Burns' poems before his Lordship, and he (says Cromek) declared that its merits exceeded his expectation. He took it with him in November, 1786, as a literary curiosity, and communicated, through Dalziel, that he wished to know "in what way or manner he could forward his interests." Meantime, Burns also had reached Edinburgh; and there, in after days, he says "I have found a worthy warm friend in Mr. Dalrymple of Orangefield, who introduced me to Lord Glencairn, a man whose worth and brotherly kindness to me I shall remember when time shall be no more. By his interest it is passed in the Caledonian Hunt that they are to take each a copy of the second edition, for which they are to pay one guinea." Having been by his tutor made intimate with Mr. Creech, to him his Lordship applied to undertake the publication of the second edition. Burns in Westminster Abbey. BY NEIL MACDONALD. N March 7, 1885, a bust of the poet Burns, by Sir John Steell, was unveiled in Westminster Abbey by the Earl of Rosebery. On July 27, 1884, the Earl of Rosebery also unveiled a statue of Burns, which now adorns the Thames Embankment. The bust was purchased by the shillings of the Scottish people, and the statue was the gift of Mr. John Gordon Crawford, a native of Glasgow. However the English may regard the honor conferred upon the memory of Scotland's favorite poet, by enshrining him in the National Pantheon, his countrymen will, almost without exception, think that it is eminently proper that the Ayrshire Bard should find a fitting place among those intellectual worthies who have charmed with the magic of their power and influenced by the potency of their genius the English-speaking people all over the world. Were it possible for the disembodied Burns to view the ceremony of the unveiling of his bust in the Abbey, can we for a moment suppose that he would consider the honor undeserved; or is it not more reasonable to imagine that he would consider himself entirely at home, surrounded upon all sides by the busts and statues of men who stamped their glyph indelibly upon the hearts of the British people and upon the history of the human race? The Bard of Avon, who sung a Paradise lost and one regainedThomson of the Seasons, a brother Scot; Sir Walter Scott, and the melancholy Cowper, and scores more scarcely less distinguished-were it possible to interview them, would rejoice that the sweetest singer of them all had been placed among them in the shrine of British genius. Epitaph on Michie, the Schoolmaster. BY J. CALDER ROSS, M. A. INCLUDED among Burns' minor verses is the following epitaph "Here lies Willie Michie's banes : O Satan, when ye tak' him, Allan Cunningham's note (which seems to be usually followed) is "The Willie Michie of this epigram was, it is said, schoolmaster of the Parish of Cleish in Fifeshire; he met Burns during his first visit to Edinburgh." Although Cliesh is in Kinross, all this goes to show that Burns was the author of the lines; but what is to be made of the following, from Ravenshaw's Antient Epitaphes (1878)? It bears to come from Currie, near Edinburgh, and is under date 1696 "Beneath thir stanes lye Meekie's banes; O Satan, gin ye tak' him, Appeynt him tutor to your weans, Unfortunately the compiler of the latter work confines himself to recording the epitaph without remark. The resemblance between the names is curious, and the wording of the first line of Burns' version suggests the idea that he had heard the rhyme before, and merely altered it to suit the new circumstances; the alleged older version is more pleasing to the ear. Perhaps some one can identify this Cleish schoolmaster, and give some particulars of his meeting with Burns. In any case if the Currie epitaph is genuine, there can be no doubt that the Willie Michie version should be struck from the list of Burns' works. AT The Politics of Burns. the 33d anniversary of the Dundee Burns Club Mr. Leng, M. P., presided. In the course of his address, he said-It may not be altogether unreasonable if for a few minutes I refer to the politics of Burns. He gave voice, as no one had done before, to what was in the hearts, to the feelings of a brave and independent people who had fought for and won their freedom, and were resolved never to be subjugated or enthralled. Where within the compass of our language is there such a spirit-stirring, soulrousing song as "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled?" Every line in it pierces like a trumpet call, and the first two stanzas resound far beyond Scotland, and echo wherever tyranny survives. Pre-eminently patriotic, burning with Scottish fire, vehement first of all for Scottish freedom, his great soul, however, wished nothing for Scotsmen that could not be shared by all mankind. "The Tree of Liberty" with him was a tree that should bear fruit for the healing of the nations. Wi plenty o' sic trees, I trow, The warld would live in peace, man, We'd on each other smile, man; Burns was what we all should be at once patriotic true and intelligent Democrat. He believed in freedom based upon intelligence, courage and self-respect. The whole philosophy of enlightened Democracy is contained in the lines Be of an independent mind, With soul resolved, with soul resigned; Virtue alone who dost revere, Thy own reproach alone dost fear. The Magna Charta of Democracy-the doom of mere conventional aristocracy, based only on royal favor and titular rank and hereditary privilege-is written in the verses "For a' that and a' that." Like every true genius, Burns penetrated through all nonessentials and external wrappings and appearances to the essential and vital principles of things-to the real humanity. Like every true genius, he was also for giving world-wide, universal application to whatever he deemed right for the individual man. Thus, |