The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1875-04-02

gested by Milton's apostrophe to the Prince who
led the embattled seraphim against Heaven
but his is better Setan than the warrior Of
Milton. He takes no delight in the squeezing
sinner. Old ssClootie" las nice send-off for
his noted name. Burns makes him rage to be
sure, like roaring lion tirling the kinks. = He
reproduces the wildness of the s lonely glen"
and ruined castle amidst the windy winter
nights. He calls on the warlocks and hags of
the kirk-yards the water kelpies of the ford,
and the spunkies OF the moss rs his associates,
until he brings his Satan, s1uzc pro ti1rac into
Paradise irsoog, to give the infant world a
6 shog," and then makes him play practical
joks on Job. until he fairly boiled to pardon
him by the benevolent universalisn Of the last
verse
Sim wac to think upon yon dem
Ev'n for your sake"
which, out of the patois, Ineans-I don't want
a hell, even to put the devil in.
But this remarkably good-natured devil of
Burns has some peculiarities of character and
conduct which remind one of the comic devils
of the sacred drama of the middle ages. He is
not the devil mentioned in ancient or modern
times. He is more Robert Burns than Robert
lie Diable He has as little of the Assyrian
devil as of the Prometheus of Eschylns. But
is he not cornprehended in the universal genius
of Goethe? Mephistopheles takes any shape.
He is the standing Diabolos of the Greek, the
adversary of Job, the serpent of Eden, the
dragon of the Revelation, and always jolly. I
am not sure but that the infinite variety of the
articles which Washington and it's lobbies fur
nish anticipated by Goethe, if not by Burns.
Where did not Mephistopheles lurk !? Where
do we not find that spirit of evil? Not the old
| theological animal with horn and hoofs such as
the communicated from kirk were possessed
of, and such as old wives tell of but the sly
devil, which dances in the eyes of beauty, gam
bols in the polka and German and on the faro
table, puts on the claw-hammer of the courtier
and the frock of the preacher, pores over the
missals of the scholar and the -'ayes and noes"
of Congress. He is to be found in the imperial
palace poorest hovel. You may see this uni
versaI spirit in the bourses of speculation, and
he conceals under the big ulster overcoat the
forked Ightnings of his unscrupulous intel
lect The Burns devil is, however, something
kinder and more human than this universal
genius In one poem Burns makes hlm an ex-
ciseman, and though not strictly defined. it may
be said of him as some one said of Raphael's
devil in the Sistine chapel. ..n he is not the
devil it is some id thing or other
He would not have the devil here for time
although he would not object to "deyil of a
time" The truth is, we each carry our devil
around with us as part of our personality.
Why should not Burns idea of incarnate eviJ
be as jolly as himself, who was an exciseman
And what pleasure could the exciseman take in
the unnatural destruction or unjust distribution
of Scotch whisky? can well imagine how in
the regions of northern Scotland, where an En-
L. skII
heath. y you know, and peopled its air with be-
ings of metaphysical entity, that a grand and
terrific ideal of the spirit of evil should rise. like
'' Hecate, /" or the witches of Macbeth" from
the dreary mists of the Highlands. But Burns
devil, while he once rode on the blasts with
~ Tam o'Shanter.' y had more social way-as
government official. tLaughter.l He was not
a conservator of fruits and flowers like you,
Mr.. President. He was q simple government
detective. He seized spirits, it is true, as Satan
does, and he cenfscated them to the best pur-
poses. He would have been an invaluable aid
under any administration. think he may now
and then be detected in our s'secret service"
[Great laughter.l
But, ladies and gentlemen, the genius of
Burns was not limited to creations of evil. It
would have been more grateful to me this even
ing to have discussed the genial and ethereal
qualities of his song. How he sympathized
with nature its beauties, its attractions it's hui
mility, and it's heart! How sweetly flowed the
current of his rhyme, as he gave new purple tos
the heather and new blush TO the roeeil How
the hours winged their angel flight in the loved
homes which he peopled with his genius
TApplause.l
With all the splendid galaxy of Scotch intellect,
ov,1x
thistle can fly, and as frequently as it can pro-
duce-no such name as that of Robert Burns
has gone so far or been heralded so prodigaIly
and warmly. If Watts In inventions. Adam
Smith in economy, Brougham in eloquence,
Knox m theology, Rurne in history, Sydney
Smith in wit, jeffrey in criticism, and Seett in
fiction were all combined In one efulgent star.
it would not equal the splendors of Burns
When Burns wrote the couplet,
.sRank is but the guineas stamp,
A mans the go,od for a that"
he made his name foremost among those who
have championed the natural nobilities of man
kind. It expresses the legal tender Of the
Creator. From ont OF the natural ..pockets, >
where the richest nuggets nestle, he drew the
ingot which no alloy of human error ever tar
nished or can ever destroy. A mans the gold for
all that may happen 70 him in the accidents,
fortunes, decorations and vicissitudes Of time
| As such he VIII be tested in the furnace Of
affection, and IN the great assay, when the gem
uine shall be separated from the counterfeit.
/ have referred to the intellect Of Scotland.
whose honoas are recorded by Buckle. Where
has not that intellect gomez Is Il limited 70
any hemisphere or sphere Is not Living
stone himself q Ecotchman7 THE President,
1 cs-.;3l,Ez IA sais1 Mr. Cox-T ff1orlcI1f 80,