offered to accommodate Robert with what money he might need for this purpose (L.27); but advised him to go to Edinburgh as the fittest place for publishing." When Burns, acting on this advice, set out for Edinburgh, he had not, as he himself states, a single letter of introduction in his pocket, and we would be quite at a loss to know how he was able to form so sudden an acquaintance with the nobility and literati of the Scottish capital, were we not assured, on good authority, that he owed this, in a great measure, to his appearance among the Masonic brethren. It was they who introduced him into the best circles of society; who put money in his purse to supply his wants; who procured subscribers for the new edition of his poems; who formed his companions in his tours; who were his chief epistolary correspondents; who gave him accommodation in their houses; who obtained his appointment in the Excise; and who, last of all, put him in possession of a farm-the chief object of his desire. As Masons, we are proud that Robert Burns was enrolled in the ranks of our Order, and while we should strive to avoid the "thoughtless follies that laid him low and stained his name," we should, at the same time, endeavour to imitate his ardent zeal, his open and generous disposition, and his manly and lofty independence.

WILLIAM HUNTER.

(From a rare pamphlet, of date 1858. Mr Hunter was R.W.M. of Lodge Journeymen Masons, Edinburgh, No. 8).

By way of answering many questions put to us every year by the Brethren everywhere, we have reprinted this excellent and exhaustive article.-[ED.].

A GREAT BURNS DINNER ONE

HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

Τ

HOSE who care to turn up the files of the Edinburgh Evening Courant or the Caledonian Mercury of just one hundred years ago will find in dingy print and paper a fairly luminous account of a great dinner held in Edinburgh in honour of our National Poet. It was an event which is now of historical and literary interest. The exact date of the issues is Saturday, January 27th, 1816, i.e., two days after the celebration, for these papers appeared then on three days of the week only, viz., Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Their price of

sevenpence per copy, with the humble four pages, and largely taken up with advertisement matter, must surely have ranked them amongst the luxuries, more especially at a time which, like our own, had seen a terrible upheaval in Europe owing to the mad dream of world-dominion, and which left behind it terrible distress in the country— in this respect unlike our own, let us hope.

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What is specially claimed for this dinner is that, in the grandiloquent language of the Courant report, since Burns must be proclaimed with the sounds of exultation and of triumph," the feelings of admiration universally entertained for his genius had "at length been exhibited in the metropolis of the country which gave him birth, in a manner somewhat worthy of that country and of himself." These words, "at length," at length," are significant. Clearly, priority is not claimed for Edinburgh in exhibiting true admiration for Burns, and it is unnecessary to discuss her general treatment of him here-it is now generally admitted she has been rather unjustly blamed. Let it suffice to say, that from 1786 onwards there had certainly been no want of appreciation in Edinburgh, or elsewhere in Scotland. The general effect on the public mind of

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the first appearance of Burns's poems is well reflected in "With his poems,' the testimony of Robert Heron. says he, old and young, grave and gay, learned and ignorant, were alike transported. I was at that time resident in Galloway, and I can well remember how even plough-boys and maid-servants would have gladly bestowed the wages they earned the most hardly, and which they wanted to purchase necessary clothing, if they might procure the works of Burns." Similarly, critical appre

ciation was not wanting, and in this the Edinburgh printing houses took an active part from the first. Following upon the Kilmarnock edition of the Poems, in June, 1786, there appeared in October of that year a highly favourable notice the first of its kind-in the Edinburgh Magazine or Literary Miscellany. Then followed, on December 9th, the celebrated review in the Lounger heralding the Poet's fame and presence in Edinburgh, and written by the scholarly Henry Mackenzie, author of "The Man of Feeling," to whom Scott dedicated Waverley. These early appreciations were succeeded by innumerable tributes. Again, it is certainly true that many meetings of the friends and admirers of the Poet had been held to commemorate his memory previous to this dinner of 1816. Burns Clubs had been in existence for several years; that of Alloway is stated to have held its first anniversary on 25th January, 1801, in the cottage where the Poet was born; the first minute-book of the Greenock Burns Club begins its entries on 21st July, 1801; and the Paisley and Kilmarnock Burns Clubs were founded in 1805 and 1808 respectively. Occasional commemorations, therefore, had already been fairly numerous. In Edinburgh itself there was such a meeting in 1815. Robert Ainslie, W.S., was president, and Gilbert Burns croupier, and it was well attended. It was on this occasion that, "at a late hour, Burns's well-known marble bowl was introduced and placed with propriety before Mr Hogg, who filled and refilled it with the Poet's favourite liquor, whiskey punch." It was at this commemoration of 1815 that office-bearers

were appointed for the present assembly: Alexander Boswell was to be Chairman; Messrs Wilson, Sedgewick, Thomson, Drummond, and Burnett were to be Stewards; and John Ballantyne was to be Secretary. We can scarcely wonder, therefore, at the distinguished success which attended this meeting of 1816.

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The dinner in question was specially notable because, in the words of the Courant report, it was not till the present commemoration of the Poet that his memory was celebrated in a manner which could be considered as the indication of a general national feeling."

It was attended

by some of the most famous Scotsmen of the day, high in rank and high in literary fame; and so great was its success that it was resolved to have a similar public celebration of the Poet's birthday in Edinburgh every three years thereafter. Although it cannot be claimed, therefore, that we have here the genesis of the numerous Burns Clubs throughout the world, it may still be asserted that this remarkable assembly gave to the national admiration for Burns the most tangible expression hitherto known, and imparted more general attention to the debt which Scotland owed to him whose fame has as yet been undimmed by time.

As there appear to be no other sources of information, we look to the newspapers of the day for an account of the meeting. Had Scott begun his Journal (1825-32) at an earlier period-and he says he had all his life regretted he had not done so he would doubtless have given us some interesting details and comments, for he took a very important part in the events of the evening. Accounts of the dinner are to be found in at least four newspapers; the Edinburgh Evening Courant, the Caledonian Mercury, the Weekly Journal, and the Advertiser. The first and second are the earliest in point of time, and have been already referred to-they give independent reports; as we might expect, the Journal has an exact reprint of the Courant report; the Advertiser combines the reports of the Courant and Mercury. The Courant account, though