The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-01-11
"BuRNs ANNIYERsAnY."

Somihk CSioprSNiOh nv new maven Shie-
DOMAIN Club on the s2nd of This Month.
SO much has been said of Burns that
1t would seem almost an impossibility
to add to the vast store of informa-
ton already accumulated, and CLEANED
from every conceivable circumstance
having relationship to him. His life,
songs, poems, etc, being the priceless
inheritance of every fellow creature, it
surely must be our privilege to freely
express our feelings, though others may
have done so, more lntelligently, and
with great perspicuity. AS John Keats
hath said:
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever"
So say we all In reference to Burns.
No man ever trod Gods fair earth more
humbly having that whole-souled SYM
pathy for everyone and everything inn
bued in his nature and bubbling ire
sistibly forth at the slightest hint of
human need. No man, however unas-
Stunning, was more truly alive to his
own greatness and the worlds little
ness than this illustrious Scotchman.
Strangely proud for simple plough
man, divinely bright for rustic poet
and ravishingly beautiful for an artless
singer, he for more than one hundred
years hath captivated mankind and
this increasing with each annual cele-
bration of his birthday in every corner
of the globe. That this lowly peasant
through sheer force Of genius should
have lifted himself from the cloud of
obscurity to the bright throne of i'm
mortality has been, and ever will be,
the wonder of an admiring humanity.
Education he had none, save of the most
meagre kind. Yet such man endow-
ed so prodigally. having such keen
perception of mankind and the intrica-
cies of the human heart could not fail
to drink the fount of truth at it's very
source. The struggle to know oneself
is indeed the best and most profitable
education Gf successfully as man can
receive. This is precisely what Burns
did and by so doing we have such mas
terpieces of human nature as THE
Jolly Beggars,' Tam OShanter,"
"Epistle to Davie," etc. What wealth
of beauty is concentrated in his songs.
We hear them sung alike by the Ven
etian Gondolier, the hardy Highlander
on his native heath, the homesick sailor
becalmed in tropical seas and the toll
Ing backwoodsman in the far distant
forests of our own country. While
song hath power to touch the heart,
Burns memory will surely dwell and
when that power of music fails to move
US, we like him were better dead To
me there is deep significance in the
fact that one of the foremost and most
intelligent men of the present day, Il
make reference to Lord RoSeberry),
should at one period of his life have
given up all and everything to the
study of Burns. Indeed we find some
of the most celebrated men the world
have ever seen seeking, collecting and
compiling materials for his biography.
1t is exceedingly gratifying in all true
minded Scotchmen that in the present
decade of-(we must reluctantly admit
it on the whole)-lght and trashy lit
erature such an enthusiast should have
arisen to guide the public taste to
purer, sweeter and more wholesome
springs Burns as man was certainly
a failure. Lacking the strength of
will sufficient to curb his passions, he
was a ship without a rudder. Yet how
nobly could he sail! If at times he did
labor heavily in the trough of degen-
eracy; mark him again rise and pierce
the very skies with is beauty of elo-
quence.
His own death-bed prophecy to his
Bonnie Jean" has been truly verified.
The world, indeed, Knows him better
now, and will ever be the purer,
nobler and richer through that in every
part Of the civilized world People of
all tongues and nations meet together
to pay the great Scottish poet their
homage:
From Greenlands icy mountains
To India's coral strand"
his songs will be sung and his promis-
ing life and premature death spoken of
from many a platform.
To the New Haven Caledonian club
the residents of our city are indebted
for the praiseworthy manner in which
they have tried during the past twenty
six years to keep the memory of the
=
that" ever green in the eyes of future
generations. And, as has been stated
before, the celebration this, year will
take place on Friday, January %. The
annual address this year will be given
by the Rev DR.. George William Doug
las, rector of Trinity church. The con-
cert will be carried through by the
Scottish American quartet Of New
York under the leadership of Mr.. Wal
ter Bruce. This company has the repu-
tation of being the finest opponents of
Scottish song in the states and a
great treat Is undoubtedly in store for
the large audience that is sure to be
present. Reserved seats and tickets
can be secured at LOOMS Temple of
Music or at John Browns harness
store, George street. ***