,transcriber's ,note3 ,this text is reproduced with its original printing errors intact1 save for minor amendments to punctuation1 capitalisation and word spacing4 ,the author was prone to misquoting poetry1 the typesetter was apparently not being paid enough to ensure accuracy1 and it doesn't seem a proofreader was asked to participate at all4 ,the best laid schemes o' 8mince0 and men have indeed gone aft agley4 ,,oat ,,meal ,,the ,war ,winner ,illustration ,,by ,j4 ,r4 ,grieve1 ,m4 ,d4 ,acting ,assistant ,surgeon ,u4 ,s4 ,army1 #ahfe ,copyright ,applied for4 ,price ,ten ,cents4 8,,oatmeal0 ,,being ,,glimpses ,,an ,,reminisences ,,of ,,scotland ,,and ,,its ,,people4 ,by ,j4 ,r4 ,grieve1 ,m4,d4 ,,introduction4 ,at the present time when every one is being urged to bend every energy toward the conservation of food supplies1 it is surprising to me that so little has been written in behalf of the extraordinary value of oatmeal as a diet on which people can live and continue more healthy than on any other cereal in the world4 ,i wish to present facts1 not theories4 ,i wish to tell of what ,i know personally on this subject4 ,i have not consulted any of the laboratories of research or taken for granted any data from the many-published statistics of individual food sufficiency for sustaining life1 but ,i have only taken facts and invite my readers to form their own conclusions4 ,my father was a successful farmer in ,perthshire1 ,scotland1 and employed quite a number of ploughmen4 ,his men were always big strapping fellows1 weighing on an average from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy pouds and as strong as oxen4 ,none of those men ever saw a two-bushel sack of grain because we never had such sacks4 ,what they were acquainted with and were accustomed to handle were four-bushel sacks of wheat1 weighing sixty-four pounds per bushel1 barley weighing fifty-six pounds per bushel4 ,these sacks they would carry on their back and load on their carts and1 after being hauled to the city1 would again shoulder them and carry them up two and sometimes three flights of stairs in the warehouses4 ,there were few elevators in those days4 ,now what had those men for breakfast that morning8 ,certainly not beefsteak1 ham and eggs1 toast1 or biscuits4 ,no1 they had a large bowlful of bcrose4 ,each man takes his large wooden bowl and puts into it three or four handfuls of oatmeal1 a big pinch of salt1 then pours boiling water on it1 stirs it with the handle of his spoon1 adds sweet milk1 and eats his breakfast4 ,when the noon hour comes he goes through the same process2 and after the work is finished for the day he generally has a bowl of oatmeal parridge4 ,the whole time occupied is probably ten minutes4 ,then after smoking a pipe for ten minute more he is ready for a day of strenuous work4 ,each man possesses a half-gallon tin bucket1 and that is filled at the dairy every morning before breakfast with sweet milk1 and that lasts him for the day4 ,no labor is too hard for those men4 ,they can stand any strain put before them and never complain of being hungry4 ,i never heard the least complaint of indigeston1 and the doctor would have starved to death if he had depended on these ploughmen for patients4 ,the allowance of meal is seventy pounds every four weeks1 and that is all you require to give them4 ,often these men don't see a piece of meat in months and very seldom do they eat wheat bread4 ,scotland has been called the 8,land o' ,cakes0 from the fact that an excellent cake can be made of oatmeal4 ,the cakes are rolled thin and toasted before an open fire until they are quite hard4 ,i have eaten oatmeal cakes in ,virginia that were baked in ,scotland1 two or three months previously and after being heated through they were as crisp as if newly baked4 ,i grew up amid these surroundings and am familiar with every detail4 ,i had my porridge twice a day all through my young life1 and the development in my individual case was quite satisfactory4 ,i often tell people that ,i was brought up on oatmeal and the ,new ,testament1 which is true2 and ,i can truthfully testify to the excellency of the combination4 ,another important fact1 especially at the present time1 is that we never though of adding sugar to our oatmeal4 ,those ploughmen would have as soon thought of sprinkling epsom salts on their porridge as sugar4 ,to this day nothing gives me such satisfaction at breakfast as a bowl of oatmeal and milk4 ,to eat a bountiful supply of oatmeal and suppliment it with meat1 eggs1 etc41 is a great mistake4 ,it is too nurtitious and impedes digestion4 ,in those days such terms as calorics1 protein1 carbohydrates were never used and need never be used when speaking of oatmeal4 ,i ask one question3 ,if oatmeal does tnot contain all the elements of a perfect food1 how did those ploughmen stand up to their hard work and seldom complain of hunger and more seldom need the services of the doctor8 ,it regulates the intestinal canal like clock work4 ,sweet milk is absolutely necessary to complete the perfect diet4 ,any substitute1 whether molasses1 butter1 or sugar1 does harm4 ,there should be a generous supply of salt in making porridge and that does away with the craving for sugar4 ,i often meet people1 doctors included1 who declare that porridge ought to be cooked for six or eight hours4 ,my only answer to that falacy is to point to my brosemen4 ,when ,oats go to the mill they are put into a kiln and subjected to considerable heat until the hull cracks and they are three-fourths cooked1 then they are sifted and ground either coarse or fine as you wish4 ,we had no flaked oats in those days1 and ,i cannot say whether the smashing flat process is an injury or betterment to the cereal2 but ,i prefer the coarse-ground oats1 as that was what the men ,i refer to were fed4 ,i am only stating facts1 as ,i have experienced them1 and ,i stick to my original statement that oatmeal used as the ,scotish ploughmen use it is satisfactory