BURNS ANNIVERSARY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10267, 26 January 1895, Page 7

BURNS ANNIVERSARY.

The 136 th anniversary of the birth of the poet Burns was celebrated in the Garrison Hall

\atit evening by a gathering under the auspices of the Dunedin Burns Club. As usual there was a large and thoroughly sympathetic audience, and the lyric gems of Sootland, the entertaining and eloquent address by Mr Scobie Mackenzie, and Ingersoll's peroration on Burns, as recited by a skilled elocutionist (Mils Ross), met with enthusiastic appreciation. Dr Stenhouse presided, and his Worship the Mayor (Mr H. S. Fish), the Hob. W. D; Stewart, Messrs Piukerton and Earnshaw, M.H.K.'i, and Mr M. J. S. Mackenzie occupied seats on the platform. Too proceedings commenced with music on the pipes by the piper of the club (Mr Gray) and Mr and Matter M'Kechnie. This was followed by the

chairman's remarks. Or .Stenhouss (the president of the club) said: Ladies and Gentlemen, —We are met to commemorate the 136 th anniversary of Scotland's greatest and best - beloved poet. I need not name him. His name is engraven on every Scottish heart. .This tine Mstnibly no doubt proclaims the proverbial popularity of a Scottish entertainment —the lcve of the Scotch people for their national songs and music ; bat I take it that it also evinces our regard and reverence, for ,the national poet himself.. We are not ashamed of our devotion to him ; we hie not his sole worshippers.. It is cheering to koow that in every part of. the worjd wherever our countrymen are to be found—a^d where are they not to be found ?—they are commemorating with us this auspicious day, and paying the world's tribute to Scotland's greatest son.—

(Applanse.) The time was, ladies and gentlemen, when to be an enthusiastic student of SUakegpearei of Milton, of Dryden, of Pope, of Wordßworth, or of Tennyson was to bear the hall, mark of literary eultnre and refinement; but if. one was knowu to. bring the same ,. enthusiasm to the study of Robert Burns he was.branded as a

faddist, or it may, be * monomanic. But that day has passed away, and Burns has vindicated his right to an equal, niche in the Temple of Fame. The world rocogniees now the graat service th»t Burns has rendered to the cause of humanity, and we who claim to be his students ami his disciples ktow that iv the future he will do a still greater work. In his day the "lower orderc," as they were called, were brutish and enslaved, but he tickled their fancies, ■he excited their imagination, and-. he .taught them to think and to feel. The result is that to-day the ivork- |. iog . classet are able to treat with kirjgs and -with kaineri on equal terms. Bobert Burns has had as much to do with that great change*! any man who has ever lived. Ladies aad gentlemen, it is not my province to-night to pronounce a eulogium on the works and character pf the poat; and in these few sentences I have simply endeavoured to strike the keynote of-our evening?* entertainment, so that from beginning to end of this night's proceeding the glow perfervidum vrujtniwm. scotorim may animate every breast.—(Applause.) The President subsequently mentioned that he had received the following reply to a fcelegcam gent to the InvercargiU Burns Club: — " Very heartily reciprocate your kindly greeting and sincerely wish you a happy meeting " ; and that the president of the Gaelic Society (Mr D. M'Laiicblan) had written expressing regret that he would be unable to be present. Dr Stenhouse also drew attention to the .tact that the centennial of the death of the poet Burn* would be celebrated'next year. Mb scobie Mackenzie's Address. '" The Phesident, in calling upon the speaker of the evening, said he hud the honour of introducing to them one of the beat known men in New' Zealand, Mr Scobie Mackenzie.—(Loud ipplmte.) In the present volcanic state of things in New Zealand be must not say much abont him; but he would assert that Mr Scobie Mackeiiz'.e was a most enterprising settler, » rising politician, and a true Scottish Highland ge&tleman every inch of him.—(Loud .applause.) : Mr ScofiiE Mackenzie; who was received with a storm of applause, said: Sir President, Lttdies, and Gentlemen,—lt is hardly necessary for me to say that I am very sensible of the great honour which has been done me by the president and members of the Burns Club in inviting me to deliver an address befare a great and national gathering such as is assembled in the hall here to-night. But I tell you, with all honesty, that I wish the task were in better hands. You know—and if you don't know it, I certainly feel it—that it is a little out oE my line. I feel devoutly thankful that this is not a political meeting, let me tell you—(laughter),—and that no matter how much I may chance to disappoint yon, you can hardly ask me questions or move a vote of no-confidence in me.—(Laughter.) But from mere habit I would perhaps -feel' more at home if I had politics to deal with, instead of the task I have on hand. At the outset; I can gay this though, that if I don't feel very comfortable myself, I can help to make you comfortable by-assuring you that. -1 shall not keep you long. X know what a - vain thing it is for anyone to suppose that he can, by mere talking, keep an audience, interested, or even patient, when there i» music : behind. And then, of course, I can't but feel that, though Burns himself is immortal, dissertations and discussions on his work have been so loug and so lovingly carried on that the subject is

