The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-26
BONNIE SOOTLAND'S PRIDE.
Celebrating the Anniversary Of the Poet
of the Highlands.
The Sons of Scottish Sires Unite in Paying
Tribute to the Memory of
BObbie Burns.

cises consisting of addresses and vocal and in
strumental music. The president Of the society,
r. G. McHolme made, brief address. 1t was
the speech of u Scotchman to Scotchmen and
was warmly received Miss Anna Despa sang
any Heather Hills with fine effect and Mrs.
Lew Wallace sang ''Auld Robin Gray" in voice
pure, sweet and tender. Andrew Smith sang
"Caller Herrin" in a manner that evoked the
warmest applause, and he sang as an encore
Get Up and Bar the Door" in an equally felicit
Gus style. Walter Rogers, recent addition to
the musical talent of the city, gave a solo upon
the cornet and was deservedly applauded.
MR.. REEDS ADDRESS.
Rev. Myron w Reed, being introduced by the
president, spoke as follows:
Ladies and Gentl0men-I understand that in
the early days of Scotland minister was not
thought much of who spoke with notes. I re-
member of reading of Norman Mcleod, who
used a manuscript and preached one Sunday.
Two Scotch ladies in going out after the sermon,
one said to the other WAS tnot grand" ''Ah,
but he read it!' And the first one said she didn't
care if he whistled" it, l understand in Texas
when man speaks from notes they call it
talking with rest We meet to night in mem
DRY of the most attractive man that ever lived.
Thomas Carlyle said that when Robert Burns
came to an inn in Scotland, though it might be
midnight when he arrived, the news would go
about the house that he had come, and all the
people gathered to hear him. He flashed like
diamond and attracted like a magnet. There
in him light for the intellect and dew for the
hearts of men, And the light still flashes and
the dew still falls and our hearts gather refresh
ment and hope and our intellect intelligence, as
we read his songs and mediate upon his life.
The man was so completely hu1nan-no string
left out of him and no string but what was
played upon From the day-125 years ago
when he was born, the January winds blew
Had DDIs II oil
his life. But it only blew upon the strings that
were strung for music. / consider it compli-
ment to ourselves that we meet in such numbers
to remember man who has been dead SO long
We are living here in a town of railroads, of
pork, and of Atlas works-a town of material
and it speaks well for us that remember
man who had not much that we should remem-
Der him for, except great intellect and a great
human heart. I remember, in the last general
election but one a Kentuckian insisted on voting
for Henry Clay. He said he would rather vote
for a frst-class corpse than for Hayes or Tilden,
either. l think we come together with great
deal of that feeling. We prefer to remember
the great dead rather than to meet to celebrate
the memory Of anyone that should now be liv-
ing 1t shows that are not so material as we
are in the habit of charging ou1self with being.
If we take the sentiment out of the hearts of
men and women and children this world would
be only big, black cinder l like to celebrate
the memory of this man. 1t brings up anew the
question of little Paul Dcmbey to his father.
He asks of his father ''What is money! What
can it dor His father undertook to tell him If
could do everything The little boy said it
couldn't keen his mother alve-it couldn't make
him strong like other children
There are some things money cannot do, and
some things in this country money has done
1eme5aher little town up the shore of
Lake Michigan, where Pere Marquette, a brave
and gentle missionary of the cross left this life,
and was carried to his grave That little town
was known rs Marquette until about ten years
tvha
meeting and voted to call it Ludington. They
preferred the name of live lumberman to
dead saint. We witnessing something of
the same kind in this State. We see the name
of Asbury University changed to that of De
PAW, / have nothing to say against Mr. De
Paw. He has made a good deal of glass-plate-
glass for the rich and plain glass for the poor
to let the light of the sun into the houses of men.
But Asbury let the light of heaven in on the
hearts of men ard into their souls. The old cir
cult rider from Maine to Florida has his grave
at Greencastle and do not like to see the name
of the college changed for the reason that it was
changed. That makes me think that you can
not build college or university with money.
Not so was built Yale, Harvard Dart
mouth. on Oxford or Cambridge. These col
leges and universities came from hundreds of
years of heart, and brain, and devotion. You
cannot build a university with money.
Money has also been able to send Mr.. Payne
to the Senate l should be surprised if the
capital of our country should be changed from
Washington to Tabor, or Sharon, or somebody
VINO has stumbled upon gold mine
There are some things money cannot do. One
thing want to settle now that no amount of
money can make poet. When you see the
greatest poet of Scotland, and one of the great
est men of the world. come up nourished from
seven acres of wet, cold land, and from these
acres get substance for father and mother and
sisters and brothers, it shows how little money
can do to help or to hinder. | want you to
notice the poetry that Lord Tennyson will
of Alfred Tennyson. and see if there is not
falling off. | understand that when the heralds
ran back, they in some way connected him with
sixteen kings of England. 1t is my opinion that
any child that had the blood of sixteen kings in
him would not live sixteen minutes. That is
kings evil raised to the sixteenth power
We meet to remember Burns because we
need him in this world We need him Just
as much as they did one hundred
years ago. There are just as
many snobs and f1unkeys on the earth to the
acre there were then The fool killer that
found occupation in Ayr and Mechline would
not be out of work even in Indianapolis An
old question has been raised on Burns as to who
is gentleman Some people will tell you it is a
person who can enter drawing room genteelly
and back out genteelly-a man who never eats
with knife. According to that recipe not one
of our grandfathers or grandmothers were ladies
or gentlemen could be. 1t is something to
have the estimate of one of the great nations of
the earth on this subject. Some time ago we
sent from this country boat crews to row in
England They went from our colleges from the
best of the young men of the land Among the
other crews that went were the Shoewasamettas,
of Michigan | am acquainted with those boys
They are descended from the old French vow
ageurs, and there is touch of Indian blood in
every one of them. 1t came to the question
who should be permitted to row, and it was de
eided that nobody could row except gentlemen
Then who was gentleman gentle
man was man who never had
done any manual labor, never worked for liv-
ing. The result was that the half French. half
Indian were the only gentlemen. They rowed and
rowed without training-the only training they
after ducks They bent over in their boats and
yelled to each other and they got there, Eli Ac-
cording to this English decision the only gentle
men,we have on this continent is the American
lndlan-he never works for living.
When Robert Burns went to Edinburgh he