in every particular as to giving nourishment and preserving health4 ,what a saving of time it makes for the housekeeker--just about half an hour for breakfast and supper1 few dishes to wash1 and no greasy plates to encounter4 ,for dinner you may omit the oats and take what you prefer4 ,in ,american hotels and boarding houses1 also in private homes1 oatmeal is served in small quantities in small saucers as a side dish4 ,it ought to be the main and only dish both morning and evening4 ,oatmeal has a wonderfully beneficial effect on the morality of men4 ,you might spend an evening1 as ,i have many times done1 in those men's quarters1 and you would not hear a profane word or an objectionable sentence from the lips of any one of them4 ,those men nearly all go to ,church on ,sunday as regularly as they go to work on ,monday4 ,they are intelligent as a rule and demonstrate by their conversation that their diet has nourished the gray matter as well as their muscles4 ,if oatmeal acted so beneficial fifty years ago on the inhabitants of ,scotland1 it surely is a good argument that it will perform its duty on ,americans just as well to-day4 ,personally it would be immaterial to me if the wheat and sugar crops failed entirely1 so long as ,i could have the dear old cereal that nourished me to manhood and the good will of a fine ,jersey4 ,while oatmeal sustains the body and keeps it in fine condition1 it certainly must exercise a powerful influence upon the brain4 ,sir ,walter ,scott was an oatmeal man4 ,in intellect he was 8one of them40 ,sir ,david ,brewster1 the ,royal ,astranomer1 who could scan with more than eagle's eye the mighty creations in the bosom of space1 was made mostly of oatmeal4 ,hugh ,miller1 that huge geological hammer1 inscribed with ,hebrew characters1 was an oatmeal man4 ,so was 8,bobby0 ,burns1 and the man does not live who can say that 8,bobby0 had no brains4 ,no argument can be brought to bear against oatmeal4 ,if you believe what ,i say is true1 why not put it to the test4 ,i know it is a great problem to change the dietitic habits of a community--and much more so to change the habits of a nation4 ,there are ,scotchmen scattered everywhere1 and no doubt they and their wives would supervise ,oatmeal ,clubs to teach the people how to make porridge properly and to overcome any prejudice they might have as to its use4 ,no doubt it is an acquired taste1 but when once learned it is for 8keeps40 ,when ,i first came to ,america ,i did not eat any tomatoes for years4 ,i could not endure the taste1 but gradually ,i took to them1 and now ,i dearly enjoy them4 ,many of my friends1 through solicitation and my example1 have adopted the oatmeal habit1 and all of them are delighted with the result and intend to make it permanent4 ,just imagine what conversation of food it would be if a vast multitude enlisted under the oatmeal banner4 ,meatless1 wheatless1 and surgarless days at least six days in the week for breakfast and supper4 ,for dinner and on ,sundays ,i should allow every one who wished to indulge in the fruit of the hen and the ham of the hog1 or whatever delicacy might suit their individual taste4 ,the ,duke of ,wellington knew his business when he held in reserve the famous ,scot's ,grey cavalry at the battle of ,waterloo1 until the psycological moment arrived when the ,french lines began to waver1 then ordered the charge which sent them thundering on striking the enemy like an avalanch and thereby winning the battle4 ,so in a modest way ,i think the psycological moment has arrived when the people of ,america will listen to what ,i say and began to cultivate the taste for oatmeal and use it liberally1 thereby conserving food for the great emergency now and which will be more acute by and by4 ,it was oatmeal personified in the kilted ,highlanders that scaled the heights of ,alma and later stormed the ,russian stronghold1 ,sebastopol4 ,oatmeal rode in the light brigade at ,baladava1 8charging an army while all the world wonder40 ,oatmeal sang ,annie ,laurie thirty thousand strong in the ,crimean trenches in front of ,sebastopol on the eve of the grand assault4 8,they lay along the battery's side ,below the smoking cannon1 ,brave hearts1 from ,severn and from ,clyde ,and from the banks of ,shannon4 ,they sang of love and not of fame2 ,forgot was ,britain's glory1 ,each heart recalled a different name ,but all sang 8,annie ,laurie40 ,oatmeal has come out conqueror in many battles in many lands1 and who can doubt that it will eventually crush to earth the hated ,hohenzolerns and ,hapsburgs1 to say nothing of the unspeakable ,turk4 ,,menu4 ,breakfast4 ,bowl of oatmeal porridge4 ,plenty of sweet milk4 ,that's ,all4 ,dinner4 ,please yourself4 ,that is none of my business4 ,supper4 ,bowl of oatmeal porridge4 ,plenty of sweet milk4 ,that's ,all4 ,after supper you can go to bed and sleep like a top1 and in the morning you will get up feeling tip top4 ,j4 ,r4 ,g4 ,tennessee ,industrial ,school1 ,nashville1 ,tenn4 ,jauary1 #aiah4 ,when ,dr4 ,samuel ,johnson1 the lexicographer1 vented his unaccountable spleen against the ,scotch people by defining 8oatmeal0 as 8food for ,english horses and ,scottish men10 he exposed himself to the witty retort4 8,and where will you find finer horses or better men40 ,thomas ,carlyle tells us that on one occasion1 during a visit he paid to ,lord ,ashburton1 at the ,grange1 he caught sight of ,macauley's face in unwonted repose1 as he was turning over the pages of a book4 8,i noticed10 said he1 8the homely ,norse features1 that you find everywhere in the ,western ,isles1 and ,i thought to myself2 well1 any one can see that you are an honest good sort of a fellow1 made out of oatmeal40 ,to what extent the characteristic peculiarities of nations are due to diet is a question on which we will not enter4 ,we believe1 however1 that the matter of food has much to do in determining the character and destiny of a people2 and oatmeal being the principal food of ,scotland it