worn, threadbare. It is impossible for anyone short of a genial to say anything new upon it. I Khali not therefore attempt such a thing. I'll tell you one thing, however, which is perhaps worth remembering. When tone ha? to spp.ak on'a woriwaut subject, the only chance for him to hold »tt audienca, in addition to being brief, it to speak .out his own opinions and nobody elae's.—(Applause.) What comes from the heart, generally goes to the heart. I may say, before-1 begin, that I was a little surprised too at) being asked to address you here to-night. For one thing, I was' not a member of the Burns Club, though a great reader and admirer of the poet; and lam aware of the fact that a good many of my cooatrymen have an idea that I am net very much of a Scotchman— (laughter),—anidea which is, I think; founded mainly on the fact that I don't drink whisky — (great laughter),—except perhaps a little at election time. — (Laughter.) If one did not t*k« at least a little, then thwre are a, good many Scotchman who would jump to the conclusion that one's politics were no soujader than one's taste.— (Benewed laughter.) But I'll tell you how it is that in spite of that want in my oharaoter I cobte to be here to*Bight-*-at leatt I think this is the origin of it. Some months ago I was casaally'discnsstng with a friend in town here a matter which was then exciting some public interest. I »aid to. my'friend, "My dear fellow, there's only one answer to what you say and that answer was given by R»bert Burns 100 years ago." I then quoted the passage. Th« man looked surprised, and said, "I didn't know you were m admirer of Burns. We mast have you up before the Burns Olub." What the raattor was, and the passage I quoted, I may tell you a few minutes later If. I have time. Well, now, to come to close quarters with my subject;, is it not a remarkable thing-that we here in this remote corner of tbe globe, and thousands in every other quarter Of the globe assemble every year on this night to perpetuate the memory if a man who has been dead 100 yearn ? . And the movement!* extending too. Burns clubs are starting up in every direction. Burns'* memory is getting more and more revered. To barrow a. noble couplet which he applied to his - own sorrowful reflections—: Time but the impression deeper makes, As streams their channels deeper wear. - (Applause.) How is so extraordinary & papilUrity to-be aooounted for. I was arguing the matter out with a. man not very long ago, whoa he Said to MB, "After all, Burns is only popular with the Scotch, and the reason he is popular with the Scotch is because be was a Scotchman. They hang together like thieved."—(L-.iigb.cer.) There never was a greater mistake. Bums has found his way to the hearts of the whole English-speaking world. It is not only Scotchmen nowadays who grip each other's hands fct parting and sing— ' ; We'll tak* a cup o' kindness yet, For auld lang syne. (Applause.) The lost time 1 sang the song I had a German alongside of me—(laughter).— and he gave me a ■ squeeze that madfe my fingers tingle properly. — (Laughter.) The very expression "Auld Una' syne," though perhaps not his own originally, has been forced on all sorts a»d conditions of men by the genius of Burns. It has a special meaning and a special pathoA of its own.' I'hey tell me there is not an equivalent tot It in afiy language. Certainly the English equivalent of "long ago," or even the "brave days of old," would make a miserably poor substitute for it.— (Applause.) There oan be co doubt that Burns by some means or other-—and especially in his songs, which are admitted by all thfe ctii ics to be the finest Britain has jet producedl—has managed td Scotticise the entire Hu^liohspeaking world. Sow has he done it ? What are the qualities that hare enabled him out of such unpromising material to enthrone himself on sach a world-wide popularity P That popularity is not to be explained oh any absurd theory of nationality, or anything connected with the character of the man. to account for it you must look to his work, and you will there find the evidence of the very higheot qualities with which the human being oanbe endowed. Now, retntmbet I told you I was going to give yott my own opinions for what they were worth. Well, theft, 1 would put the first and the Rarest quality as tfeat of Intelligjb.ility—the quality which enables a great emotional and creative writer to be1 readily and easily understood. For, after fell, what is the use of intellectual I gifts if tise1 or pleasure from them cahhofc be communicated to the world, or can be cbtnmunicated only ts the4 fetf ? Atiil whst a quality that is to be sure. How delightful in everyday life, let alone in the great regioaof.

