"with a more marked attention than to any body "else. When under the necessity of being ab"sent while he was speaking, she seemed to re 66 gret, as a real loss, that she had missed what "the good man had said. This worthy woman, "Agnes Brown, had the most thorough esteem "for her husband, of any woman I ever knew. "I can by no means wonder that she highly "esteemed him; for I myself have always consi"dered William Burns as by far the best of the "human race that ever I had the pleasure of being 66 acquainted with-and many a worthy character I have known. I can cheerfully join with Ro"bert in the last line of his epitaph, (borrowed " from Goldsmith) "And ev❜n his failings lean'd to virtue's side.” "He was an excellent husband, if I may judge "from his assiduous attention to the ease and "comfort of his worthy partner; and from her "affectionate behaviour to him, as well as her "unwearied attention to the duties of a mother. "He was a tender and affectionate father; he "took pleasure in leading his children in the path "of virtue; not in driving them, as some parents "do, to the performance of duties to which they "themselves are averse. He took care to find fault but very seldom; and therefore when he "did rebuke, he was listened to with a kind of "reverential awe. A look of disapprobation was felt; a reproof was severely so; and a stripe "with the tawz, even on the skirt of the coat, gave heart-felt pain, produced a loud lamenta"tion, and brought forth a flood of tears. 66 "He had the art of gaining the esteem and << good-will of those that were labourers under "him. I think I never saw him angry but twice; "the one time it was with the foreman of the “band, for not reaping the field as he was desir"ed; and the other time it was with an old man "for using smutty inuendos and double entendres. "Were every foul-mouth'd old man to receive a "seasonable check in this way, it would be to the advantage of the rising generation. As he was 66 at no time overbearing to inferiors, he was equally incapable of that passive, pitiful, paltry spirit, that induces some people to keep booing "and booing in the presence of a great man. He always treated superiors with a becoming re66 spect; but he never gave the smallest encouragement to aristocratical arrogance. But I << must not pretend to give you a description of "all the manly qualities, the rational and Chris"tian virtues, of the venerable William Burns. "Time would fail me. I shall only add, that he "carefully practised every known duty, and 66 "avoided 66 ← avoided every thing that was criminal; or, in "the apostle's words, Herein did he exercife bimfelf, in living a life void of offence towards "God, and towards men. O for a world of "men of such dispositions! We should then "have no wars. I have often wished, for the good "of mankind, that it were as customary to honor "and perpetuate the memory of those who excel "in moral rectitude, as it is to extol what are "called heroic actions:-then would the mauso"leum of the friend of my youth,' overtop "and surpass most of the monuments I see in "Westminster Abbey. Although I cannot do justice to the charac"ter of this worthy man, yet you will perceive, "from these few particulars, what kind of person "had the principal hand in the education of our 66 poet. He spoke the English language with more propriety (both with respect to diction and "pronunciation) than any man I ever knew, with no greater advantages. This had a very good "effect on the boys, who began to talk, and rea"son like men, much sooner than their neigh"bours. I do not recollect any of their cotem"poraries at my little seminary, who afterwards "made any great figure as literary characters, except Dr. Tennant, who was chaplain to Colonel "Fullarton's regiment, and who is now in the H "East VOL. I "East Indies. He is a man of genius and learn "ing; yet affable, and free from pedantry. "Mr. Burns, in a short time, found that he "had over-rated Mount Oliphant, and that he "could not rear his numerous family upon it."After being there some years, he removed to "Lochlee, in the parish of Tarbolton, where, I "believe, Robert wrote most of his poems. "But here, Sir, you will permit me to pause. "I can tell you but little more relative to our poet. I shall, however, in my next, send you a copy of one of his letters to me, about the 66 66 year 1783.* I received one since, but it is mis"laid. Please remember me, in the best manner, "to my worthy friend, Mr. Adair, when you see "him, or write to him." Hart-street, Bloomsbury-square, As the narrative of Gilbert Burns was written at a time when he was ignorant of the existence of the preceding narrative of his brother, so this letter of Mr. Murdoch was written without his having having any knowledge that either of his pupils had been employed on the same subject. The three relations serve, therefore, not merely to illustrate, but to authenticate each other. Though the information they convey might have been presented within a shorter compass, by reducing the whole into one unbroken narrative, it is scarcely to be doubted, that the intelligent reader will be far more gratified by a sight of these original documents themselves. Under the humble roof of his parents, it appears indeed that our poet had great advantages; but his opportunities of information at school, were more limited as to time, than they usually are among his countrymen, in his condition of life; and the acquisitions which he made, and the poetical talent which he exerted, under the pressure of early and incessant toil, and of inferior, and perhaps scanty nutriment, testify at once the extraordinary force and activity of his mind. In his frame of body he rose nearly to five feet ten inches, and assumed the proportions that indicate agility as well as strength. In the various labours of the farm he excelled all his competitors. Gilbert Burns declares, that in mowing, the exercise that tries all the muscles most severely, Robert was the only man that, at the end of a suminer's day, he was ever obliged to acknowledge as his master. H 2 But though |