would seem to be certain that the people who have been made out of it1 have been in themselves very remarkable3 and have exercised an influence upon the whole civilized world that is unique and singularly potential4 ,in introducing our subject1 it would seem to be proper to say a few words about the 8land o' cakes0--that is1 oat cakes4 ,first1 there is no word in any language that has in it such perfect music1 or around which cling dearer and sweeter associations than the word 8,caledonia40 8,oh ,caledonia stern and wild1 ,meet nurse for a poetic child40 ,under the spell of that name imagination takes wing1 and we are back in the springtime of youth4 ,we hear the lark singing in the clear air4 ,we smell the fragrance of the heather4 ,we hear the plow-boy's whistle1 and the mild-maid's song1--some lively ditty to relieve the tedium of labor1 or it may be an old heroic melody1 that glimpses some grand page of ,scottish story4 ,we hear again the murmur of voices that for long years have sunk into silence4 ,faces rise before us that had begun to fade from our recollection1 scenes in which we formed a part1 pass as a panorama1 and remain for ever on the deathless page of memory4 ,to the student of history1 ,scotland is not a foreign country4 ,the genius of its sons has made it familiar and home like to every lover of pure literature1 true patriotism and heroic virtue4 ,in undertaking to speak of it1 we are embarassed with our riches4 ,we are not so perplexed about what we shall say1 as how to say it within reasonable limits4 ,these however are but glimpses and glances of ,scotland and its people1 and may serve to inspire some to seek a fuller and clearer vision1 and larger grasp of a theme that can never grow old while men struggle to conquer hostile forces1 or strive to win a place in the van of civilization4 ,scotland is the land of old romance2 where ever the eye turns some scene of classic and storied interest presents itself4 ,there1 near ,stirling stands that grand modern monument to ,william ,wallace--the hero of ,scotland1--the wielder of 8,freedom's sword40 ,a mile distant is the scene of the battle of ,bannockburn where ,robert ,bruce achieved the deliverance of the ,scottish people from the despotism of ,edward #ast1 and established their independence as a nation4 ,it is the land where mountain torrents rave down the glens1 or tumble from the steep torn into foam2 or that murmur softly as they steal along on the level plain under the hazel and the broom1 a land whose ruggid coast lines are indented by immense fissures through which the ocean pours its tidal waves to expand into lakes in the interior--lakes which mirror the giant forms of the mountains1 and higher up where lonely tarns sleep1 and the nests of the sea gull and the eagle remain undisturbed in their solitude4 ,it is a land where magic cloud scenes unfold their sudden splendors in fiery crimson and gold1 or whose skies darken in fierce tempests that blot out mountain and plain in a moment in the whirling gusts and eddies of wind and rain4 ,a land1 in brief1 which has many vicissitudes of climate1 from the wild winter storms to the soft and gentle touches of spring--the fervid heats of summer melting into the glowing radiance of autumn sunsets unrivalled for beauty of coloring4 ,one stroke of ,scott's magic pen pictures it thus3 8,the ,western waves of ebbing day ,rolled o'er the glen their level way2 ,each purple peak1 each flinty spire ,was bathed in floods of living fire40 ,the capital city of ,scotland is ,edinburgh4 ,it is a city of marvelous contrasts in the style of its architecture4 ,it is divided into the old and the new towns4 ,but the first of these arrests the attention1 chiefly from the quaint and curious combinations in structure which its buildings present4 ,they are built of stone1 and many of them rise ten and twelve stories1 their entrances carved with figures grotesque and repulsive--griffins1 dragons1 monsters--half beast and half man1 with hideous scowls and leers glare and grin upon you as if daring you to enter4 ,on one of the lower streets is the 8,grass ,market0 which was the principal place for public evecutions1 and where so many of the martyrs of the ,scottish covenant sealed their testimony to the truth of ,god's word with their blood4 ,this spot recalls many of the dark deeds of an age which placed an interdict upon the human mind1 attempted to rule conscience by the strong arm of law1 and crush human liberty under the iron heel of remorseless and ferocious oppression4 ,here is ,holyrood palace1 an ancient pile with its quadrangles1 courts1 turrets1 winding stone stairs1 and long resounding corridors4 ,here is the secret stair upon which1 on that memorable night in ,scottish history1 crept ,ruthren1 ,douglass1 and their co-conspirators1 who bursting into the ,queen's private apartment1 seized ,rizzio1 the ,italian singer1 and in spite of his cries for mercy1 and the intercession of his royal mistress1 dragged him out upon the landing1 and stabbed him to death with their daggers4 ,the stain of his blood is shown on the oaken floor to this day4 ,a little way up the ,cannon gate stands the house of ,john ,knox1 that man of iron resolution and overpowering eloquence1 who alone dared to face the treacherous and unhappy ,queen and wring from her eyes the tears of vain but exasperated importunity4 ,this is he who prayed in the over pouring interest of his soul1 8,lord1 give me ,scotland else ,i die10 and whose epitaph was1 8,here lies one who never feared the face of man40 ,edinburg has many monuments to its ,kings1 ,princes1 and great warriars1 but the monument to ,john ,knox is not of brass or marble1 but a more enduring memorial built in the deathless admiration and affection of the ,scottish people4 ,he was a man for the age in which he lived4 ,much however1 which he did and said can not be approved in the clearer light and under the calmer judgment of this century1 and by the unimpassioned standard