thought and feeling. Fancy if somo New ISaa*

lander would start up who could do for pruse what Burin b»» dons fojr poetry, tod rn»ko us understand—say, bimtallisui and the currency^ without o'««jn a headache. — (Laughter.) I knew a nun in ouc Parliament who used to gat up and malt* long, npeechoi, for he could speak by the yard. — (Laughter.) Oh, !'■> uot alluding to Mr l?i»h vow — (roars of laughter),—and, we used to notice tha,t tm noon as he began a cloud of thick darkness descended on the Bubjecb, aud never left it white he .was talking. He was in Opposifeiuu then, and we used to think he did it on purpose and that it was clever. But by and bye he got into office and wanted to explain things and still the cloud descended every time. He couldn't help it. It used to feel like groping for the nubjaqt in a fog. It is the same among tjho poets and the thinkers. Some have the great gift of expreision aud others haven't — that is, to correspond with their genius. I suppose a good many of yon have r«ad JJesant's novel " The Golden Butterfly." One of his characters is an unsophisticated but shrewd ht&dad Yankee who "struck ile," and came to England out of the backwoods. Some wags hoaxed him into the belief that he was going to meet Browning, Swinburne, and a number of other* at dinner. To prepare himself for the meeting the poor fellow sot to work to study their works, and found to his dismay that he' could't understand a word.—(Laughter.) He thonght bis own head—which was really a good one—was at fault, so he went out and hold it for a quarter of an hour under the pump—(langhter) —but it was of no avail. I read not long ago of a girl who had a piece of Browning to do for a school theme. There was a passage she couldn't understand, so as Browning lived in the neighbourhood she wrote apd asked him the meaning. The post, who i»as aa honest man to the heart's care, replied that when he wrote the thing he must have had a meaning, but what it was he could not now tell.— (Laughter.) There is a foolish notion that he took a perverse delight in being obscure, but the fact is that the inadequate gift of expression— inadequate as compared with his other powers — was a source of great distress to him. Popularity belongs to thos©. who, with other gifts, can make themselves u.nder«Sood. The finest passages in Shakespeare are at once the oleareiit and* the, prqfoundsst, ~And Rftrapienity ia the glory of Burns, and. has. opened »U hoarts to hjm.—(Applause.) Thai! is, of couEfle, among these who have taken the trouble, to understand the dialect. It. is not too much to any— and { am now alluding specially to bis songs, for I desire to avoid exaggeration—that he has Scotticised the entire English-speaking world.—(Applause.) 'When clearness is accompanied by keen insight it neerns to give the wonderful power by a mere line or phrase of Rising up a whole picture before the mind's eye. Burns's talent in this was marvellous. Take " Tarn o' Shanter," for instance. To commence with, who but Burns could extract the highest poetry out of such an unprotaising snbject—-a couple of cronies sitting bufczing at a public house ?—(Laughter.) Burns can do more: he c»n present the men befpru your very eyea. The relationship between Tarn and Souter Johnny is hit off in a couple of lines : Tarn lo'ed him like a Vera brither— They bad been fou foT weeks thegither. (Laughter.) The harm Jess gallantries of the man just getting into tiiie condition of the maudlin lire very skilfully described:

