THE BURNS CENTENARY AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 681, 18 May 1859, Page 3

THE BURNS CENTENARY AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

; (From the ♦ Standard,' Jan. 26.) ; The j übilee in honour of Scotland's greatest poet, \ Burns, was commemorated yesterday at the Crysta Palace with distinguished honour and iclat, eclipsing in its characteristics and accompaniments anything of the kind that has preceded it, not excepting, perhaps, the memorable Shaksperian jubilee at Stratford-upon-Avon, or the great national ovation in 1844 to Burns by the Scottish people, when some hundred thousand persons assembled in Ayrshire ■•■ to do honour ' " To him who walked in glory and in joy, Following his plough along the mountain side." •The idea of holding a festival of song, and of erecting a^ laurelled trophy to-the:poet on the recurrence of his birthday, possessed peculiar and general interest, not alone from the fact of the ceremony

itself being well-fcimedjbut from the circumstance of its being computed that there are resident in London and throughout the country as many Scotchmen, and consequently as many admirers of Burns, as would suffice, to people Endinburgh and Glasgow; added to which, it, would be difficult to find a more befitting arena to.idolise the, departed genius of a poet who" sang the loyes, the joys, the rural scenes, and pleasures of his. native land in his own native tongue," than under the transparent spreading? of such- a crystal, shrine as that, at Sydenham. Indeed, the collected rejics. of the poet there arrayed would not inappropriately form the nucleus of a "Poets' Court," where the busts and memorials of our greatest English poets might be formed into a sort of -poetic Walhalla,.and be made to possess for the. people an interest as deep and as enduring as the immortal cenotaphs, assembled in the "Poets' Corner "of Westminster Abbey.

Lookingupon the occasion'as a national .event;, it may not be amiss briefly to refer to the way in which the festival was originated. It, will be remembered that on. the, 9th of November, 1858, the directors of the Crystal: Palace Company, published an advertisement, stating their intention of. celebra-. ting the centenary of the birth of Egbert Burns by. a grand festival at the Crystal. Palace. At the same time they offered a prize of .fifty guineas, under certain conditions* for the best poem celebrating the occasion, and to- be recited, during the festival, while they solicited the.loan of relics and memorials of the poet, which were to be exhibited on the occasion. Ah ample response was made. A week after the aunouncement appeared several poems were sent in ; by the 20th. of December more than 100 had been, receiy.ed... From.that time up to the Ist of; January^which.was.fixed.asihe period after which poqms coujd.no..longer, be accepted in competition for . the,. prize, .great numbers c were, received daily. On the 31st of December no fewer than 98 were delivered by one post, and the total number sent in on that day was 122. On the 2nd of January, 62V poe.ms, were..collected, of;which, nine came from "America. Shortly . before this the directors! solicited Moncfcton Millies, JEsq., M.P., Tom Taylor, Esq., and Theodore. Martin, Esq., to. act "as judges to award the prize;, and, these gentlemen, having kindly consented", commenced theiriexamination. In order to carry out the competition with the-utmost fairness it was decided that the names of the authors should not in any case be, communicated, but that two mottoes should be inscribed, for identification, on each poem, and that the name of. the author should be forwarded in a sealed envelope, which should bear corresponding mottoes to the poem which it accompanied. These sealed envelopes were retained in the. possession of Mr. Grove, while the poems were placed in the hands of the judges. The beauty and serenity of the weather, unparalleled for this period of- the year, attracted a large multitude to the Palace by twelve o'clock, the hour announced for the UNVEILING OF THE BUST.AND RELICS, AND COURT OP POETS. These had been erected and placed in front of the great Handel orchestra, and had engaged the unremitting attention for some time past of Mr. Thomas ! Hayes, of the fine arts, and Mr. F. K. J. Shenton, of j the literary department of the Palace. These gen- | tlemen were, in fact, the designers and literary and I artistic architects of the court, which consisted of avast semicircular screen of rouge roj'al marble, i having projecting verd antique piers, and a white ■ and gold cornice all round, the entire structure ; being upwards.of 10, feet high. On the top of the piers of the screen are the busts of Voltaire, Goethe, Alfieri, Wilson, Cowper, Campbell, Scott, Beranger, Southey, Schiller, Wordsworth, Rogers, and Shelley; but there is an unpardonable omission, not attributable to the taste of the. artist, of those two great archons of song, Shakspeare and Milton, who should have formed the pillars of the court. Between the piers are panels of white and gold, elaborately let in to the screen itself, and which contain the MS^ memorials and relics of the great poet. The arrangement is truly beautiful. There is also on other parts of the screen an exquisite bas-relief, representing the birth of Burns, with the Muses hovering round his cradle. On the opposite side of the, nave, and just under the Italian orchestra where, the poem was recited, are the rioted group of figures of Tarn o'Shanter and Souter Johnny, executed by Thorn, the well-known Scottish sculptor, contributed by Lord Kilmorey. On the left-hand side of the group is a statuary bust of Burns, by Dunbar, and a statue of Highland Mary, by Spence, of Rome. There is also another statue of Burns, in Craighleth stone, by Thorn—a valuable and remarkabe sculptural work, inasmuch as it represents the poet in his dress of a Highland yeoman. THE BUST OF BURNS. This forms a grand centre piece. It is a life-size bust, nobly executed, and faithful as a fac-simile of the poet, by Calder Marshall, from the portrait by Nasymth. It is placed upon a pedestal of rouge royal marble, with black marble plinth, though to our miud a tartan column with plaid drapery would have been more appropriate. Graceful gold mouldings surmount the capital, from which, supported by golden chords, depends a tablet containing the simple but eloquent inscription, "Burns." The entire screen has an ornamental background of green foliage, which gives a finish and effect to the tout ensemble and favours the perspective effect.