of a juster apprehension of ,god's scheme of human salvation4 ,still he was one of the greatest minds ,scotland has produced1 and his name is enrolled among the immortals4 ,a little to the ,southeast of ,edinburgh rises a lofty hill1 called 8,arthur's seat40 ,it presents a curious phenomnon in the outlines of its summit4 ,looking at it from the eastern side in the purple glow of sunset1 there is clearly defined in beautiful but colossal proportions the form of a couchant lion1 one part of the summit to the left forming the hips1 the other elevation the neck and head1 the undulation between showing the soft outlines and symmetrical bend of the body4 ,the head seems to rest on the outstretched paws and slightly turned1 looks as if watching the city with sleepless vigilance4 ,in one of the most conspicuous points of ,princes street stands that splendid triumph of architectural genius dedicated to the brightest mind in literature which ,scotland claims4 ,a man dear to every lover of ancient song and story--one who has robed the mountains1 valleys and streams of ,scotland with immortal glory and universal renoun--,sir ,walter ,scott4 ,we have spent many a pleasant hour studying the rugged and homely face of that figue which sits in the ,centre with the ,scottish plait thrown over his sholder and his favorite and famous stag-hound crouching at his feet4 ,he has given to ,scotland a citizenship of literature4 ,scenery1 monuments1 houses1 cottages1 characters of every age and condition from the baron to the fisherman1 from the lady to the smuggler and fish wife4 ,the witchery of the man's genius has cast its spell over every ,englid-speaking nation4 ,in every society that cultivates the graces and refinements of polite literature1 no author holds a place of higher distinction than ,walter ,scott4 ,his works are classics4 ,with the exception of ,shakespeare1 no author has 8held the mirror up to nature0 and pictured it with such graphic nicety of detail and gracefulness of flowing outlines as this 8wizard of the north40 ,he opens wide the doors of romance and invites us to partake with him in the rich and abundant banquet of song and story which a thousand years of history have been preparing1 and which he has with prodigious labor and unwearied industry collected with his own hand and brain and disposed on the ample board with such graceful profusion4 ,the guests he invites us to meet are for the most part real men and women--heroes whose deeds of powess eclipse in daring and self-sacrifice the classic warriors who wandered with ,aeneas1 and battled around the walls of ancient ,troy4 ,the martial ardor of ,wallace and ,rob ,roy is kindled in our breasts1 we catch the glow of a holy and patriatic inspiration as we stand with the heroes of the ,scottish covenant at ,drumclog1 and see them after psalm and prayer in fierce conflict with the ,royal forces under ,claverhouse1 and putting them to flight after one of the bloodiest battles1 for the number engaged recorded in history4 ,then we bewail the woeful fanaticism that turned their camp into a school of wrangling polemics1 thus forestalling their ignommious and irretrievable disaster at ,bothwell ,bride--a defeat which ,clavenhouse swore would redeem his disgrace in a tenfold measure at ,drumclog4 ,or again we are transported into some sylvan retreat1 and trip lightly among the sweet mountain harebells in the west with 8,the ,lady of the ,lake40 ,we watch the hunt as it dashes through the perilous defiles where the rocks in the mountain gorge seem 8,as if an infant's touch would urge ,their headlong passages down the verge40 ,or the blood tingles and the eye dilates with tremulous uncertainty as to the issue of the combat between ,fitz ,james and ,roderich ,dhu4 ,there is the subtle and agile ,saxon loot to foot with the larger1 but not less heroic gael2 and when the latter goes down blinded with blood and fury1 and falls fainting on the sod leaving his antagonist breathless but unscathed1 we confess our sympathy is largely with the brave but unfortunate highlander1 and feel sorry that he did not succeed in giving the gay and lordly ,fitz a refreshing diff with his dagger before he fainted and fell4 ,then the scene changes and we are with ,marmion where 8,day1 sets on ,normans castled steep1 and ,cheviot's mountains lone10 we follow the gloomy spirit through its conflicts1 its sorrows and its crimes1 and watch the last tragic scene of his eventful history4 ,the battle is raging over the pain and ,marmion is dragged out of it wounded1 but his fiery spirit unsubdued4 ,the priest is near him with his consolations1 and better still the tender angelic ministries of a wronged but forgiving woman4 8,with fruitless labor bound ,and strove to staunch each flowing wound ,the ,monk with unavailing cares ,exhausted all the ,church's prayers1 ,ever he saw that close and near ,a lady's voice1 was in his ear1 ,and that the priest he could not hear ,for that she ever sang3 ,in the lost battle bourne down by the flying ,when mingles war's rattle with the groans of the dying ,so the notes ring ,the war that for a space did fail ,now trebly thundering swelled the gale ,and ,stanley was the cry ,alight on ,marmion's vision spread ,and fixed his glassy eye ,with dying hand above his head ,he shook the fragment of his blade ,and shouted victory6 ,charge1 ,chester charge1 on ,stanley on6 ,were the last words of ,marmion40 ,he had the rare facutly of compressing a whole life's romance in a few stanzas1 as in 8,lochinvar40 ,scott's was not wholly an ideal world1 nor his life a romance4 ,there was something very real and prosaic in it--something also of the tragic4 ,not a few of the virtues of his ideal heroes became prominent in his own life4 ,after his fame had been established1 and nothing of earthly ambition and popular applause remained unsatisfied1 there came upon him those sweeping financial disasters in which his own fortunes and those of ,constable his publisher went