i The Undlady and Tan I grew graoious Wi' favours secret, switet, and precious. We can here see Tarn winki ug at the landlady— (langhter)-^abd perhaps jt<»Dg even a trifle further.— (Renewed laughter.) We gee tbe artificial) happiness of, the ppir rising under the influenc* of the "nappy" until it seems to culminate in the description1!: "■•■ Kings may be blest; but Tain was glorious, O'er all the ills o' life vie forious. —(Laughter.) It seems ;'w<' if the power of presentation would earryI.lj;im no further, but Burns has yet a final touchHihat completes the picture:' . ■ $■ Care, mad to see a man >kie happy, -E'en drowned himsel' and id the nappy. But if under the magic of ■)! urns you can eeß what is-going on inside; 3^ >v can alse hear the storm which is paging vtithbut—this storm for which Tarn, while; the liquor wbs flowing, "didna cares, whistle/':— '.' . ■ The wind blew ast wad bl»lw ri its last; The rattlin' showers rose on I tine blast; The speedy gleams the dark ucsss swallowed; Loud, deep, and lang the thunder bellowed; That night— ■ ' And here Burns descends ftito one of thoie anti-climaxes for which, in cow mou with Byron, he had such a weakness : . ' That night a child might understand The de'U.had business on 1 via hand. —(Laughter.) A rare picture, too, and of extraordinary fidelity, we. h»*e of T*m, with all the Dutch courage slowlj' oozing out of him—(laughter),—galloping lid me on the grey mare:— \ Tarn skelpit on through dub and mire Despising wind, and rain, and ilre; Whyles holding fast hisguid bh le bonnet, Whylcs crooning o'er some auld • Scots sonnet; Whyles glow'ring round wi' pruclent cares, Lest bogles catch him.unawares.' It waa not really the. bogles xte waa «o much afraid ot as his wife—(laugtr tar), —whom he had forgotten up to this time, id ut who was— Gathering her brows with gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it '»rarni. I don't wonder he was a, 11 bit uneasy.— (Great laughter.).' ( But , c|j3ar expression and reality of presentation^ are not sufficient fox that ■ enduring popularity that withstand** all the. assaults of f time. Another quality is essential, a quality that is a sort of specific against decay; ,'j^hat quality is sympathy. It may bs imitated,/ as in the case of Sterne, who could weep dvdr a dead ass while his toother was perishing c'.n' neglect, but the imitation is always seen tk trough. True pathos spriDg-s out of sjmpath.'f- I* is the quality th»t knits the race, to| ether. The speaker who wishes to be <mccet3fal.with »n audience can only do so by sympatl \y. It is the quality which enables a statesmani-v'eryfewof them —to lire in the hearts of a people. It enshrines an author with the genei -ations that are to follow him. It is one a f the great preservatives tb.it > makes good work lost for ever. It is the chief element in th c character of the patriot. You all remeenbir .the late Mr James Mncandrew. I was very intimate with him during the last year's we yteri i& Parliament t«g«t,ber. I had a' great respil ct for him, and his character presented a kind •of study for me. He w'ste, as you Irfjow, a very popular man, really and genuinely "popo/lar. Yet he was1 no statesman,"•" no spialceri had no brilliancy of any -kind, had nothing in fnct but a "shrewd Scotch he&cl on his shoulders, » prey to many fads and fit icies too. He had terrible ups and downs in hi» career, and at one time it seemed as if the vt'sters of oblivion were about to close over him few ever. Toey waulrf have closed over any other ;man in tha satae'eircuttttancss. But he rose to the surface with nmkrkaUe ■ buoynnny; Rnd grew, I thick, in popularity nptothe vaifylast. What was the secret of itP It is'sin-iple enough. The people of the ooloiiy/peroeived—aud jjieople in the ma>s ace remarkably quick to sell such things—that the man's mind as a rule was occupied, not with himself, but with 1 other pjoplc—(Applause.) He mi a patriot in a uow-oouatrv. Sympathy-is the pasaword te'th* human hc*<t during life; and is is the password of the nuthot- to fixture generations after death; Burns mat overflowing Tilth syrnyjithy for all nature. The quality shone through his life and it glown in every p*ge of his work. The mouse it to him a "a nleek.it, cow'ring, timoirotts beaetie." Tr>e daioy is a! " wee modest crimsontipped flower." He poniiers in the spring on the fate of the fittle bird:durittg winter: Ilk happing bird, wes/belpleea thing, That in the merry months of spring Delighted me to nearthee sinjf-* What comes ef thee 1 Where wilt thou low'r.thy ehittering viing And close_thy e'e. (App!*use.) Very toiicbJ'iig toqSSd ncble is the expression of thit' patriotism that' w&s a passion with him ;— A wish (I:mind its power), A wißh that to my latpst hour Will strongly heave my breast,— That I for poor auld Scotland's sake Some uaefu' plan.or book could make, Or sing a safig at least. The rough bur thistle- spreading wide Amang tile bearded beer : I turned my weeding hook aside ■ And spartod the symbol dear. (Applaup.e.) The man overflowed with syrni pafchy for every living thin.^. When Sir Walte^ Scofct first saw him he wiis s.tanding with thq tears in his tyes 'iver tjije picture of an exile! from his native \HitA. ;Ab<i thefla great element in the immortal is the fctualitjl of humout. But what a quality i».at i»j asid Bow CftmpSrativeiy rare eveh amflug the highest minds. It is tbe very Salt of literature. It is apparently not essential to immortality, but it is to popularity with the generations. The few will continne "o delight in great gehmufs.like Milton a»d Wordsworth, who have none of it; but the mass of men will have none of them. They will stick to Shakespeare and Burne, and Bycon and Goidstoith. To Burns, particularly, for he overflows with humour ai with sympathy. Open j a pagra where you will and you find it sparkling with huMiour. Ad nnpromisiug theme like "Poor Mailee" is ful: of it. In tke " Twa Dogs," describiing the big dog Cce^ar, joa come to Jprave couipletß likt this :— His lockit, lettered, braw, brass collar Showed him the gentleman and Scholar. (L&ughter.) frequently tiie humour is S( nicely balanced wl£h a plain statement of trutl that you hardly know on which side the scaleli going to dip :— , ': Ah, geutle dames ! it.gars me greet. To think how mony counsels sweet, — How mony lengthened sage advices, TKe husba&a frae tfife wife despifeesl! I think the truth of it reittier predominates We all feai it.—(Laughter.) One h*s th c r am leelifig with the splendid descriptions lof th methods of the De'il, scarcely knowing wucttre the broadly humorous or «he lofty poepoi derates:—

