Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-22

melodies"
a quartet, consisting of Mrs. Mary
Sleeper Ruggles, Miss Mabel Nilsson, c.
II. Robinson and Walter Knowles, then
sang Burns own song of himself, en-
titled ''There was a lad. Miss JEANNE
Frazer next sang "Jessie's dream" very
acceptably.
Mayor R. B. Dodge. Jr., then re
sponded to the toast The Heart Of the
Commonwealth" When the applause
which greeted him had finally subsided,
he said in part: II have heard that the
Scotch claim relationship up to the 9th
cousin. In that case, / am a Scotch
man tonight, at least. With each sue
ceeding year, [ have had to find new
set of virtues for the Scotch race-a task
exceedingly difficult, as 1 exhausted all
the virtues when spoke before you the
first time This is the banquet season
for a mayor, and at present am Scotch
in one particular. l eat four meals a
day Moreover, my friend, DIR. Conrad,
and I, have prepared ourselves for this
meeting by drinking nothing but Scotch
wbislxey for three months. Burns has
been called a Scotch poet but he be-
longs to America as much as to Scot
land. His mind is of the same fibre as
ours, and his themes are of universal
interest. TO you Scotchmen, no land
welcomes you so heartily as New Eng
land, and 40 country so much resem-
bles your native land. Finally you
are welcome in the city of Worcester,
and may stay as long as you please"
Harry C. Robinson then sang in fine
voice the sturdy song, "The Bonnie
Banks o. Loch Lomond." A duet, 20,
vert thou in the Cauld Blast?" was next
sung by Mrs. May Sleeper -Ruggles and
Walter Knowles, ana this was followed
by song entitled. 30, Whistle and I'll
come to you, my lad" by Miss Nilsson.
Walter Knowles next sang that old but
always favorite annie Laurie" and
was heartily applauded.
Thomas Provan, a gentleman of 80
years, then recited his two favorite
Burns poems, "a mans a man for a
that and ''To Mouse"
Rev. DR. A. 2. Conrad then delivered
the address of the evening on Robert
Burns" He said he had never doubted
the mayors veracity before, but as he
observed how successfully his honor
despatched the good things ne believed
that it was his first square meal that
day. He was 10th to be humorous with
the mayor. however, for he remembered
the reply of Mark Twain to Senator
Evarts The senator, after hearing
Mark speak at a banquet, said that ne
never knew before that a professional
humorist could be funny. The senator
at that time had his hands down in his
pockets, observing which, Mark Twain
said it was the first time that he had
ever seen a lawyer with mis- hands in
his own pockets.
He had occasion to appreciate Scotch
friendship and loyalty, for one of his
fathers parishes was entirely Scotch,
and most of his childish friends had
been Scotch. Tonight they were
gathered TO honor one of the most
gifted poets and one of the best hearts
baf nd n I'D 10
pealed to all who love nature and hu
manity. He thrummed the heart
strings to new music, and added new
dignity to human nature. He then des-
cribed a visit % the home of Burns,
the humble cottage where he was born,
the Kirk alley way, the bonnie banks
of Doom" and the eternal hills from
which the poet had gathered his inspira-
tion. He thought that the poets great
ness could be summoned up in six
characteristics. The first was his broad
sympathy. No poet ever understood
and sympathized with the poor so well
as Burns. His pulse beat and his
temples throbbed for the common peo-
pie. His sensitive nature was affected
by insensate being. His Mountain
Daisy is one of the tenderest, sweetest
poems in the language. The second is
his loyalty, his fidelity to his friends
which was unwavering. He was a
party to every love affair in the village.
because people trusted him. The third
is his sincerity, his transparency of
character. Never was there a more
open heart than his. His penitence for
his failings is pathetic and puts to
shame the hypocrisy of his critics. The
fourth iS his magnanimity. Nothing
was more alien to his nature than bigo-
try and niggardliness. He thought
that the two doors to fortune were
petty economy and small bargaining.
ana ne would enter neither. The fifth
IS MS moral aspiration, notwithstand-
ing the blots upon his life His poems
discover the neral battles which he
iought. He continually appeals to our
highest sentiments and speaks for
purity of life. The sixth is mis- philoso
phy Of life In everything he wrote
tnere IS strong undercurrent of right
thinking, and high sense of God and
duty. In closing, DR.. Conrad said. sTn
snort our lives should be better. ou-
songs sweeter, our sympathies broader
ior our acquaintance with this patriot
oard Of Scotland, Robert Burns.''
loon the burn, Davy," was then
pretCly sung by Miss Frazer, after
wnlch George Weir read poem written
!.y oy Scotchman in Canada, entitled,
Land O. oor birth" Mrs. Ruggles again
sang, this time The jolly ditfy, John
H1ghlandman." Next came Mr.. Robin
son with the noble battle song, Scots
VIVA hae, sung with great spirit and ex-
cellent effect. A charming little love
song was then sung by Miss Nilsson,
atter which James Logan delivered an
address on Burns Gems" He said that
at the late hour-it was then nearly II
o'clock-and without the aid of Scotch
Whiskey, which had stood his friends.
the mayor and DR.. Conrad, in such good
stead, he could not hope to interest the
audience. He had hoped that when the
mayor gave the Scots permission to re-
man IN worcester as long as they
wished, that he would also let them
celebrate as they wished and he would
stand the consequences. However. the
opportunity gave him a chance to boast
for his native land and he should i'm
prove 1t. Burns had prophesied ON his
death bed that posteTity would know
him better, and his prophecy had proved
true In September, 1885, there was an
exhibit of Burns relics at which more
than 1000 editions of his works were ex-
hibited and 5000 books about him were
shown. Mr.. Logan then quoted extern
sively from Burns poems which he did
very effectively in Scotch dialect.
After several more songs, the meet
Ing closed with the singing of "AuId
Lang Syne" by the entire company.
Dancing then began and continued until
after midnight. The committee in charge
of the banquet was: Lindsay Somer-
vile, chairman; Samuel Watson. John
Howe, Hector Reid and John c. Alexan-