down in wreck and ruin that seemed irretrievable4 ,but with a heroism unparalled in the history of literature1 he girds himself anew to cancel by his pen a debt that was colossal in its magnitude4 ,he was fifty-five years of age4 ,he could accept no compromise1 but goes to work writing untiringly until by sheer force and industry he succeeded in paying off seventy thousand of the one hundred and seventeen thousand pounds sterling which was the sum total of his debt1 but he achieved that tremendous feat at the expense of an exhauseted brain and a paralyzed body4 ,he perished in the attempt to redeem his honor and good name4 ,but the name remains immortal and while ,scottish hearts and ,scottish brains throb and beat1 and tears and smiles be evoked as a tribute to genius1 the memory of ,scott shall remain enshrined on the deathless galaxy of fame4 ,another of the great names imperishably with old ,caledonia is that of ,robert ,burns1 the darling of the ,scottish muse1 the pride and glory of his native land1 and the idol of the ,scottish people4 ,poor unfortunate child of genius4 ,it is hard to read his brief history without being choked with our sobs4 ,beginning life in the midst of the deepest poverty1 we are told that the miserable clay hovel in which he first saw the light was partly wrecked by a ,january tempest on the very night of his birth--sad forecast of the brief1 bitter1 and stormy career which awaited him4 ,at sixteen years of age he tells us his life was 8the cheerless gloom of a hermit with the unceasing toil of a galley slave40 ,after his father's death the little paternal estae had to be sold to satisfy creditors1 and after three years 8tossing and whirling in the vortex of litigation0 ,robert and his brother ,gilbert succeeded in saving a trifle from the clutches of the lawyears by stepping in as creditors for arrears of wages4 ,when they got to work again the poet received the sum of seven pounds sterling 7#ce dollars7 per annum4 ,troubles multiplied upon him owing chiefly to his own indiscretions until he says frankly 8even in the hour of social mirth1 my gayety is the madness of an intoxicated criminal under the hands of the executioner40 ,but in the midst of his daily durgery and incessant toil through summer heats and winter tempests1 traveling through the snow1 toiling at the plow1 thrashing his grain with the 8weary flingin tree10 attending market1 he nevertheless found time to chant some of the sweetest lyrics ever penned4 ,the outward conditions of his life were dark and lowering1 but these could not quench those movements and ambitions of his inner man which flamed up like the lurid flashes of volcanic fires1 and threw over the dark shadows of his destiny1 a glory and a radiant heat which no adversity could quench4 ,he works like a slave1 it is true1 but he must need pour in as occasion offered the pure and holy oil of lofty aspirations gathered from nature's ample store1 and a few well worn books1 to feed the deathless flame of song which had begun to burn upon the altar of his heart4 8,he carried a book to study at spare moments in the field and he wore out thus two copies of ,mac,kenzie's ,man of ,feeling40 ,a suggestive hint1 for with all his misfortunes1 and his sins1 perhaps1 no more tender heart ever beat in human breast than that of ,robert ,burns4 ,none more loyal to friendship or more sensitive to generous love and sympathy4 8,there is sacrecely any earthly object0 he says1 8which gives me more pleasure than to walk in the sheltered side of a wood1 or high plantation on a cloudy winter day1 and hear the stormy wind houling among the trees1 and raving over the plain4 ,i listened to the birds and frequently turned out of my path1 lest ,i should disturb their little song or frighten them to another station40 ,doubless his own misfortunes brought him into closer relations of sympathetic feeling even with the poorest and meanest things that were suddenly exposed to loss and pain1 as for instance in the inadvertent passage of his ploughshare through a field mouse's nest4 ,listen to his tender strain4 8,we sleekit ,cowerin timerous beastie1 ,o what a pancis in thy breastie2 ,thou need nae start awa sae hasty1 ,wi bickerin brattle ,i wad de laith to rin and chase thee ,wi murderin pattle40 ,he moralizes at once1 and does not think it beneath his dignity to put himself on the same plane for a time even with a mouse4 8,i'm truly sorry man's dominion ,has broken nature's social union ,an justifies that ill opinion ,which makes thee startle ,at me1 thy poor earth born companion ,an fellow moral40 ,he sees in the house of 8leaves and stubble0 so carefully collected against the winter storm1 and analogy which he is slow to improve4 8,but mousie thou art no thy lane ,in proving fore sight may be vain ,the best laid schemes o' mince and men ,gang aft agley ,an1 lea us naught but grief and pain ,for promised joy40 ,perhaps the key note to ,burns' muse may be found in the homage which he paid to woman4 8,he was alwoys in love10 and he sang of love in strains as sweet as any mortal minstrel ever made1 but he was only a mortal after all3 and his illicit loves are the darkest blot on his name4 ,but at first this passion burned with a pure and guileless fervor2 and the sweetest lyric of his muse is the product of an early attachment for ,mary ,campbell whom 8death untimely frost0 snatched from his embrace4 ,on the anniversary of her death1 he had stayed out all night in the barn1 tossing and tumbling till the dawn of day2 and before the morning star was quenched in the rising sun1 he went into the house and wrote3 8,thou lingering star1 with less'ning ray1 ,that lov'st to greet the early morn1 ,again1 thou usher'st in the day1 ,my ,mary1 from my soul was torn4 ,o1 ,mary6 dear departed shade6 ,where is thy place of blissful rest8 ,seest thou thy lover1 lowly laid8 ,hear'st thou the groans1 that rend his breast8 ,that sacred hour--can ,i forget1 ,can ,i forget the hallow'd grove1 ,where1 by the winding ,ayr we met1 ,to live one day of parting love6 ,eternity--will not efface ,those records dear1 of transports past2 ,thy image1 at our last embrace6 ,ah6 little thought ,i 'twas our last6 ,ayr1 gurgling1 kissed his pebbled shore1 ,o'erhung with wild woods' thich'ning green2 ,the fragant birch1 and hawthorn here1 ,twin'd amorous round the raptur'd scene3 ,the flowers sprang--wanton to be prest1 ,the bird sang love--on every spray2 ,till1 too soon1 the glowing west1 ,proclaim'd the speed of winged day4 ,still o'er these scenes my mem'ry wakes1 ,and fondly broods1 with miser care6 ,time but the impression deeper makes1 ,as streams--their channels deeper wear4 ,my ,mary6 dear departed shade6 ,where is thy place of blissful rest8 ,seest thou thy lover lowly laid8 ,hear'st thou the groans that rend his breats80 ,no one has painted with such consummate skill1 such tender grace1 and with such depth of coloring 8the short and simple annals of the poor0 as ,burns has done4 ,he knew by bitter experience the struggles of poverty1 the grinding toil needed to wring from an inhospitable climate1 and unkindly soil the meagre products which barely supported life4 ,his 8,cottars' ,saturday ,night0 is a picture of peasant life in ,scotland unequalled for purity and beauty by any production of genius1 and is1 we think1 the crowning triumph of his poetic skill4 ,it is a finished production1 and his words flash upon our memory and imagination those scnes of humble but honest poverty1 pious worth and modest joys1 which relieve the monotonous burden of the ,scottish laborer's daily toil4 ,the week's work is done1 and the poor toiler1 gathering his few implements together1 wends his way across the moor to his humble home4 ,his gleeful little ones run to meet him4 ,he is saluted by the kindly smile of a contented wife4 ,a bright fire throws a genial glow over his poor but tidy home4 ,the elder brains drop in with the scanty pittances earned by domestic services among their neighbors4 ,jenny1 the pride of the family1 in the first bloom of womanhood1 introduces with bashful modesty1 an honest lad worthy of her love and confidence4 ,the mother is glad that her brain is 8respected like the lave40 8,the father chats of horses1 plows1 and kye40 ,the humble1 hospitable board is spread1 and the evening meal is eaten with grateful thanks to ,god4 ,then 8the big ha' ,bible0 is brought out1 and the old song that fired to enthusiasm the children of the ,scottish covenant in their wanderings1 is sung1 and 8the saint1 the father1 and the husband prays3 8,that thus they all shall meet in future days1 ,there1 ever bask in uncreated rays1 ,no more to sigh1 or shed the tear1 ,together hymning their ,creator's praise1 ,in such society1 yet still more dear2 ,while circling time moves round in an eternal sphere40 ,as he tells the touching and familiar story1 a glow of honest pride in his native land kindles in his breast1 and he places the chaplet of honor upon the brow of pious poverty4 8,from scenes like these1 old ,scotia's grandeur springs ,that make her loved at home1 reveered abroad4 ,princes and ,lords are but the breath of ,kings1 ,an honest man's the noblest work of ,god40 ,genius had few liberal patrons at that time2 and the compensations rendered to those who worshipped at the shrine of the ,muses1 consisted in great part in patronizing invitations to big dinners or in treats in the dram shops1 where poets paid for their etertainment by appearing as prodigies1 or by bartering the fine gold of their wit for draughts from the ,circean ,cup of popular applause and brutal intoxication4 ,the convivial usages of the country were almost universal2 and ,burns1 with his genial nature and love of society1 easily fell a prey to the seductions of ,bacchus4 ,it was considered an insult to hospitality to sit down to dinner in the house of a friend and get up from the table sober4 ,it was a time when hosts were not solicitous about the results of a revel or the comfort of guests1 provided that there was a plentiful supply of hot water and sugar to replenish the punch bowl4 8,but what will ,i do for beds for all these men80 said ,margaret1 the ,laird of ,logan's house keeper4 8,keep the kettle boiling ,marg'et ma ,wooman10 said the ,laird1 8and they will a find beds for themselves0 to be fechtin' fou' or 8greetin' fow0 was regarded as the normal condition of a well dined gentleman4 ,it was too often alas at such shrines and amid such scenes that poor ,burns kindled the torch of his inspiration4 ,he drew from life when in his masterpiece of 8,tam ,o',shanter0 he pictured two drunken ,cronies seeking respite from care in foaming tankards of ale inn3 8,auld ,ayr1 wham ne're a toon surpasses ,for honest men and bonnie lassies40 ,at ,tam's elbow sits ,soute ,johnie3 8,his ancient droutly cronie3 ,tam lo'ed him like a verra brither2 ,they had been fou for week thegether40 ,none knew better than ,burns how ephemeral are the joys of social drinking1 and no one has ever produced such a chain of similitudes to describe their fleeting sweetness4 8,but pleasures are like poppies spread1 ,you seize the flower1 its bloom is shed2 ,or like the ,borealis race ,that flit ere you can point their place2 ,or like the rainbow's lovely form ,evanishing amid the storm4 ,or like the snow-flakes in the river1 ,a moment white1 then melts forever40 ,we know of nothing in literature that1 in the same space1 contains so much of the homely1 the horrible1 and the grotesque1 as will be found in this poem4 ,there is a sharp ,rembrandt-like minuteness in the details of this ,scotch ,walpurgis night that produces terror on the reader mingled with an irrisistible inclination to shriek with laughter4 ,we watch the hard drunken sot 8,weel mounted on his gray mare1 ,meg1 ,a better never lifted leg40 ,skelping along through the mud and pouring rain1 the lightnings flashing from 8pole to pole40 8,whiles holding fast his guid blue bonnet1 ,whiles croomin o'er some