The 'entire court and collected relics were unveiled to the audience at twelve o'clock, and excited much admiration and applause. The interval was enlivened by strains of music from the band of the Caledonian Asylum, and pipers and band of the Scots Fusilier, Guards. The relics and memorials will remain on view throughout the week. Several relics that arrived during yesterday, but too late to be placed in the exhibition panels, will be exhibited to-day. There are two of the walking-sticks of , Burns, one containing a telescope, lent expressly for the occasion by Mr. Holland. Then there is the sword-stick, containing a smart, self-defensive rapier, which Burns invariably carried with him when he was an exciseman. During the day the original MSS. of the."Brigs of Ayr," Bonny Dundee," "Sonnet to the Owl," and other poems poured in to the literary department, together with an original MS. letter and other poems, sent by Mr. Henry Stevens. The caligraphy of air these MSS. is of that clear, bold, and steady stamp so characteristic of the poet and his compositions. THE CONCERT. The first part of the vocal and instrument performances,'consisting of Burns's most popular melodies, then commenced in the Italian orchestra, Miss Dolby, Miss Lizzie Stuart, Mr. Ransford, and others who have made Scotch iinelody an especial study, being the principal pointsjof (attraction. The. programme consisted of the overture;tb Guy Mannering', "There was a Lad was>born in Kyle," by Mr. M'Davit; "Lord Gregory./' by rMiss Dolby ; "A Highland Lad.?my love ;was born," Miss Ransford; • "The Banks of the .Devon,'? Miss L. Stuart; "Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonny Doota;" Miss Dolby -and; Miss Ransford; "I. love my' 2Tean," Madame Poma< (late Miss To.wnsend);; " Highland Mary," :■,. Mr. M'Davit; "O,were I able .to. rehearse," written ex-; pressly for the occasion, by Mr. Oliphant, by Miss • Dolby; "A Red, Red Rose," by Miss Ransford, Mr. < 1 Genge, Mr. M'Davit, and Mr. Ransford. > THE POETIC COMPETITION. The arbiters were unremittingly engaged for some *: weeks in "weeding;" as it were, the effusions sent' in, and in critically considering their merits. Even-J tually they rediiced them to a given number, and it' ,is thought that a collection of all these effusions' would form, an amazingly interesting new dhapter,' either in " the Curiosities, of Literature;" or make a! ;supplement to "the Calamities of Authors," and this will doubtless some day be done. Nothing in) reality on record can possibly come up to this com-; I petition of the poets—this lottery of lyres—in which ' one prize stood apart, the purse of 50 guineas, with' 620 ill-starred blanks—a proportion that goes more' ;than ever to confirm the truth of the couplet that—' >'Hardis r the. task, poetic fame to raise, And,poor, alas! ,the recopapense it pays." - the production of : an imaginative., gem, on, ;such a national occasion, ,the ; amount: pf .raQney,: were not the; iauthdractuatedr by the,high jse.ntjrnent. iof .name and fame,,would indeed; be a paltry xecotn-' ipense. Never, probably, had judges, ; Ithough the "perusal of poetry may be, such a task

