BURNS’S ANNIVERSARY.

Evening Star, Issue 3411, 27 January 1874, Page 2

BURNS’S ANNIVERSARY.

The 114 th annivferaary: of ! the. birth of, ’ the 1 poet Burns was celebrated by a supper, under the auspices of the Caledonian Society, at; the Shamrock Hotel last evening. About seventy gentlemen sat down jto t the capital spread* of wluch the, customary haggis formed a coospicuous feature, provided-by Host Hethpringtoa,' the chair being occupied by Mr.-K. Ramsay; president of the Society, while Messrs Callender and Beveridge acted ; a« croupiers. 1 1 ■ ; '< 1 hoabttJ toasts having -been duly hl'GßEQdk'rose’io. the tbMt Of the byemug. • Aftey afiologisihg for his unpreparedness, ho ' spoke as !i with - which_ I-'; have b'cbn' entrusted iS ihe Memory of Robert' Burns.” There were' many sons and daughters bom on That same morning, the->2sth • January,; 1761).' r There was ]py • and. giadness in many a humble cot:'and ioi diy hall ail oyer .Scotland. Many W hippy thpir lqng ( ,deferred and fondest hopes gratified that morning .by the birth of a son* andithe, baroniftDhail-’ restoundedwith' the sounds of revelry and. rejoicing? iu corisfequence of the tbirth. o(,.an ■ heir* to; inheriVtho patrimonial estateseaud to .tmnsrnit the .glorFuf n long noble line of ancestors. Yes, there: wtt joy, gladness, and festivity all over the length and breadth of bonnie Scotland on tbat' ohld grey January morning. Yet how comes it that amongst all tho interesting feathe interest of all seemßd *to centre ‘upon W interesting event, that, transpired in the good' town. Ayr—-that, while 1 file names of all the others have been forgotten, that of Bums is. Btill .a hbusehold wotd in all parts of the land, not only in Scotland, but all over the \vorid ? ~WhatAßr t he.reasCn of this-? It is just simply because he was a Heaven-born poet If ever there was a born poet, Robert Burns was one. He was by far, as Professor Wilson used say., the. greatest poet that ever sprung-from the bosom of the people, and 1 lived add died' in a humble position. Weil, gentlemen, lam not going, to take' up much ‘more bf ybur iifnfe by' talking about Kobert Burns, because I think there; is .very little to be said about him ; there' is nothmg new or fresh—nothing but what “ft 8 been smd a dozen times by, competent’ and incompetent men; and, therefore; T dbn’t think it necessary to enlarge upon it. 'lf you gave me two or three hours I might‘*then do' something like justice to the subject.’ Butit S . io e to ° expect one to'discuss Robert Burns m .fifteen minutes. Nobody cah do it, and I don’t mean to try to do it. I. am just going To propose that- you drink, to his memory. Thefe are many things that Burns ~ > xndupon "which I could enlarge 'to .a considerable extent. He, of all others, did'mdst to awaken the spirit of nationality-arndtig' Scotchmen, and that is a most important thing,. • ip fact, the memory, of Burns, ptoperly understood, is j list ■ the memory of iScot land; and every time we meet to celebrate’ the 1 ' anniversary of Burns, we meet to celebrate our feelings of Scottish nationality. •• So long as the > moral .worth of its people, their genius,- and their ‘ piety continue, so: long will the n'amof qf BUtna be remembered; so long will hia memory bsTacbedA* 'Nbtffihtil'Scbtland has beeii shorn’ of its brightest beams, not 'uhtil 'all , these perish, wili The hamb of Burns be' foigottefi • not until then will his name die on the ear a: faint, unheeded sound.—(Applause.). ; r ; ; Mr,L Marshall (Vice-President of the