Whyles ranging like a roarin' lion Kor prey &' poles au' corners tryin'; . Wbyles on the itrong.winged tempest flyin, Tirlin the kirks Whylea in the human bosom pryin' Unseen thon lurks. And I wish you could tell me—for I can't tell you—whether the humour or the universal sympathy of Burn* is' uppermotti in the concluding verse of the " Address to the De'il" : —' Then fare you weel, auld Hipkie-foen; ; 0, wad y« lak" a thought'an" men*-! Ye aiblins might—l dinna kenStill ha'e a stake : I'm wae to think upon yon den E'en for your sake. —(Laughter.) Burns, top, has a rare fashion of turning the humour against himself, and hsre sometimes a touch of the pathetic can't be kept out of it, as in another verse of the " Address to the De'il":— An' now, auld Cloota, I kes ye're thinkin' A certain Bardie's ranting (JW^W > Some luckless hour will send him Unkin' To your black pit; But, faith, he'll turn a corner jinkin'. And cheat you yet, —(Laughter.) I only hops ha has done it.— (Laughter.) Sometimes be fives us a little pure fun at his own expense, as on the evening of the day when he " w»6ua fou but j ist bad plenty":—. . , ~■? ■.-, The rising moon began to glow'r The distant Cummock hills out oure: To cqunt l)er harno w. V a' my pow«r . I set myseV, But whether she had three or foui I couldna tell. A man couldn't describe bis condition better.— (Laughter.) But well (Joes Burns know when to exclude every suspicion of humour and to adopt a noble seriousness, as in some of the staozaß of "^The Cottar's Saturday ffight ":— The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face, They, round the ingle, form a circle wide; The sire turns o'er wi' patriarchal grace The big ha' Bible, ance his father's pride; Hia bonnet rev'rently is laid aside, His lyart haffets wearin' thin an' bare; Those strains,that pace did sweet in Zien glide, He wales a portion with judicious care ; Then, "Let us worship God, he says, with solemn air. —(Applause.) A rare quality of Burns which is by no means common even among the most gifted intellects was his extraordinary power of satire. But although the satire itself is of the mo?t powerful conceivable, the humour, and, what is rarer still, the good humour, shines through it from beginning to end. Byron bas given us a great satire in bis " English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," but from beginning to end it is full of the bitterest attacks upon bis most gifted contemporaries. In " Holy Willie'B Prayer" we have a satira of terrible severity dressed up in the very garb of laughter. Sir Walter Scott thought it ow, of the finest satires ever written. I don't think there can be apy doubt that religious hypocrisy and canting self-assurance have never before or since received such a deadly blow from the hand of any man. There are, of course, verses that bad better been omitted, but there are others which need no apology whatever for quoting :— I bless and praise thy matchless might, Whan thousands thou hast left in sight. That I am here, afore thy sight, For gifts an1 grace, A burnm' an1 a shlnin' light - ' To a' this place. What was I, or my generation, That I should get sic exaltation ? I, wha deserve sic just damnation •For broken laws '; Five thousand years 'fore my creation, Through Adam's cauM. It was Adam that was responsible for it all. — (Laughter.) And then after calling down confusion and disaster on all his enemies, Holy Willie winds up in characteriatio fashion :— But, Lord, remember me and mine, Wi' mercies temp'ral and divine, That I for gear and grace may shine, JExcell'd by nane, An' a' the glory shall be Thine. Amen, amen! (Laughter.) If the interests of true religion are forwarded by the destruction of hypocrisy and religious cant, it seems to me that Burns, has done more for religion than all the sermons of any man .who has lived since his day.—(Applause.) Of course, it mutt be remembered that when Burns wrote his satire the Scotch Church had many clergyman like Black Bassell and elders like Holy Willie, who were never happy unless they were providing damnation .for.; everyone bot .th'emselYe».