New-York tribune., 1879-03-29

reached Edinburgh, and the irst-not the second or
third. but the frst-man met apart rom ths raj
but the first hour of the day. What transpired In
the city IN the of the day l cannot tell IN
full but very soon made the discovery that IL
was unsafe TO move out on foot. With evening
things became uproarous. The entire city appeared
TO have given itself up 10 the worship OF Bacchus
Driving ont to the bridges sights were seen see .ss
round the Iron Church as we drove back 10 the
New-Towu near midnight The High-st. was
filled with snrging, drunken crowd drawn by the
evil influences of the hour from al manner OF dingy
closes and towering tenements. The corner where
John Knox's house stands was dlmiy WISH visible
through the "reekyD fog and above the wells OF
the crowd were heard the frenZIed appeals OF
street preacher master of gesticulatl0n ana inter
jectonal English. 1t was impossible to llnger
More than one bottle was thrust with lollv
rudeness in at the cab window, and l0ud
were the invitations to /" hae a DRAM. Men ana
women alike were armed wit bottles. AS we en-
tered North Bridge-st the iron clock struck the
last hour of the dying year, and III moment
every individual of the crowd we had Just lett
seemed TO open throat of brass to howI weIcom9
TO 1879 As TO the observance Of the next day L
can hardly trust my own judgment; or might say
that it was disTaceful TO CIVILIZATION but TINS Is
the dictum of one of the leading dailles:
IT NAV safely asserted that drunkenness was not so
prevalent previous Days, Dt this can
not unfortunately. be attributed SO much TO an I'M,
prOvement in the morals OF lhe pe05 az IA 70 loE U
money. The OF drunkenneS when dlu occur were
10 q large extent confined to younE NEIL numbers Oh
half-grown lads going about IN most ptlaDle state IN
the evening these victims Of the pubchouse Increased
in number. ana some rather sad scenes we're 10 1e
nessed-,uch young child with tflgniened race,
plotting its father home or young woman STRIVING 70
convince "a young man that lie had already had quite
If NAV be that these bacchanalans were not all
Scotch. Scotland is entitled to the donbt
although, Judging from the New Years Day
reports from ali parts of the country, she has un-
Oucstionably too many drouthy' sons Whatever
the cause. the fact remains that the scenes above
described were enacted in Edinburgh, the " Modern
Athens" the seat OF Scottish law, theology and
medicine, III the wears of grace 1S7o-19. and the
evil they indicate must be deeply seated indeed. II
one or other of these faculties cannot deal with IT,
Can if be that the Presbyteransm of scotland Is
less powerful than the Roman Catholicism OF
Francef =
the Scottish character, who lives IN Edinburgh
from New Years Day to BuTns's birthday, the 21th
of last month. The latter discoses some OF ITS
finer traits, its patriotism. gratitude and enthuS-
octc admiration of genius. The celebration was
engaged III all over the country, and marks one OF
the Ted-leter days in the Scottish calendar In IT'S
general features IT Is precisely identical with tnat
i'm winch the Scotchmen Of America annually in
dulpe and need not therefore be referred to mote
fully in detail. There was none of the open and
almost Ostcntatious excess winch marked New
Years Day, althOugh il might have been argued
That it was perfectly juslliaDe to ponr out liberal
libation in honor of hIl who said that
Freedom and whshey gang thegther."
The real reason Of the difference between the
two celebrations is simply that the Burns Anniver
sary Is observed by men of different stamp from
those who made night hideOus round the Iron
scotland and who, if not weighted with the sins
of their less sefcontroling and less self-reSpecting
cOuntrymen, would soon tone down the contrast |
have drawn between Edinburgh ana IaIlS, ana
lift Scotland from the unfortunate position
of being, with one exception, the most drunken
country IN the world. One reason OF the difference
between the men of the two countries. apart from
the ridicnlous custom very widely prevalent in
scotland of Offering drink 10 every visitor with a
resentiu dread of his refusal that IS almost super
silious appears lie III the state of public opinion
In France drunkenness is disgrace, and Is 50 re-
gardrd among all classes of the community in
Scotland "A debauch is something to laugh over
whenever the victim has far recovered as
10 be able to summon up laugh. How the
present character OF Scotland is maintained may be
illustrated by the following: ! was IN a country
town north of the Clyde, and when doing my best
to dine, was asked by the man-ot-all-wOrk, ana
waiter by courtesy. of The establishment, few
onestion about France. What had evidently been
uppermost in his mind came last III the form OF the
following interrOgatory: LIST trne, mem, mat 90
can get drunk On brawndy in France tor sax
pence ~