“A NICHT WI' BURNS.”

South Canterbury Times, Issue 3338, 13 December 1883, Page 2

“A NICHT Wl' BURNS.”

[To the Editor.] Sib, —It is true of Burns, as of Shakespeare, that he " Needs not for his honoured bones The labour of an age in piled stones for his words will perpetuate his fame and keep his memory green. But it is fitting that Dunedin—the Edinburgh of the South—where his nephew was long the minister of the First Church, and where his grand-nephew is still a respectable citizen, should erect a statue of the poet ; which, coming as it does from the studio of Sir John Steel, will, no doubt, worthily represent the Bard, and tend to beautify the city. How is it that Burns maintains so pre-eminent a position in the affections and admiration of his countrymen who read by turns, ‘‘ The Psalms of David and the Songs of Burns ? ” It is due to his love of nature, as shown in his songs “ The Banks o’ Bonny Doon ” and “ The Braes Around Montgomery ; ” to his spirit of independence, as thns expressed—- “ Not for to hide it in a hedge, Nor for a train attendant ; But'for the glorious privilege Of being independent,” to his patriotism, “ The kettle o’ the Kirk and State, Perhaps a clout may fail in’t ,* But deil a foreign tinker loon Will ever ca’ a nail in’t to his sympathy with all created things, as evidenced in his address to a Mouse and the Mountain Daisy, and even for the arch-enemy himself, But fare ye well, Auld Archie Ben, “ O wad ye tak a thocht o’ men ‘Y’r aiblins micht, 1 dinna ken, “ Still hae a stake “ I’en wae to think upon your dear “ Even for your sake, —to his matchles Lyrics, so redolent of tender passion, as“ Mary Morrison “ Yest ’reen, when to the trembling string, The dance gaed through the lichted ha’ When this was gran, and that was braw And you the toast o’ ’a the town, I sat and sighed among them ’a Ye are na Mary Morrison,” or, “ The hungry Jew in the wilderness Rejoicing over his manna. Was naething to my having bliss Upon the lips of Anna,” How could Carlyle say Burns had no religion, when ho writes—- “ Tho’ when on earth we’re tempest driven A conscience but a canker A correspondence fixed w’ Heaven Is sure a nobler Anchor ; ” Hear bis sober views of life—- “ When aince life’s, day draws near its gloamin Then farewell vacant ceaseless roamin, And farewell cheerful tankards foamin And social noise And farewell dear deludin woman The joy of joys.” And when the old couple have reached tho Psalmist’s limit, how true to Nature the sketch—- “ John Anderson, my Jo John, We olamb the hill thegither, And many a happy day, John, We’ve had wi’ ane anither ; And we must toddle down, John, But hand in hand we’ll go, And sleep thegither at the flit, John Anderson my Jo.” To-night, let there bo a good muster to have a “ Nicht wi’ Burns.”—l am, &c„ Auld Lang Syne.