Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1894-02-03
Judge rlacdonaId's Address.

AnuTeWS society, inc SupJeCt vi
which is Burns. the Brightest Star
in the Galaxy of Scottish Poets
Mr.. Chairman, Ladies aud Gentle
men:-The star that holds the place
of first magnitude in such a CON
stellation as the Scottish poets must
indeed be bright, and he who dares
respond to such a toast tonight re-
quires nerve. Very few persons
have conception of their number.
You cannot put the point of pin
down on the map of Scotland but
it will rest on the birthplace of a
poet Of more or less celebrity.
There is no nation in the world that
possesses so many beautiful ballads
as does Scotland, and it is to be re-
GREETED that so little of her authors
ia known. Were l to hazard rea-
son for the poetical bent of the
Scottish mind / think it may be
found in the studious as well as the
social proclivities of their nature.
Reared among scenes which have
become classic, famous and impor-
tant, great events in the nations
history, it became an impulse TO re-
count the victories or deplore the
losses in verse.
The moral worth of Scotlands
songs can never be over-estimated.
They have done more to make the
Scotchmen what they are today
than any moral suasion ever
brought to bear upon them. The
greatest deeds of Scottish valor are
but the fruits of Scottish song, de-
veloping those finer, warmer, gush-
ing attributes of our nature, and
rousing all the God in man.
Scotchmen have ever been ready
to defend their native land with
either the song or the sword, the
ballad or the bayonet. 1t is natural
for the Scottish heart to burst forth
in song, whether it be to express
love, mirth or politics. and what a
hold on the public mind these auld
Scotch songs retain.
| doubt not that when the great
day comes and justice shall be dis
pensed that Bonnie Annie Laurie
will be held responsible for the
death of more than one heart-sick
devil of a Scotchman. Conferred in
this coronet of jewels there is gem
whose lustre shines supreme. This
armament of fiery orbs revolves
around one celestial sun. This hem
isphere of poetry has one grand
pole to which the needle
of inquiry irresistibly turns. The
toast of the evening; the memory OF
Burns. 'Tis toast, ladies' and gen.
tlemen, there is no end to. When a
man has Burns put into his mouth
he should keep it well shut or the
subject will run away with him. |
can fancy l hear my father remark:
There's that daft collant o mine
aye middling with something he
cares naithing about" and conscf-
speaking he would be
right, for men have made Burns the
study of lifetime. Volumes have
been written about him, artists have
painted him and poets dramatized
him. Really, sir, the spirits of those
great Scottish departed may be
peering through the cleaning that
wells the land o. the leal and lend
ing to us, their countrymen, { o ne
of their genius to help celebrate the
memory of their immortal chief. 1t
would not surprise me if Burns
be here tonight. l suppose
there never was speech OH Robert
Burns without some allusion 10 the
"Cottars Saturday Night" A softer,
sweeter, silken strain never was
penned; higher, holier, hal pier
strain never told the tale of truth.
Its warmth of devotional feeling
has cast halo around the Scottish
fireside that is seen and felt i'll every
christian land. How much it has
800 Coo4Io.l ~ Ial~@o- +o D,,-,,a