Mr Fish, 'M.PiC.\ whoso:name wks obupled with the toast, replied. He said the present Couuqjl wouid/cotpptfe, favorably withanyof its predecessors; and a remarkable fact was „preivju.lod. • last-.:session among_ the' city members—all voting, as it were, in a flock. One matter whicji he introduced last session, more as 'a' feblfef than anything else—the question as to the propriety 6i abolishing the High School-he intended to introduce again during the ensuing, session ■ and he trusted that his effotts Would result in the abolition of that insiitutidn—niear),—because it had never fulfilled the functionk iV was intended , 6 l; nor would f the abolition ol the High School—afolass institution—tend one jot towards, the retrogression of our tcducatioiial .establishments, as,.; a., whole.—(Hear i hear.) ' •; , ' 1 ,1 Mr Beveridge thought the .best way to deal with the toast, of “ The Mayor and Corporation of tiie pity of Dunedin.” would be to read the,-leader' in, the" Evening; Stab., >. There Wai little, necessity to speak, in , of, the vjouncu. .The town spoke of 7 their activity and each succeeding Council seemed to have a .There ms just a little doubt as tothd present Council, and thaf they could remove if liked. The lasi Council accomplished a great' fact—th'e gassv tact_; the l present Council could do something similar.m regard to the water;question. Ana as they had got . a cpld T water Mayor, he thought ,the Council should, not fail to succeed. —(Laughter and hear, hear.) The MATOR hoped when his 'term of office ended he would have the good wishCshohad -when it commenced, t Hehad al Wavs' don e bin best to-ido 'his duty properly, and had-never favored any particular locality.. The Waterworks had been mentioned, but a dinner table was not a place to discuss these matters. These' were the ortly occasions, whcm the Councils were recognised. ' ■ The Press sometimes took notice of them, but seldom spoke of them -favorably. This was perhaps to spur them on, but he could assurethem they didtheir best without it. v! il *' AETEE said the Council was doing its best to make Dunedin % London of New Zealand. They would not rest satisfied until the citizens got possession qf the present Water: works pr workkof their own; but he thought it would be inadvisable, considering the price of gas at the present time, to attempt to become Sssed of the present works, though he might ion that they were to meet the agent connected with -an invention to 1 manufacture mb from water, and by which means, it was atated g« ooold b S toode for 6s to 7» pot tioZod feet. If gas could bo made m : this wav and supplied to the citizens at 7s, the ’ Council he thought, would bejustified in starting itsmanuxacture. f i- < ■ ■ t ;. Mr Fish, M.P.C., proposed—“ The nian Society of Otago.” In Duntdfn ciety had. become a household word ntid\v° Sd a great deal of affection. Thevhad the clans once a wLSey tSs hj tho Bame festivix- ' , . *£ “/P*"* deal towards the promo- * of that brotherhood that should prevail over the length and breadth of the land. If been done,- the GaledoS would deserve Credit ! and praise; had dona-their best to en- - art f an( * B ?tonoe«.} while a great deal had been done to promote the cause" b| education by the establishment of night schools, apd by other means, Xfa

