NOT A MAN FOR A' THAT.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 393, 14 August 1889, Page 8

NOT A MAN FOR A' THAT.

" A man's n man." «*avs Robert Burns, * " For a'that nnd n' that." But thongl!, the "nna: he clear and strong It lacks a note for a' that ; The loni who'd shirk his djilv work, Yet cla;m his wage nnd n' that. Or ncsr when lie can G.'irn his bread. Is woi a man for a' that. If all who dine on homely faro Were true and brave, and a' that; And none whose garb is "hodden grey," Wns fool and knave and a' that. The vice and crime that shame onr time Would fade and fall and a' that; And ploughmen be as good as kings, And churls as earls for a' that. Yon «see yon brawny, blustering sot, Who swasrgers, swears, and a' that; And thinks because his strong right ban' Might foil an ox, and a' that, That he's as noble, man for man, As duke and lord, and a' that, He's but a brute beyond dispute, And not a mm for a' that. A man may own a large estate. Have palace, park, and a' that, And not for birth, but honest woith Be thrice a man for a' that. And Donald Herding on the mnir, Who beat'! his wife and a 1 that, Be nothing but a rascal boor. Nor half a man for »' that. It corner In this, dear Robeit Burns, The tiuth i« old and a' that, The 7ank i* but the guinea's stamp. The man's the gowd for a' that " And though you put the minted man On copper, bras,-?, and a' that, The lie is cross, the che.it is plain, And will not pass for a' that. For a' that, and a' that, 'Tis sonl and heart, and a' that, That makes the king a gentleman, And not his crown, and a' that. A man with man, if lich or poor, The best is he, far a' that, Who stanch erect in pelf-respect, And acts the man for a' that.

The bridge across the F.rthof Forth to take the place of the one who«o destruction caused the death of an entire trainload of pas^encrers some ye'srs since, is now nearly completed. Severed thousand men have been employed on the structure, ndiose size can be partially imagined from the fact that the ironwoik presents twelve acres of surface to be pointed, and a force of one hundred men will be kept constantly employod keeping the bridge in repair. The rails are laid in deep tronghts of iron, so that it is absolutely impossible for a train to be derailed under any ordinary circumstances. The top-most point of the biidge is 37ft. above the water.