in separating the gold 'from''the dross of the song, the \vlieat of vivid verse from the mere chaff of rhyme and rhodombntade; and un poetical as_ the desire may appear to be in judges, we understand that they more than once sighed for the possible practical application to their labours of one of those extraordinary and ingenious disintegrators and separators, introduced" by, modern science, that divide the perennial arid .the perfect seed from the more perishable and impure, husk. Nor indeed is, this to be jWondered at, when we recollect the formidable pile of poetry that faced theiti./"It would require one of Pidkford's vans to remove it from the Palace, and. the world at large innocently inquires, with Mrs. Plarrjd, " How was it done?" when wishing to know the process, by which the arbiters arrived at their decision, seeing that a moi-e heterogeneous or more multifarious assembly of effusions never appeared before human tribunal. " Here you have," as our travelling street ballad sellers sing and say, poetry representing every conceivable school, from Qssian down to Sfernhold and, Hopkins—from the majesty of the! Miltonic measure to the maudlin of Rosa Matilda—from the magnificence of the Homeric and Virgilian epic and Horatiari ode to the nambypamby of the caskets, afbums, keepsakes, and forget-me-nots, with no end of sonnets, fugitives, improvisations, paraphrases, . impromptu poems, purloined poems, doggerel and Grub-street, to say nothing of that class of verses of which "Lord Fanny writes a thousand such a day!" And then, after passing all through the arbitratorial alembic, the judges found themselves curiously enough fixed in the delivery of their verdict between what they designate as two of the gems.'of the collection, realising the rather unpleasant position of Captain Macheath in the Beggar's Opera, when he sings, " How happy could I be with either, were t'other dear charmer away." While they "unanimously" adjudge the premium to the poem bearing the mottoes "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," and "A Man's a Man for a' that,", they consider-the one with the motto 8&04, "Dowered with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn, the love of love."—Tennyson. "Ton peri mous' ephilese, didou d'agathbn te kakonte"— Odyssey, viii. 63, to be inferior only to "the one to which we have awarded the first place, and we have had considerable difficulty in deciding between them." In this'way the judges have arrived at "unanimity," by standing alone, while it is pretty clear from their own verdict that the prize poem contest is little better than a " drawn battle."

