THE REV. J. W. INGLIS ON ROBERT BURNS.

Southland Times, Issue 3294, 10 January 1879, Page 2

THE REV. J. W. INGLIS ON ROBERT BURNS.

■'-' ■.'•-' :/ ■■:■' ,'.. v '\; ;''■•»;.:..;::. '. ;■'■;-- ,;■. "'.' . Last night the Rev. J. W. Ingiis : delivered Ms lectaraon-:'' Burns, the poet aud the man," to a large audience in Banisay's' Hall.. The magnitude of the, subject, the: exhaustive treatment which it received at the hands- 6f the lecturers/and the exigencies of space com- i bine to debar us from giving inors than.. the "merest, summary of .: the oration, for to that i standard -. the rev. gentleman's powers "and delivery;- undoubtedly- asceud. /••'. The most spontaneous audeanvesl enthusiasm was displayed by the audience-as the lecturer dilated on the beauties : of B urns' ; productions, -and ■ hearty laughter at the recitation of .humorous passages, or the relation of appropriate anecdotes, was alternated with . ilbud'applause -atthe more pathetic or telling vpassagei- The: is one deeply intei'estiug to Scotsmen under all circumstances, but when placed;' bsfore. them" with: such intellectual powei 1 , critical . acumen, generous' but wholly unprejudiced -' judgment, and -withal . brilliant eloquence, as distinguished the rev. gentleman's, treatment of it last /'nighty they may well be excused for growing heartily enthu-f .siastic. . . ",'• ; ■■ -; ;r , /.-,.' : . ■ v . : . The-fev. lecturer said he ''••'had the pleasure of appearing once more before them, and that night he had to speak to them of a subject which he was sure was yery. near and dear to the hearts of all— not only to those who claimed Old. Scotland as their" mither/": 1 country, but to the hearts of all that were; proud. : of that which distinguished the man as a man, for he -had to speak of o.ne'who claimed kin not only with his own countrymen, but with all who realised what it was to . be a iriah— with all who could iii any respect enter into thef eelings andshare the sympathies .of - him who stood before the.m, . not only as, Scotland's poet, but as the poet of man^ kind. He liad two difficuliieis before him, the Scottish tongue which rendered his remarks unintelligible to many, and the difficulty of the subject itself. The former, he said, was no mere provincial dialect, no mere corruption of Saxon, but was itself- a languag in which were written the laws' of the. country, its judicial proceedings, its ancient history ,;and above all its poetry. He claimed 'for the Doric tongue brevity and precision far above English. Without at all dwelling on mere matters of detail, he then proceeded to review at length the early career of Burns, and the associations which had iufluencd and given direction'to his poetic genius aud moral nature, illustrating the various phases of the poet's character by copious selections from his writings. He then noticed a few of the leading characteristic.,. traits of Burns' poetry, alluding to his fine egotism, discriminating power, pensive tenderness, combined rapidity of How and richness of fancy, humor and sarcasm, intensity of national spirit, deep devotional solemnity, aud descriptive power. Under each of these heads he read appropriate extracts from his poems illustrative of the -particular trait of his genius under consideration. These included selections from " The Cottar's Saturday Night," "To Mary in Heaven," "To a Daisy," "Tarn. O'Shanter," and a whole host of others. With respect to the last-named, he said its merits 5 were : unassailable even by the most rigid criticism, and were such as the most enthusiastic could not exaggerate. The whole of the selections were rendered in a masterly manner. A long but brilliant declamatory peroration concludiug with an appropriate quotation closed the lecture. On taking his seat the rev. gentleman was greeted with an outburst of enthusiastic applause. On silence being restored he saidit would ill-become him to part with them that night, the last occasiou on which; he would address them in the meantime, though be hoped to have the privilege of doing so again, without taking - the opportunity of publicly thanking one and all them for the kindly reception which had been accorded to him in Invercargill. Much as as he enjoyed the warmth and enthusiasm with which their friends of Dnnedin had greeted him, he must say . that, whether they heard of him from Dunedin, or whether it was that they had kinder hearts, one thing at least was true, and that was that the reception he had got from them was of so enthusiastic and ldudly a character that, whether he was permitted to again visit Invercargill or not, when he retired to his own Victoria, he would cany .with him sweet memories of his pleasant intercourse with his friends of InvercargilL He also alluded to the brotherly way iv which his own brethren of the ministry had received him, not merely in their manses and at their "am firesides," but by their public appearance night after nighty at his lectures. /Tlaeir presence had helped him greatly. He did not, know whether he would be able to come back again ; he would like to do, so, and he did not khow whether they would like to see him. (Loud applause.) He wanted to go.north as far: as Auckland, and, if he could possibly manage, it, on- his return he would, try to make his departure 'from the Bluff. If he did so, he hoped, God sparing him, to bid them farewell in that very hall. (Applause.) He concluded. by reading, the last verse of the New. Zealand anthem;.; from Bracken's " JPiowers of the Free Land " as expressive of his own desires towards them and, he hoped, also. of the true feelings of- every colonist amongst them., .On resuming his seat, he was again loudly applauded. " . _..,;