived. We can Judge
framj tha language of Gilbert. ''To the
bufsstings of misfortune. he says. 1--WE
could. only oppose Hard labor and the
most rigid edohohy. 'sWem lived very
sp:dfing. .Far g5sFesa years. Butchers
meat was stranger in the house, while
alFithe; menqRe1gpf thA family exsrted.
thFqtielyas | RNtR uAnost'Es3pof their
stftngth, anda rather beyond It, IN the
labors of the farm. My brother, at
thirteen. assisted In threshing the crop
of corn, and at fifteen was the principal
laborer on the farm, for We had no hired
segsAAs, eaHepr famal& fThX RIdu}sHof
mind we feh; toR tender years, under
these straits aud difficulties. was very
great" IA
Awhile before the fathers death, and
s.is,s nass Eeoa aoss q ns
mage themselves. Every member of the
family wss allowed ordinary Seges7 for
the laPpf pattpr,ued on the ;Ro-
bert kd-i0hbert's allowance was SG7
each per annum; aud the latter says that
for four years. Roberts expenses never
exceeded his slender. .incomeys In 1784,
their good father. who had done the best
he could. eyans insiSaAtinashis children
himself at gtgBt. affSr thsAevefp1ab bors
of the dAy. died, leaving them the legacy
OF l>w.suit, which involved them in
ruin. In NO language can anything be
found more happily descriptive. of the
joys an4sorrows OF humble butsyirtuous
life, than the "Cottar's Saturday Night. -
in which the poet pays pious tribute to
the parental Tenderness and affection
and the many manly traits OF his sire. !.
About his sixteenth yeai he. .'Grst
oommitted the sin d 'rhymeZ'3 He soon
became famous in Ayr and the. neigh
boring towns for his verses and his
sprigGtly ahd4 vigorous Vconvetsational
powers. Becoming involved in some i'm
prudences. hS 6ads leghl ,acknowlsdg-
ment of an irregular and private mar
riage. and prepared to sail to Jamaica
to better his fortunes. But before leay-
ing his country. ho resolved to publish
his poems. They,Were well reoeived. and
netted him 92o. He was about to sail,
when letter from DR.. Blaeklock to q
friend OF his, encouraging him to go to
Edinburgh. and bring out second edi-
ton of. his poems, determined his fate.
He went, was greatly admired in society
for his brilliant parts and conversation,
and the poems, brought out under the
patronage of the Earl Of Glencairn, DR..
Robertson, Professor Dugald Stewart,
Henry Mackenzie, and other persons of
distinction, were complete success.
The profits were nearly 95OO. This was
the Introduction to 4 career Of unpsral-
leled triumph and renown as poet, but
alasl TO-, him, to ascenes of dissipation
and social enjoyment. which he learned
to love too we'll. 'Arulihg spirit in the
festive and social life OF Dnmfries, where
he subsequently, lived. ba bacamo ;,s