It is worthy of mention that the prize poem was previously, forwarded to every provincial town throughout the kingdom where the centenary of Burns was being celebrated, so that the poet's praises were simultaneously sung in all, north.and south, and east and west. It is calculated that the cataract of rhyme poured in to the memory of Burns on this occasion, taking the number of poems at 621, and at from 150 to 160 lines each, represents' an aggregate of 100,000 lines. "O! periture partite charte." "In pity spare them, if they did their best To make as much waste paper as the rest." KECITATION OP THE PRIZE POEM. This of course was the centre and cynosure of general, sensation and attraction, and at 3 o'clock the scene from naVe to transept, arid orchestra to orchestra, and gallery to gallery, presented an imposing amphitheatre of listeners rivetted to the spot, until Mr. Phelps appeared upon the platform and enjoined " silence?' He then opened the envelope with' the mottos of the author of the successful poem, and announced it to be "Isa Craig, Kane-Jagh-street, Pimlico." - He then recited the poem. We hail, this morn, j A century's noblest birth; i A Poet peasantrborn; ; Who more of Fame's immortal dower Unto his country briDgs, '.. Than all her Kings! . As lamps high set ' Upon some earthly eminence,— And to the gazer brighter thence Than the sphere-lights they flout, — Dwindle in distance and die out, While no star waneth yet; V So through the past's far-feachirig night, Only the star-souls keep their light. A gentle boy,— With moods of sadness and of mirth, Q^uick tears and sudden joy,— Grew up beside the peasant's hearth. His father's toil he shares; But half his mother's cares ' From his dark searching eyes, Too swift to.sympathise. Hid in her heart she bears. At early morn, . His father calls him to the field; Through the stiff soil that clogs his feet, Chill rain, and harvest heat, He plods all day; returns at eve outworn, To the rude fare a peasant's lot doth yield;— To what else was he born? ' The God-made King Of every living thing; (For his great heart in love could hold them all;) The dumb eyes meeting his by hearth and stall, — . Gifted to understand!— Knew it and sought his hand; And the most timorous creature had not fled, Could she his heart have read, Which fain all feeble things had blessed and sheltered. To Nature's feast— v Who knew her noblest guest And entertain'd him best— Kingly he came. Her chambers of the east She drap'd with crimson and with gold, And pour'd her pure joy-wines For him the poet-soul'd, For him her anthem roll'd, From the storaii-wind among the winter pines, Down to the slenderest note Of a love-warble from the linnet's throat. .! But when begins The array for battle, and the trumpet blows, A King must leave the feast, and lead the figfit. And with its mortal foes, — Grim gathering hosts of sorrows and of sins,— Each human soul must close. • And Fame her trumpet blew Before him; wrapped him in her purple state; And made him mark for all the shafts of fate, That henceforth round him flew. Though he may yield Hard-pressed, and wounded fall Forsaken on the field; His regal vestments soil'd; His.crown of half its jewels spoil'd; He is a King'for all. Had lie but stood aloof! \ Had he array'd himself in armour proof ' Against; (temptation's darts! • .So yearn the'good;^sotlipse the world calls wise,, ' With vain presumptuous hearts, Triumphant moralise. Of martyr-woe A sacred'shadow on his memory rests; Tears ;haye not ceased to flow; Indignant grief yet stirs impetuous breasts, To think,—above that noble soul brought low, That wise and .sparing spirit fool'd, enslav'd,— Thus, jthus he had;been saved! It might not be! That he/art of harmony Had been too rudejy rent; Its silver chords, which any hand could wound, By no hand could be tuned, Save by the Maker of the instrument, Its every string who knew, And from profaning touch His heavenly gift withdrew. Regretful love His country fain would prove, JSy grateful honours lavish'd on his grave; .Wouldrfain redeem her. blame That He so little at her hands can claim, Who unrewarded gave To her Kis'life-rbought gift ,of ,song and fame. The'landhe trod Hath naw;bccbme a place of pilgrimage; Where dearer are the daisies of the sod That could his song engage.

The hoary hawthorn, wreath'd Above the bank on which his limbs he flung . While some sweet plaint he breath'd; The streams he wander'd near; The maidens whom he loved; the songs he sung;—

All, all are dear! The arch blue eyes,— Arch but for love's disguise,— Of Scotland's daughters, soften at his strain; Her hardy sons, sent forth across the main To drive the ploughshare through earth's virgin soils, Lighten with it their toils; And sister-lands have learned to love the tongue In which such songs are sung. For doth not Song To the whole world belong; Is it not given wherever tears can fall, Wherever hearts can melt, or blushes glow, Or mirth and sadness mingle as they flow, A heritage to all?

Here then was the poetic gem that carried off, by the unanimous arbitration of the Judges, the bays of victorious song against the array of a world of lyres—lording it triumphantly over 620 other enterprising but disappointed poets, who entered the lists against this great tournament of harp-strings, whose competitions for the last two months poured ceaselessly into the* Crystal Palace Parnassus.. It cannot be concealed that a pretty general impression' of disappointment prevails (and the almost total want of applause yesterday during the recital would' appear to confirm it) as to the merit of the chosen poem. That it is not a chef-d'eeuvre of song may be safely asserted; that it is above mediocrity no one will denyV but that it is wanting in all theglbsv of thought, the sublimity of image, the master passion, and the Sapphic fire that might have been thrown into the inspiration of the occasion, is transparent on the face of the poem itself. The general impression of critical opinion appeared to confine itself to such conditional generalities as "Hike it," "It is very good," &c; the remark naturally suggesting "itself at the same time, " What must the other' 620 poems have been if the judges (who were to have been of ■■« the highest standing in literature '•) adjlocated this to.be the best?"

