DUNEDIN BURNS CLUB.

Otago Witness, Issue 3215, 27 October 1915, Page 77

DUNEDIN BURNS CLUB.

There was a largo attendance of members at the monthly meeting of the Burns Club, held in the Art Gallery Hall on the 2Cth. Mr W. 13. M‘E\\ an presided, and there wore present with him on the platform Mr J. Craigie, M.P., and Mr T. K. Si dev, M.P. The Chairman, in his opening remarks, extended a welcome to Mr Craigie and to Mr Sidey. Ho also referred to the loss sustained by the Otago province through the death of the Hon. J. A. Millar. lie said that Dunedin and the Otago district had been served well by the deceased gentleman for many years, and he regretted that he had been taken away at a comparatively early age. Mr M‘Ewan also paid a tribute to the memory of the late Mr Andrew Smith, an old member of the club, who had done good work in connection with the institution. He mentioned, in conclusion, that already £IOOO had been sent Home, and there was still £4OO in hand. Since last meeting he had received information that Robert Burns’s first homo in his married life had been purchased and fitted out as an old people’s homo. It was opened free of debt, and was going to bo a new shrine for visitors to Scotland. —(Applause.) It was a just tribute to Robert Burns’s wife, “Bonnie Jean.”—-(Loud applause.) Mr Craigie delivered a brief address on the subject of Burns’s character, in the course of which- ho submitted that the Scottish poet was a man among men. From the misfortune in the Garden of Eden which bofcl Adam and Eve until the present, misfortunes had befallen people, and they had not ceased at the tomb of Burns. There were many exaggerations regarding Burns’s faults, but these latter wore easily outnumbered by the poet’s fine manly traits. No man ever lived who exposed his own feelings to the world more than did Robert Burns, and if he was apt to tarry long over the wine, it was due largely to the custom of his day, and also to his fondness for companionship. Above all, Burris was a devout Christian man, and a man who despised cant, and attacked it fearlessly and without favour, as his writings indicated. Mr Craigie said to those who wore in the habit of looking for the spots in Burns’s sun, that they should bo forgotten in the lustre of his? rays —(Load applause.) A most enjoyable and entertaining vocal and instrumental programme was contributed by the Burns Choir, and generally a pleasant evening was spent.