The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-01-30

from the life Of Burns, the writer char
acterized IL "a lesson OF pluck for tho
he had to work hard at the hardest
kind of uncongenial employment. no
amount OF hardship diverted him from
the great object of his life Amid the
birds and Wildhowers OF a lowland
farm he learned his finest lessons as
he held the handle OF the plough"
Mrs. Bardeen here related the simple
and homely circumstances which led
Burns TO compose those exquisite com
panion poems ITO the Field Mouse
and the Mountain Daisy" That beau
tiful poem OF domestic life. THE Cot
ters Saturday Night" the serio-c comic
tale of Tam q Shanter." the mad lord
life revery OF the Jolly Beggars' were
given as examples OF the versatile ge-
MUS OF the plough boy poet.
Passing from Burns. the early life of
Scott was briefly outlined. Turning TO
his literary career, the paper continues,
Whether we estimate him by the
enormous amount OF literary work he
accomplished or by the splendor OF the
fame that he achieved. Scott must be
reckoned beyond question the greatest
writer OF the 18th century"
The poems OF Scott '"The Lay Of the
Last Minstrel and The Lady of the
Lake" the novels. 'lvanhoe." Guy
Mannering," Rob Roy" Heart of
Midlothian" "Kenilworth." and others
were dwelt upon and their character
istics summed up as follows: ut is the
morality OF Scott that appeals more
strongly to the many than even his
enormous mental forces His ideals are
lofty and pure. His heroes are brave
and strong not exempt from human
infirmitios. but always devoted To ends
more or less noble His herones are
beautiful and true. They walk i'm
,,,T.~ IA a.
whether garbed az peasants or prin-
cesses, pure I'm heart del cate IN speech
Valor. purity. loyalty. these are the es-
sential clements OF the charm with
which this great magician has soothed
and lulled the weariness of the world
through these generations. For this
he has received the uncritical and un-
grudglng love Of grateful millions
The second paper Of the afternoon.
by Mrs .Carrigue. gave a brief synop-
sis or the early forms Of Scottish liter
ature. going back To- the time of the
first Scottish poet OF whom We have
any record. "Thomas, the Rhymer," SO
called who lived i'm the 18th century
and wrote the DAY Stare" The paper
records something of the life and work
OF Allan Ramsey. the restorer of Scot
tish poetry. born I'm 1886. John Arm
strong, NJ. H., born IN 1903. John
Hume. the eminent Scotch dramatic
poet. and Lady Anne Barnard. whose
name is associated with that tender
Scottish ballad. "Auld Robin Gray
The third paper by Mrs. r.. w. b.
Knight, was fun of interest from be-
ginning TO end, giving a most enter
tanning review of the life. character
and works Of Robert Louis Stevenson,
James NJ. Barrie. :. Il. Crockett and
Ian Maclaren, whose names are house
hold words whose books are close COM
panions, whose characters live and
move before us as do those, perhaps, OF
Dickens or Thackeray.
scotland is proud OF her new
writer's" continues the paper. "and the
| English speaking world of letters is
their debtor Ian Maclaren, i'm lit
crary sense. is the latest born of the
four The brave hearted. much beloved
Stevenson was laid 20 rest on his Sa-
moan hills almost b fore Ian Maclaren's
star had risen i'm the literary world.
Barrie's Aud LIGHT ldylls" and "A
Window i'm Thrums" had charmed peo-
pie on both sides of the Atlantic for
years before Beside the Bonny Brier
Bush" revealed the existence of another
Scotch writer who. like Barrie. was
portraying the poetry OF the life of the
| iowly Scotch peasantry. The Raiders,
by :. X. Crockett had won its author
worldwide fame as a master in the
telling of powerful story before IL
that he was about to achieve with his
first volume one Of the greatest literary
successes of modern times. Though
the latest TO enter the literary field i'm
"A point of years, Ian Maclaren is not
younger than his three brilliant COM
patriots He and Stevenson We're born
i'm the same year, 1850. They were stu
dents at the same university. He hal
left college before Barrie had left the
school bench at Thrums, and was
master in his professional work before
/ Crockett preached his first sermon"
Passing To speak particularly of Ian
Maclarens literary work. the paper
continues: Beside the 'Bonny Brier
Bush" and THE Days of Auld Lang
Syne" taken together give the annals
/ of Pertshire parish called by the au-
| thor 'Drumtochty, and they are never
theless, more popular than Treasure
I Island and The Little Minister. The
Lad o. Parts was printed in the British
Weekly. His longest and one of his
latest novels is Kate Carnegie The
Mind Of the Master is a straight clear,
| penetrating look at Jesus with no side
lights from other sources. The Mind
of the Master satisfies because IL in
terprets his life DR.. Watson Uan
Maclaren) had deep sympathies with
| the common people His big, loving
! human heart saw in these people n
wealth OF interest and Christian
worth"
Entering upon the career Of James
NJ. Barrie. the paper notes, first. the
| publication OF "Auld LIGHT Idylls' i'm
4 1885 and i'm 1887 THE Window i'm
/ Thrums," a contradiction of Aud
! Lichts" not superior but fully it's equal
/ In 1891 The Little Minister ap-
! peared, and this raised him from the
! rank of an admirable sketch writer to
! that of an admirable novelist" a little
] later came Sentimental Tommy"
/ which is greatly i'm advance of THE
Little Minister" i'm construction, tragic
! power and insight, but it's tone is very
! different. The humor is q grim and
! bitter sort. and the light heartedness
we find in THE Little Minister" has
/ mostly disappeared.
OF Barrie's Margaret Ogilvie," the
/ paper says: 1T would be difficult to
/ convey the charm of the tribute Barrie
I has paid TO his mother ina this book
/ One could not read IL without being
4 touched I'm the finest aud highest emo
/ tions given 20 humanity. In this book
/ the author asserts that all he knows or
! ever shall know Of women, he learned