At the close of the recitation of the poem, which was in some parts rather monotonously'intoned' by Mr. Phelps, a proclamatory placard was hoisted over the orchestra, the name of the successful competitor not having been caught by multitudes around,'with the inscription in large black rubrics on a white ground of " The author of the poem is Isa Craig." Calls then arose for Isa Craig to come before the scenes, and multitudinous and mysterious were the conjectures indulged in by the bystanders as to who the fortunate individual could really be. -Some suggested that it was a mistake for ' Ailsa. Craig;' others read it Esau Craig; while many pronounced the whole affair to be a mystery and a myth, seeing that the fortunate prizeholder did not make her appearance to be complimented. The crowd indulged in these dreary disquisitions and conjectures until the scene and the subject were altogether changed by the striking up of the band for the supplemental concert.

From all that we could ascertain, however, from the most reliable sources, we find that 'Isa Craig', is a young Scotch lady, and that, the mysterious monosyllable 'Isa is a breviate or nomme deplume for Isa-bella—that she belongs to the single sisterhood, and has been a contributor to 'Chambers' Journal,' the ' Scotsman,' and the 'Englishwoman's Magazine,'and is said to have published a small volume of poems. From feelings either of timidity or poetical delicacy and pride, Miss Craig neither came before the curtain, nor did she pay a visit to the company's treasury to receive the fifty guineas, although the check had been waiting for her acceptance all day. It may be mentioned that the author of the poem which the judges reported as inferior only to the prize poem is the production of Frederick Wm. Henry Meyers, of Cheltenham, a youth of 19. It is understood that the other six selected poems will be published by Messrs. Bradbury and Evans, in a day or two.' It has been suggested that by way of climax and commemoration of this celebrated poetic ' raid,' or competition itself, the judges arid directors of the Crystal Palace, by way of " Conseils aux mauvais poetes," should deal with all the bad and indifferent poets as the Governor of Ispahan, an admirer and patron of good poetry, did —that is, "cudgel them all soundly;" a process that in the case mentioned had the effect of furnishing him for the future with really excellent verse, and of vastly improving the tribe of poets generally.

There was the usual terrific onslaught on the refreshment department of Messrs. Sawyer and Strange, who appropriately prefaced their prandial preparations by treating their visitors not only to haggis, but to Burns's well-known address to one, commencing— " Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin' race ! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm ; Weel are ye wordy of a.grace As lang's my arm." There were real Scotch dinners provided in the south wing, consisting of sheep's-head broth, coek-a-leekie, hare soup, haggis, sheep's-head and trotters, roast beef, Dumfries meringues, Ayrshire puddings, bread, cheese, &C, in all their genuine originality and Scotch culinarity. The concluding concert comprised several of Burn's best known songs, among which were, "Auld Lang Syne," ''Duncan Gray," ''A man's a man for a' that," " Green grow the rashes, 0," and " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," the entire audience joining in chorus in the well-known lyrics of the Scottish poet. To facilitate this, the words and music were printed separately. The efforts of the audience were materially aided by the bands of the company and the Scots Fusilier Guards and the great organ, and invitations to be present were accepted by upwards of 2000 musical amateurs, including the Handel Festival Chorus, with selections from other choral bodies. The day's proceedings concluded with " God Save the Queen," the following verse having been written for the occasition by Mr. Thomas Oliphant, honorary secretary of the Madrigal Society, with a special reference to the Princess Frederick William of Prussia :— "Long livelier,daughter fair Lov'd wife of Prussia's heir, And^future Queen. On this their wedding day, Sing we a joyful lay, God bless them both we pray, God save the Queen !" The Brighton and West-end Railway Companies ran special trains every ten minutes with great regularity, conveying the thousands to and fro without the slightest mishap. The recital of the poem of " Tarn o'Shanter," illustrated by dissolving views, photographed from the subject by Mr. J. Faed, was given during the day at the north end of the palace, and the entire entertainment passed off with great apparent enthusiasm. ,