The power of this description proceeds from its intrusion as the sudden unpremeditated outburst of a mental state stimulated by the weird and uncanny situation. Passing from the storm to the witches' dance we get an additional example of the Poet's discriptive power and gifts of rapid transition. The humour is not vulgar, and harmonizes perfectly with the rest of the picture. Great as Burns was as a poet, he was even greater as a songwriter. Indeed, Carlyle has said that his chief influence as an author will ultimately depend on his songs. Unfettered by rules By of poetic art his songs are the spontaneous outburst of genuine heart-felt emotion; love, pity, or patriotism is poured from the deepest receptacles of his sensitive nature. In his songs, as in his poems, he continued and made more perfect the works others had begun, by building on old foundations, and yet he is entitled to the claim of originality. Out of coarseness and confusion he brought forth order and refinement, and by his inimitable gift he ranks as the first of all our song-writers. We instinctively recall the martial fury of "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," the comic archness of "Duncan Gray," the Bacchanalian revel of "Willie brew'd a peck o' maut," the tender pathos of " Mary in Heaven," and the lofty independence of “A man's a man for a' that." his poems Burns first emerged from the obscurity of a Scottish peasant, and became entitled to an important position in the literature of his country, but his songs entitle him to rank among the great poets of the world. Just as Shakespeare was borne to the proud pre-eminence of the first of dramatic poets on the accumulated genius of his predecessors in the same field, so Burns was borne to the pre-eminence of the first of song-writers on the accumulated genius of a whole dynasty of lyrical poets. To the treasury of Scottish song many excellent examples have been contributed since his day, which do infinite credit to their writers, but no single one of them has done so much for the abiding glory of Scottish song as did Burns. As a prose writer he has not given hostage to fame to the same extent as he has done as a poet though in the matter of quantity his prose exceeds his verse. His prose for the most part consists of letters, but it includes a valuable fragment of autobiography, three journals made at Mossgiel, Edinburgh, and Ellisland respectively, also an account of his Border Tour, his tour in the Highlands, and historical notes of two collections of Scottish song. These, however, are but a small proportion compared with his letters. Upwards of five hundred and fifty letters have been published, nor does this include all the letters he wrote, though no doubt it comprises all the most important and characteristic of them. One of the most remarkable features of Burns's correspondents is their number, and the difference of their social status; they include all ranks and conditions-Professors, Earls, Dukes, Doctors, Lawyers, Farmers, Ploughmen, and Servant Girls. Indeed none of our great letterwriting poets, including Gray, Cowper, and Byron, commanded anything like so wide and varied a circle. In their essence his letters manifest much the same features as his poems, the same strong personality, the same view of life in a theological, political and social sense-in short, the same aggressive, manly independence. Indeed, Jeffrey maintained that the letters of Burns had given him a higher opinion of him as a man than did his poetry, though both alike bore the impress of genius. This is no small compliment from so uncompromising a critic as the editor of the Edinburgh Review. Dr Robertson, too, comparing his prosewritings with his verse, "thought his prose the most extraordinary of the two for its vigour of intellect and wide range of knowledge." In spite of the testimony of those and other great critics, however, the verdict of posterity generally is emphatic in its opinion that Burns's poetry far eclipses his prose-writings. must be conceded that these latter do not manifest the same spontaneous and natural style apparent in the vigorous simplicity of his verse. The popular opinion as to the defects of his prose is due to the fact that the Poet was not such a master of the English tongue as he was of his native Doric. Though there is some truth in this, it is by no means the whole truth, and far too much importance has been attached thereto. In many cases his correspondents were people moving in a more exalted social sphere, whose scholastic attainments were superior to his, and whose It relations to him he had not had opportunities of accurately gauging. When writing to such people, he begins and ends on an artificial note, with the intention of being agreeable to them and shielding his own pride and independency from the possibility of slight or humiliation. When he writes to known and trusted friends his style becomes natural, elegant, and expressive. This is fully illustrated in the Dunlop Correspondence, that of Dr Moore, and others; while in the Clarinda Correspondence we do not get the natural man, but an artificial Burns, striving for effect in the estimation of a woman whose education was equal, if not superior, to his own. Moreover, it is probable that Burns, with all his literary strength and originality, was not free from the faults of his male contemporaries who were afraid to surrender that superiority of wit and learning they liked to assume over the gentler sex. It matters not what plea may be advanced in defence of the artificial nature of the Clarinda Correspondence, it has done much to damage the