The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-02-02

not wholly exonerate the executioner:
but neither can we pity the victims.
what terrible condemnation of the
heartlcss oppressor of the poor is in
the lines:
see those hands. ne'er stretched to
Hands that LOOKOUT never gave
And what superfne irony Is in these
words, coming as prayer to God from
the lips of dishonest hypocrites who
met his death by falling. when drunk,
into a ditch:
II bless and praise thy matchless might
Whan thousands thou hast left in
That / am here afore thy sight,
For gifts an grace,
A burnin an a shinin light,
To a. this place"
These victims of Burns indignation
take their place alongside OF those who
are forever pilioried In the twenty
third chapter of Matthew. and we
would do well to search our hearts
and lives before them.
reveals itself most. clearly and beauti-
fully. however, in his marvellous
Sympathy. In this we have the pure
gold, the undeniably Christlike quality
genuine this feeling was is illustrated
Scott When lad Of fifteen he saw
Burns in Edinburgh, standing before
print which pictured soldier lying
in the snow dead. on the one side his
faithful dog sitting, In misery, on the
her arms their little child. And as
the young poet gaZed upon the scene
Scott saw his large dark eyes slowly
fiji with tears of tenderness. And the
sympathy OF Burns was as comprehen-
sive as il was intense. It embraced al
mankind and every living creature. He
was, as Lord Rosebery puts II. the
universal Samaritan -, Hi, Vs. was IN, ne
recognizes need wherever 1t exists, and
holds fast to the truth,
THE rank is but the guinea stamp,
The mans the gowd for a that"
But to the poor. above all others,
stinted and unceasing sympathy. He
had shared their toll, endured their
deprivations, partaken of their suffer
ings. and been one with them in every
circumstance. And as a poetic genius
he devoted his high art TO the depic-
ton OF their life and the expression
OF their sentiments. For the Scotch
SONGS sas1 IN diai ees IS Spontaneous as
laughter and instructive as tears
And what are these nearly three hun
bred compositions. which have placed
him first among the song writers OF
all the agese They are the exaltation
and Qualification of the peasant life OF
Scotland; they are the hopes and fears,
the loves and sorrows of the lowIiest
immortaiized In sweetest music. who
can read unmoved such lines as these
How sweetly bioom'd the gay green
birk,
How rich the hawthorn's blossom,
As underneath their fragrant shade
ciasp'd her to my bosom.
The golden hours. on angel wings, +
Flew Ger me and my dearie.
For dear to me. as light and life.
Was my sweet Highland Mary
And surely not for all the wealth that
the earth can boast would the sons and
daughter Of Scotia part with THE Cot
ter's Saturday Night" that matchless
ideaIixation OF the home of the poor
where toll liz softened by love and labor
is hallowed by religion.
of our poet: a belief in the fundamen-
tails OF the church's faith; a life. mark
ed by grievious lapses, indeed but alse
by profound remorse and genuine re.
pentance; and, above all. spirit that
denoted him conspicuousiy as true
member of the, Brotherhood OF tht
Naxarene. Well must 1t be for the
world, therefore. IL the Scotsmen oil
every land and age will but cqntinue
to keep at their beds head and IL
their hearts core the verses and this
m emory of the one whom, next to this
Master. they most delight to honor
Robert Burns.