~(Laughter.) The race has largely disappeared now. Now, I could. not conclude without a reference to the strenuous manly sense that runs through all the works of Burns. I told yon at the outset how the idea of my speaking on this occasion was suggested over a conversation I had with a friend, ~W<> ~W«e, talking over the Undesirable Immigrants Bill—(laughter),— particularly the £20 clause. I thought of all the brave hearts who bad originally founded these colonies,' many of whom'had not 20 pence when they landed—all tfieir qualities of head and heart'and muscle to go for nothing as compared with the possession of £20. I thought of our grand old Puritan forefathers, who, when kingly tyranny settled like a poisonous vapour over their native land, left it in the Mayflower and founded tbe great Republic of America.— (Applauße.) I say I thought of all these things and I said.to my friend—''There's only one answer to that, Bill, and that answer has been nobly spoken by Robert Burns—'The man's the gowd for a' that.' "—(Applause.) Is there for honest poverty, That lungs his head an' a' that? The coward slave, we pass him by, We dare be poor for a' that I ; The rank is but;thefi«ine».stamp, The man's the gbwd for a' that. —(Loud applause.) That was tbe proper answer.: — The honest man though ere sac poor Is king o' men .fora, that. I believe that had Burns been quoted when the bill was introduced.-it would have shrivelled up like a burning scroll.'—(Cheers.) My time ie up, and. I cannot deal as I should like to have done with the songs of Burns. Tbe7 are, bb I have already said, admitted to.be, tha, finest in the English tongue. They run the whole gamut of human; feeling, from the tendejest .emotion down to the rollicking fan—yet still strong of real, genuine, human nature—of . Duncan Grey:— . . . ..•■.-.......',• Shall I like a fool, quoth he, For a haughty hizzie die ? She may gae to—France for me. AH the finest of the emotional longs you know too well for me to quote. But there is a stanza in "Mary Morison1' which I would like to repest, because it seemß to me, as to others, to be the very perfection alike of melody and of the expression of feeling : Yestreen, when, to the trembling string, The dance ga'ed through the lighted ha', To thee my fancy took its wing. I sat, but neither heard nor saw : Though this Was fa.it, and that Was b'raw, An you the toast of a' the town, I sighed, and said amang them a' " Ye are na Mary.ilorison." (Applause.)—l hare now done, and I feel I have kept you too long. In concluding, I ask you—any of yon, I mean, whe may be disposed to think there is mere nationality at the root of these annual celebration*—to ■ reflect for a moment on the princely intellectual gifts of the Scots' poet; on the rich legacy of song that he has bequeathed to the world ; on the sympathy that he felt for all mankind, contrasted with the poVetty of his surroundings, the misery of bis life, and the untimeliness of his death—and then say whether we are not justified in thesb poor efforts to revere his memory and perpetuate his name.—(Mr Mackenzie sat down amid prolonged cheers.) During the evening a very good programme of music was presented, the principal fault with which was tout it was too long. Tbe choir, under the conductorship of Mr J&tnes B. Fergusson, gave a number, of part songs very effectively. MtD. Button sang admirably "A man's a man for a' that"; Mr Malcolm Maume, Mr Torranee, Miss Kelly Thomson, Mrs Tod d, and Mr Carter sang well; but tbe trio, "Willie bre-w'd a feck o' maut," was a failure, owing apparently to soroe misunderstanding between the gentleman who played the accompaniment and the vocalists. Otherwise the musical portion of the entertainment .passed off satisfactorily. The recitations by iiliss F. Boss, h recent arrival from Lsndon, »nd a teacher of elocution, were admirabla, aud vere greatly enjoyed, a second appearance being insisted upon. The entertainment couCiluded in aa exceedingly Appropriate is.sb.ioti, all preient uniting in sineine " Auld lanir s»n« "