The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-01-22
THE BURNS CELEBRATION
AT WIRNER HALL ON TIT HURSDAY
 EVENING.

A Fine Programme of Songs Wttt
 Grafton by The Rev. Watson Philips
 D.D.
 The time has once more come round
 when Scottish people under the au-
 spices of the various Scottish organza-
 tions will unite with one another in
 celebrating the anniversary of the blow
 man bards natal day. That Sday of
 which the poet himself speaks of as be-
 ing ushered In
 "Wi a blast O Januar' wind"
 And although Burns has now been dead for upwards of a hundred years, his memory is ever green in the hearts of
 the Scottish people and is lovingly cher
 shed and revered wherever the hardy sons of the mountain and stream are to
 be found On Thursday evening in all parts of the civilized world men and " omen will congregate to do him honor and listen to his beautiful songs as they are rendered by artists of renown. In other cities, as in New Haven, theaters and halls will be used for the purpose of meeting places His admirers, how ever, wil1anot all be privileged to do him honor under such pleasant and comfortable auspices. For it goes with out saying that the poets birthday will be enthusiastically observed on the bat tlefeld of South Africa, where his kins- men are fighting for their queen and country, with nothing but the blue sky as canopy over them and the twink | ling stars as an audience and he and Tommy Atkins will join hands with each other and sing Scots Wha Hae," "There Was a Lad" Annie Laurie" "Auld Lang Syne," and other favorites of similar strain. Some people often won- der why the Scotch are so enthusiastic over Burns and the following words of Lord John Manners can possibly ex- plain the reason:
 Lord John Manners, the poet of the young English party of former days, is credited with the saying, now re- garded as common property, that the greatness of Scotland will never decay so long as her sons and daughters sing the Psalms of David and the songs of Burns" It was a shrewd and penetrat- ing remark, indicative at once of appre- citation of the Scotch character, and suggestive of good and sufficient reas- OTIS why Scotsmen should wax so en- thusiastic over their national poet, de- spite the fact that he dealt so scorn- fully with some of the developments of their religious faith, and that they still remain true to the essentials and the spirit of their religion. This in turn raises the larger questions Whence comes the wonderful power of Burns? What is the secret of the hold which he has obtained on the affections not only of his own countrymen, but of all civilized nationalities? How is it that he is equally dear to peasant and to peer and strikes a responsive chord in the hearts alike of old and young? By what alchemy does he transform the proud atheist and devout Calvinist into humble w-worshippers at his shrine? No mere skill in the art of ver- sification, no mere gift of minstreIsy, still less any amount of what is called cleverness, could have enabled him to enthrall the world as he has done. How then is his magic charm to be account ed for? As we take it, it lies in this that We seen the soul of a man revealed as it has seldom or never been revealed before. It is not the brains of Burns so much as it is his heart that we feel speaking to us; and-what pleases us most of all--it is our own better thoughts, our own highest aspiration to which he gives expression, clothing them in the most felicitous phrases, and evokng an echo from stolid hu- manity all around-as if a wizard waved his wand and made humanity at large burst into chorus of song.
 At the approaching celebrations of the poets birthday it is not improbable that more prominence than usual will be given to the patriotic side of his char aoter, and to poems which like Scots Whae Hae" treat of the Sons of Gale | donia when reused by the cry of battle. | It is we'll that it should be so, for there | never was a time when it was more | necessary to address to our countrymen all over the world the exhortation which Burns addressed to the Dunn fries Volunteers:
 Be Britain still to Britain true,
 Amang oorseIs united
 For never but by BrltlSh hands
 Maun British wrangs be lighted"
 With British subjects calling for the 'edress of their wrongs in an outlying part of the empire, and Soldiers of the Queen engaged in a life and death struggle on their behalf, the time is pre-eminently one in which we should present. united front to all our ene- nes; but, while we may proudly quote he words of Daniel Webster in regard 70 the majesty of Britain's power, "a bower whose morning drum-beat, fol- owing the sun in his course, and, keep ng pace with the hours, circles the ,arth with one continuous and un- broken strain of the martial airs of England" it should always be remem- ,ered that mingled with these martial by the way are not English put British-there will be found the ender melodies of the ploughman bard nd that the drum beat, though it calls Q arms heral1s the dawn of a neriod f more universal as well as more per- ect freedom, when the brotherhood of nan with equal rights for all will not nly be proclaimed, but made a living eality.
 The thirty-first annual celebration nder the auspices of the New Haven ,aledonian club will be held at Warner all on Thursday evening and promises Q be tie most successful of any yet