Poet's reputation as a prose-writer. When writing to a professor or great nobleman with whom he had but slight acquaintance the Poet adopted a similar stilted style, differing in degree only; but after all, perhaps too much has been made of this by the fastidious critic. Even in the province of poetry and song, where Burns is at his strongest and best, all his productions would not bear the strictest test of critical analysis. In the personality of Burns there is much that is fascinating and noble, though there is much in his life to regret and censure, but if he had not been a man of strong passions he could not have been the great poet he was. All the qualities of his highly strung and sensitive nature tended to excess, and contained the elements of the whirlwind of passion that devastates as well as produces the sweet melody which soothes the human soul. In censuring the failings of Burns, the faults of the age in which he lived have been too frequently overlooked, for no man can be fairly judged apart from his environment. In succession to Robert Burns no more appropriate name can be added than that of Robert Heron, his first biographer--a man who from his achievements in literature, apart from his Robert Heron, association with the Poet, is entitled to a brief notice. Robert Heron, the son of a weaver, was born at NewGalloway in 1764, in a small thatched house in the main street, which was for the most part composed of thatched houses, without either fire-places or chimneys, the smoke issuing from the doors. His father, John Heron, was at one time Bailie of the small Burgh, and was a man of some intelligence, with an instinctive desire to keep abreast of the times. At that time the only newspaper that came to NewGalloway was the London Chronicle, which was lent to John Heron by Gordon of Kenmure Castle. Heron was in the habit of reading its contents aloud to his staff of weavers, amongst whom was John Lowe, the author of "Mary's Dream." In those surroundings Robert Heron was nurtured until he was nine years of age, after which he attended school for two years. When eleven years of age he supported himself by teaching and writing, and by the time he was sixteen he had earned sufficient money to pay for the classes at Edinburgh University for one session. While at Edinburgh his parents supported him on oatmeal and potatoes from New-Galloway, and these formed his main subsistence. On his father's side there was a strong predilection for knowledge, and a desire for the cultivation of literary taste. Robert's grandmother was aunt to Dr Alexander Murray, the famous linguist and oriental scholar. In those days there was little disposition to spare the rod and spoil the child, and Heron. who had a quick and impetuous temper, sometimes punished his pupils with unnecessary severity. In his youth he was a great reader, and his knowledge soon became vast and varied. While still in his teens he was appointed parochial teacher of Kelton, where he remained two years, after which he returned to Edinburgh, his father having intended him for the Church; but as there was no appearance of him obtaining patronage in the Church he turned his attention to literature, and in 1798, when twenty years of age, he edited Thomson's Seasons. His introductory critique. was regarded as a piece of clever and judicious writing, and was subsequently incorporated in the elaborate edition of Thomson's He poetical works, published at Perth. This was the means of first bringing Heron into public notice. Being an adept at languages he next applied himself to the work of translating. translated Arabian Tales, being a continuation of the Arabian Nights, also Niebuhr's Travels through Arabia, Letters between General Dumourier and Pache, Garat's Memories of the Revolution, and a number of others. Indeed, few writers contributed to so many papers and magazines as did Robert Heron. His knowledge was great, and his ambition knew no bounds, and ultimately the necessity to write as a means of living was a greater incentive than all. He even ventured upon a series of lectures on law and jurisprudence, but they did not prove a success. By this time Heron had abandoned all idea of going into the Church, thinking it beneath the dignity of a man who could earn more than three hundred a year by his pen. It is scarcely possible to imagine a man so ill-adapted for success as poor Heron. To use a quotation from Dr Johnson's life of the poet Savage, "The reigning error of his life was that he mistook the love for the practice of virtue, and was not so much a good man as the friend of goodness." In writing to his parents, who had no doubt given him some much-needed counsel, he gives expression to the following: "O forget and forgive my follies, look upon me as a son who will anxiously strive to comfort and please you, and, after all your misfortunes, to render the evening of your days as happy as possible." "But he returned like the dog to its vomit and the sow that is washed to its wallowing in the mire." In spite of his faithful promises to his parents, a brief season of prosperity made him intemperate, vain, and ostentatious, alluring him into extravagant and imprudent habits. No sooner did he feel his feet than he set up a carriage and pair of horses, with a lackey dressed in gay and expensive livery. The result was that his funds soon became exhausted and his effects were seized upon and sold by his creditors, who, in addition, obtained a warrant for his person. For a time he escaped his pursuers by taking shelter in the Abbey Sanctuary of Holyrood, where he would study and write in his rooms for |