to see that He joftfen the Presiie Sqeiitjr^andmaihight do io again; |jit he was sure toeas f! wfeU worthy to aU: the proud; pttSifton bjpli,; and so long as ‘be.was at the -hdta the Society .wduld flourish. ,;:. ■ fe GHAXRMAN,;ih replying, referred to the sSoMetyae occupying the .foremost position in «ew Zealand promotion of manly athletic games it had ever been ready to lend a helping hand in the cause of benevolence, and it had taken no mean step, as Mr Fish had remarked, in the cause of education. He was glad that the Society had got a firm hold on the sympathies of the public, and ho looked forward, to its future prospects as likely to be of a "very brilliant character. It was not for him to indicate the policy bfrtheJSociehf in the future, but he might say that the directors would do their best to further the objects for whichthO Society was brought’liito’cxistehce. Professor BLAOK Jirojxjsed '“The Land we Live in, and its Educational Institutions. M There was a toast to follow that would include all that had .to be said with xeferenccito fthn land we lived in, and he wduld therefore ofily deal with the educational part of the toast intrusted to his care. ■ Otago had made very liberal endowments in aid of education, and these being in the shape -of hind) would always Ibe equal to the demand made upon them. Ten years ago, very few in Otago hoped to lire to see the day when we should have a university, in our midst, and three years ago there was not a professor of any particular subject; in New Zealand. Now, there were four in connection Uith our; University, yoar thsrq, would be seven Professors of special engaged, hero, and filtutohtely a.Theological haU would be provided by the Synod of Otago. It? was- likely- thatdegyefcs wbuld 6e here that would not be -recaraised outside Celony, and he really thought that this would be anad vantage.,: Ho had head n lotted ndt lodM' , ago to the effect that the University of Edinburgh "was jgoing -to recognise, those who, had passed .the Cperaistry .examination, here,- aWthq feme manner as if they hnd passed at the crime 6f ai’Vbat or ; 'sb'wiß ; ‘should Have' vw? tually -eleven Professors hero; Jin ---Scotland there was‘about one Professor, for. every 30,000 of the. l inhabitants* .while here' -We haditimufoal every 10,000 ofthe population, OHe hoped he would-notbc misUnderst(iodin;whathe had Wfcay about the University of New Zbalahd, whiohldid not include the University of, Otago. The>University. i of : Otago: Wb’uld -bSe. glad ito.,ftfdMgamate and form part pf-tho University of New Zealand, when their standards of examination i were made 1 6.1ittle'higher. : Theß; A. graduates [ofthe University of New Zealand' 1 W&ild bo ■ neither “fish, fowl,..nor,''gdod red herring,” and; the - same University would degree of Master' of Arts Without “his’ khdW'-' ing onernof , the. - subjects taught -.by. Prefessors Maegregor, Shand,Sale, and himself. The wealthy Province of Gjsnterbury 'Wbhld soon hhve a University similar in character to that 0/ Otago, and when the two‘were joined aid* formed part of the University of NeW^eklafcdi" 1 the standards would” be“ made higher. Ho wished to say & feW' WBrdtf With reference to a : Normal School, He set dowp. .\yhat success had [• attended, him, to the fact of his j having .-been j through a School at "* Such a 1 *!&fi6l)W<mld be-of a far mpre ‘expensive cfiar--i apter than was generally|BuppoßW,butit womA 1 turnout numbers;of youfag men ready to filUhe [ office otteachers, and; would, to a pertain-ex-i tent,, fulfil., the, .Judptions for which the. High j: School Was intended. He v Nonhal Schools at GliwgdW : fur-’ inished the beat stucb&ts for-the UmydrtltidiJ ; He had a good word to say for the elementary , schools of this Coldhy. Which had sent up some : first rate students. The energy and ability of ! the students hero.wcre r manfor man ( nf a bet-. i ror mental calibre tbaprthose who went'to the ; University of Edinburgh) With which he was very, familiar. T -j ' . Mr ih replying, said tliathe Saß. .been most pleased to hear Professor Black’s ehlogmm upon bur. institutions. . He’! hoped ->e should be able to. supply him-with many etndents.—(Applause.) ■ • r Mr Pyke proposed “The Agricultural, Coin.’ mercial, Pastoral; and - Mining Interests "of Otago.” This was a very comprehensive toast, pretty welLthe whole community;; 'H h® fad had the arrangement of the toast, fie should have put it cllfoliolbgically, fo* in thil Colony, as in all others, beginning - with settlement of Eden, the’sheepownfers came firsts then the agriculturists to plough the. land and grow the’ staff of life, ‘ ‘and ’m their' Wake ftK lowed the exchangers. The mitting interest was not a necessary sequence of either,ibWtaU' associate of each and alt. .In,Otago it had been, a vety benfefioiarintetest; ptiteniffimr 1 wJ tooting the prosperity’ of all thAethers,. But he did not regard.mere, gold-getting. as'ahrari.A l rt .?pty -t«e, means toend J. ,and.ifitVHd Hot lead to tne setikineiit 6t the people on*the. Soil, it would have been, better that it had remained undiscovered^to the. land. ; Perhaps/ there was a .reason for.the agricultural totanfisf bemg. foremost that night,jfor .they’ had toet,,there to celebrate the birthday J Bums, himself a tiller of the land No dodbt^. ; Scotchmen were proud• of Bums,;Hmt he,musty protest against his being considered 'exmtiMm a Scottish poet. ■ He (the speakei) catoe '£i%to the extreme, southwest of Britain,’ might tell the countrymen of Bums here thp-te night .that die-was well acquainted with jpiia poetry before he had properly leafneA to speak , English j for the peet belonged to no country and “to no' cliine-; -tHe was ;theicbuntrymito? of all., men.' Bums’s . popularity Was due to the fact that, he addressed himself to the people,’ his words found' 1 A (ready jfe/ . sponse wherever a manly heart beat toW hunlWt bosom. At that late hour he.woitld notjdetain.i „ tbem longer. But befpresitting downhe,wished V' j to say one word to those gentlemen present whuff ; represented the commercial interest. ‘lt 'seembd ' to to™- tkat, they, tarried, ,too much ’ in. theter affairs, and therefpre knew little’ or. nothtogSjf s v Otago bpyond Duhedto and’ its suburbs. If ’ the y„^®Hf d troyel a little into the 'coWSy thw' I Womk benefit not only also- the industrial bees who .brohghrhll' thhf 1 honey to the Dunedin hive. With thepastoralintereat.he,might say,thatheh«cb ' f 9. r ; W squatters.’ .It was' vaftf kiud of them to coihc out hcre aud' up > i, W tracts of land and grow wool for u£ *. ’ When the people began; to tread on theirdmelsf they would no. doubt say that they .were tiitf pioneers, but the pioneers of; the, couhjtry, a* • well as the pioneers of an army, should hoi' 1 block the Why,' but march on ahead. -‘-(An-/ plause.). ... . . . , , , v ff hj^ltH of Mr Hethertogtyn, -wot- ■ thy-host, was heartily drunk; that gentleman- • responding, m a humorous speech, ekpVesmhhy the pleMure he felt at being pfqced totthe poT/ tion of host on such an occasion.! „-, u r , I The other towts were “.Our.Nationhi Poetsi* mcßed by Mr Bana v the “Lhdifes ;”’ thV ‘ Pres ®>,’proposed bytho VioE-CHAtfe&vi-, responded' to toy • Chainnan, &c., proposed by Mt Ptkb. Songs'