auld ,scotch sonnet ,while peepm round with prudent care ,lest bogles catch him unaware40 ,every turn in the road has its tragic associations4 ,here a packman was smothered in the snow4 ,here hunters found a murdered child4 ,here an old thorn tree near a well where a woman hanged herself1 etc4 ,till the adventurers are crowned on his approaching the old ,kirk at ,alloway which seems blazing to heaven4 ,we have stood in it1 and really it looks a very innocent ruin1 nothing but four stone walls1 roofles1 with a niche at one end where he old pulpit once stood4 ,but in that neche ,burns put 8,aul ,nick0 as a piper to whose music a rabble rout of sheol are dancing 8fast and furious40 ,tammie urges on his mare until he comes into the sheolish light which gilds the ghastly scene1 where the bones of murderers1 the garter that strangled a babe1 the knife that lacerated the throat of a father4 8,and more of horrible and awful ,which even to name would be unlawful40 ,he cannot restrain a feeling of tender pity for one of the horrible crew who had been that very night enrolled among them4 ,he thinks of the time when she was a little innocent child4 8,o little kenned thy reveren'd granny ,the sack she ,coft for her wee ,nannie ,wi'twa pund ,scots 'twas a' her riches1 ,should ever grace dance o' witches40 ,the climax is reached when ,tam1 carried away by his wonder at the marvelous agility displayed by the leader of the infernal gang who was arrayed in a very abbreviated under garment1 cries out3 8,weel dune cutty sark ,and in an instant a'was dark10 ,this precipitates the catastrophe4 8,as bess bizz out wi1 angry fik ,when murderons assail their bike ,as open pussey's mortal foes ,when1 pop1 she starts before their nose1 ,as eager runs the market crowd ,when 8catch the thief0 resounds aloud1 ,so ,maggie runs the witche's fetlow1 ,with many an eldritch scretch and hollow40 ,the devotee of ,bacchees hastens to procure the protection of the river ,doon as witches dare not cross a running stream1 and is indebted to his good horse for his safety although that is secured at the expense of her tail which she leaves in the clutches of the 8,carlin40 ,perhaps the songs of ,burns have exercised a more universal influence than his poems4 ,they seize the heart and hold it as by a spell of enchantment4 ,who knows not the grand nation melody 8,scots wha hae0 and the familiar lyrics 8,auld ,lang ,syne10 8,john ,anderson1 ,my ,joe10 8,comin' through the ,rye10 etc4 ,in most of his songs there is a strain of sadness as indeed there is in most of the finest ,scottish lyrics other than those written by ,burns4 ,the brightest gems of the ,muse show the sparkle of tears or utter the sad sigh which one hears in the moan of the waves1 or the wail of the midnight wind through a pine forest4 ,but the songs of ,burns have a charm that enlist the sympathy of the whole world4 ,he voices the universal experience4 ,he is the high priest of nature4 ,his words give tone and character to the passion1 the sorrows1 the pains and the joys of common people4 ,he uses no artifice to engage the interest of others4 ,his genius was a well-spring fresh and pure from the fountains of the heart1 in its first unstrained gushings3 too soon1 alas1 to migle with the defiling tributaries which a bitter experience of human life brought to blend with the clearer stream4 ,with his great heart burning with a sense of wrong done him by those who ought to have sheltered and befriended him1 mixed also with the bitter reflection that his own indiscretions and sins had entailed suffering and shame upon himself and upon those who were dearer to him than his own life1 he sinks into the dark tide of death as the age of #ch years2 not1 we trust1 without a hope that the infinite ,father of mercy had heard the piteous appeal which he recorded in these words4 8,o thou great governor of all below ,if ,i may dare a litted eye to thee1 ,for all unfit ,i feel my powers to be ,to rule their torrent in the hollowed line ,o aid me with thy help1 ,omnipotence ,divine40 ,he wrote his own epitaph1 and it is an honest and sincere confession1 but if he had lived under more favorable auspices1 and had his environment been such as to assure that the flame of his genius would have been nourished from the altars of a purer and fitter companionship1 he would probably have penned a far different stanza than this which fitly closes a dark and stormy career1 not unrelieved by many bright flashes of hope and gladness4 8,the poor inhabitant below ,was quick to learn and wise to know ,and dearly felt the amorous glow ,and social flame ,but thoughtless follies laid him low ,and stained him name40 ,a spirit kindred to that of ,robert ,burns and one whose fame shall never perish1 or be dimmed while 8,annie ,laurie0 is sung--and where is it not sung8 ,it is that of ,robert ,tannahill1 a poor ,paisley weaver4 ,we have stood on the bridge which spans the canal near the city1 and looked with sorrowful interest into that pool in the corner1 where1 driven by the demons of poverty and unappreciated talent1 the disracted author ended his brief life4 ,he was a true poet4 ,he wrote many songs that the world will not willingly let die4 ,one of the stanzas is peculiarly fine in its delicacy and tenderness3 8,towering o'er the ,newton woods ,laverocks fan the snaw white clouds ,siller saughs wi downy buds ,adorn the banks sae biery4 ,sweet the snaw flowers early bell ,decks ,gleniffers dewy dell ,blooming like thy bonny sell ,my ain my artless deary40 ,we would mention another bright name also a native of this same town of ,paisley4 ,john ,wilson--known better by his pen name of 8,christopher ,north0 the author of 8,noctes ,ambrosianae40 ,he rose from obscurity to great honor and to the chair of moral philosophy in the ,university of ,ediuburgh4 ,he was a giant in stature as well as in mind1 and one of the knightliest of men4 ,no one who ever met ,wilson striding along the street1 his long yellow hair flowing