The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-01-29
Eloquent Divine Paints Life
and Achievements Of Bard
in Glowing Words.
POETRY THAT WILL LIVE
THROUGHOUT ALL HISTORY
Music Has Stirred Civilized
World, as Well as His
Own Land.

At the celebration in observance of
the birthday anniversary of "Bobbie"
Burns Tuesday evening at Unity hall,
the feature of the evening was an ad
dress by the Rev. P A. Simpkin, pas
tor of the Phillips Congregational
church. The address was perfect trib-
ute to the genius and character of the
immortal Scotch poet. The address
follows:
We gather to honor the name and the
song, the life and the work of ore OF
the ages children Of genius, Robert
Burns is no longer the possession OF the
Scottish people. the poet of the Draw
folk Of the heather. the moss hags, the
glens and the carses Of Caledonia. but
has come TO be a part Of the human
heritage. for the ploughman poet sings
now, from the printed page for all the
readers OF the world.
1t is already morning in the land OF
his birth, and about the hour Of that
for him when the little soul, so pregnant
with the fire OF real greatness. was ush-
cred into the tiny thatched cottage just
outside Ayr
Standing in all its simplicity. every
straw and stone OF II. every board and
bit Of gear. homely and unassuming,
that cottage is one OF the shrlnes Of
civilization to which men turn from
every cline to stand beside the pallet
Of his birth and think thought OF love
softened by q te;r.
the green fields and by the bits OF plan
tat!on to come to the Burns home and
museum, to gaze across the fields he
tramped and ploughed. TO wander down
the road to Ailoway kirk and the monu-
ment and by the bridge Ger which AuId
Meg and Tam o. Shanter flew. smile and
think and sing with Bobbe.
Grips the World,
The marvel is how he who sang for
Scotchmen, much OF whose poesy had
only. should have so erpped the heart
of the world, For In the next twenty
four hours: under all the SKI skies mat nat
seven seas OF the earth where toss the
argosies OF modern commerce. men viii
gather 10 honor his memory, to sing his
songs and to quote with delight the lines
and verses that hold some of the undyng
poesy of the ploughman.
He stands. a fixed figure In the COM
pany OF the great-among that mar
velous company of men Scotland has
given TO the world in the past three hun
dreG years, and she has given more
number in the earth. Burns has Il first
place. because no one is more truly the
child OF genius,
The simple. clean -blooded stock from
whence he sprung. the highland blood
with its quick beat. and tho spirit OF
the indomitable IL carries. the lowland.
with its religious tinctuTe and its ca
pacity for patience and social affection.
made him not only true child OF the
north. but was rich heritage. the per-
feet element on which TO base n life OF
cumstance he walked. from Mount OIL
phant 70 the end at Dumfries. evokcs
our pity, For only few brief months
! out OF his seven and thirty years did
| ne know aught but pinch and narrow
ness OF material circumstances,
Few Days of Ease.
The little space OF warm appreciation
| and esteem. the days OF kindly recogni-
ton in the faces OF great and rich
ut Edinboro the little Journeys to the
south and the north that delighted Ills
soul as much with the beauties OF the
SclkIrks and the far Grampans. In their
match!ess Verdure and glory OF heath
and forest. as the cordial friendship and
ready honor accorded him by the rich,
these were the only easy days Burns
! ever knew.
soul, back OF the gentle face and the
| glowing eyes under the crown OF curly
hair, following the plough. working al
the flax. fighting the dour soil at OIL
phant or Ellisand with thousand song
birds carollng in his soul 1t seems as
absurd as the sight OF an Arab racer
between the shafts OF coal cart. Yet
this Is the singular thing, that IL was IN
the hardest days OF his brief life thai
! Bobby sang the sweetest songs, and out
OF the most limited experiences he knew
that In the picture of the .'Cotter's Sat.
urday Night one OF the twenty great.
est poems In all English literature, In.
deed; no grenter unklndnesS ever cam'
TO the poet than that which lifted hin
out of the furrow and put into his haut
the Saugers tools. for the pnssionat,
social spirit. the love Of the convivia
circle that fed the fires OF his genius be