over his shoulders1 his blue eyes gleaming with merriment1 and glowing with an intelligence that comprehend every department of knowledge1 could ever forget him4 ,he may be fairly ranked with ,scott and ,burns in the power he exercised in the later part of his life1 in storming the heart of the ,scottish people--becoming at last their idol and great literary representative4 ,he was conemporary with ,thomas ,brown whom he succeeded in the chair of moral philosophy1 and with ,sir ,william ,hamilton1 who was a candidate with him for the chair1 but who1 up to that time1 had not given to the public those proofs of that consumate ability by which he was afterwards distinguished1 and which placed him in the foremost rank of the most eminent ,european scholars4 ,wilson once a poet1 lecturer1 statesman1 orator1 and novelist4 ,he was the intimate friend of ,coleridge1 ,woodsworth1 and ,southey4 ,his poems of the 8,isle of ,palms0 and the 8,city of the ,plague0 are productions that gave him a worthy place among those bright lights of song shed so brilliant a luster over that age of great minds1 and whose genuis has bequeathed to all future time1 the priceless legacy if immortal harmonies and wealth of thought4 ,he was with all a very muscular ,christian2 8for on more than one occasion1 the singular spectacle was exhibited of a ,scotch professor of moral science taking off his coat in a public market place to inflict personal chastisment on some ruffian whose obnoxious proceedings has done outrage to his nicer sense of the fitness of things40 ,he was1 with ,lockheart1 one of the original contributors to ,blackwood's ,magazine1 and helped more than any other author to give that publication a popularity that continues to this day4 ,it is said of ,aytoun1 ,professor of ,rhetoric and ,belles ,letters in ,ediuburgh ,university1 when he was courting ,wilson's daughter that he could not summon up courage to ask her father to give his consent to their marriage1 although he knew how exalted a place he occupied in ,wilson's estimation4 ,here stood the silver tongued ,aytown1 week after week1 trying to screw up his courage to ask the question that filled his heart1 but he could not do it4 ,at length he said3 8,jessie1 will you go and ask your father for me as ,i cannot80 ,jessie was soon beside her father and acquainted him with how matters stood4 8,puir ,aytown10 said ,wilson1 8,i maun gie him his answer in writing40 ,so saying he wrote a line without ,jessie's knowledge of its purport1 and pinning it on the back of her dress1 sent her off to ,aytoun whom he well knew was just at that moment fully appreciating the significance of the verb 8to wait40 8,what did he say1 ,jessie80 was the impatient interrogatory of the loving professor4 ,jessie turned her back for once upon her lover1 and then he read the precious answer3 8,with the ,author's compliments40 ,this same little town of ,paisley is distinguished as the birth place of another ,wilson who is worthy of mention here because he became famous as the great 8,american ornithologist0--,alexander ,wilson1 born #agff4 ,he began his career also as a poet with a witty and felicitous production called3 8,watty and ,meg40 ,that brings out with marvelous fidelity some of the most humurous phases of ,scottish life and character4 ,he came to ,america in #agid1 and after many and thrilling adventures1 gave to the world his great book on 8,american ,birds0 in seven quarto volumes4 ,george ,ord and ,charles ,lucein ,bonaparte completed the work by issuing1 after ,wilson's death1 four volumes more4 ,it is a record of patient industry that helped to put this land forward in the records of fame1 and publish to the world its marvelous resources4 ,we might give brief sketches of such4 ,dr4 ,thomas ,guthrie1 the father of the ragged schools of ,scotland4 ,one short story will illustrate how earnest was the ,doctor in his efforts to save the children from the dismal and fearful depths of vice and crime and infamy4 ,one night at a public meeting1 a reverend but very unsympathetic speaker described the ragged school children as rescals and vagabonds1 the scum of the country4 ,when ,guthrie's time for speaking came1 he arose with pale face and quivering lips1 seized a sheet of writing paper from the table1 and holding it up1 said3 8,this was once the scum of the country--once foul1 wretched rags4 ,in it1 now white as the snows of heaven1 behold an emblem of the work our ragged schools have achieved40 ,and there was ,sir ,david ,brewster who could 8scan with more than an eagle's eye1 the mighty creations in the bosom of space1 and ,hugh ,miller1 that huge geological hammer1 inscribed with ,hebrew characters4 ,it is a very noticeable fact1 that those minds that have most largely influenced the thought and progress of civilized nations have not in the main borrowed their light from an illustrious and wealthy ancestry1 but have risen from the ranks and been found chiefly among the humble sons of poverty and toil4 ,the genius of ,scotland has been nourished and developed amid hard and hostile conditions4 ,it has grown strong and rooted itself deeply amid tempests and storms6 not amid the soft and voluptuous ease of effeminate luxury4 ,it has given to the world the brightest trophies of sciences1 philosophy1 oratory1 and song4 ,its sons have been scattered among all people2 but as a rule they have commanded the respect and enlisted the effections of all among whom their lot has been cast4 ,they have ever felt the force of that fine sentiment expressed by the greatestk of their poets4 8,is no in title nor in rank ,its no in wealth like ,lunnom ,bonk ,to purchase peace and rest4 ,its no in makin' muckle mare ,its no in books1 it no in lair ,to make us truly blest4 ,if happiness has not its seat and centre in the breast1 ,we may be wise1 or rich1 or great1 but never can be blest4 ,nae treasurers nor pleasures ,can make us happy lang ,the hearts aye the part aye ,that makes us rich or wrang40