"Toronto, a town in Upper Canada, with one hundred wooden houses, and eight thousand inhabitants." (Laughter.) Mr. Allan then said that the high position to which the city had risen was mainly to be attributed to the manly independence and energy of the working men within her bounds. He hoped that they would still carry out the same virtues with which they had so well begun. (Applause.) Hon. O. Mowat, in a very eloquent speech, gave "The Press." The Chairman, in very appropriate terms, then gave "The Ladies." Song "All good lasses," by the glee party. Sir JAMES HAY having taken the chair, said that His Worship the Mayor had been, he regretted to say, unavoidably detained. In his absence, Dr. M'Caul had consented to open the proceedings. Dr. M'CAUL was received with loud applause. He said :-Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen.-It is with no ordinary pleasure that I rise to take part in the proceedings of this evening; intended as they are to honour one who has been so justly styled,-"Scotia's immortal bard." It is peculiarly gratifying to find, on such an occasion as the present, all national distinctions thrown aside, and the Dr. Connor, in very complimentary terms, natives of each part of the United Kingdom proposed the health of the Chairman, which come forward gladly to do honour to the great was acknowledged in a very happy manner by poet. There is a beautiful custom that prevails Dr. Wilson. The proceedings then terminated. in parts of the continent, whereby the members Those who celebrated the centennial anniver- and friends of some departed loved one, fix on sary of the great poet in the St. Lawrence some anniversary, the anniversary of birth, of Hall were by no means behind their brethren marriage, or of death-the three great epochs of the Rossin House, in the magnificence of of man's existence-they fix on one of these in the preparation. Without exaggeration, the order to approach that tomb which wraps the whole affair was a triumph from beginning to remains of those they loved, and to present to end. The decorations of the hall in which the them, as a tribute to show their eternal mefirst and last part of the proceedings took mory, simple flowers in testimony of their unplace demands attention. On either side of dying affection. (Applause.) It is in some the platform an Union Jack was placed, and such ceremony as this we are engaged this between the two was exhibited a painting of evening. The monument of Burns is not here; Burns at the plough, with Coila placing on the that monument is near that all-hallowed kirk poet's head the mantle of inspiration. The that gave origin to what I conceive to be the picture is the production of Mr. Joseph Davis, finest of all his poems, Tam o' Shanter, but we of Toronto, a young artist, and gives much can fancy a cenotaph not holding any of the promise of future excellence. On the walls remains of the poet; and to that the Scotchwere hung festoons of evergreens, interlaced man comes forward and presents as a tribute with red, white, and blue drapery. The inter- of affection and regard, the Thistle, the proud vals were decorated with shields bearing the emblem of his native land. The Englishman names of many of Burns' songs. The Crown comes forward and presents the Rose, all fraof Great Britain, supported by the letters V. grant with perfume and blushing with beauty; R., shed a flood of light over the gallery occu- and the native of my own dear Isle comes forpied by the band of the Canadian Rifles. ward and presents the green, immortal ShamAnother painting was also placed here. It re- rock, chosen love of bard and chief; Old Erin's presented one of those old snug, straw-thatched native Shamrock! And our brethren, the farm houses, which, though common in Great natives of this land, come forward, and they Britain, are almost unknown in Canada, and present the bright Maple leaf, the glory of our bore the very appropriate motto, "Auld Lang- autumnal woods. It is, Sir, as it ought to be. syne." But the great ornament to the hall was Burns is not the poet of one people, although the brilliant assemblage within it. The plat- Scotland is stamped unequivocally in everyform was occupied by several members of the thing he wrote; Burns is the poet of all counToronto Highland Society, in their national tries. But, Sir, on such an occasion as the costume. Besides these gentlemen, were Lieut. present, it might reasonably be expected that Col. Irvine, A.D.C.; Col. Macdougall; Sir any one who would rise and address the James Leith Hay, Bart., President of the audience would bring forward and expatiate Burns' Club; Thomas D'Arcy M'Gee, Esq., on what he believed to be the especial merit of M.P.P.; Dr. M'Caul, President of the Upper Burns. I confess that, in attempting such a Canada University; George Duggan, Esq., task as this, I labour under very great diffiRecorder; George Gurnett, Esq., County Ma-culties. I have not the good fortune to have gistrate; Captain Goodwin, Esq.; Thomas Sellars, Esq., and Mr. Alexander M'Lachlan, author of Canadian Lyrics. been familiar from boyhood with the dialect in which he wrote, and I well know the great disadvantage of not knowing that. I well re member when I first read Burns' poems, I appreciated, as any one must, those beauties which are on the surface; but, when I heard a Scotch lady read them with all the unction of her native dialect, there were passages which had seemed to me tame that acquired unwonted vigour; there were passages in which, to my eyes, there was little fire, but there flame burst forth-thoughts that breathed, and words that burned. Under such circumstances, I feel that the best I can do would be to leave such subjects to be dealt with by a gentleman whom I am glad to see amongst us on this occasion. The gentleman, who I believe is to address you last, a Canadian author of lyrics, one who has unquestionably caught a portion of the spirit of Burns himself. Perhaps, however, as a mere matter of curiosity, for it can be but little more, some persons I trust whom I address may be desirous of knowing what are the peculiar merits for which an Irishman admires Burns. First of all I admire him for his adherence to nature; for his strict adherence to the truth of There is nothing affected, nothing distorted in him; but his verses actually daguerrotype the scenes and persons around him. But I admire him for his tenderness and sensibility. Take such compositions as we are all familiar with ;-" To a Daisy," "To a field Mouse." These compositions show the very highest grade of sensibility. But I admire him for his high appreciation of that feeling which, when the gates of Eden were closed on our primitive parents, and they went forth wanderers through the world, was to cheer and comfort them in all their travels, that affection which like the rainbow was to shine brightest amidst the darkest gloom. I refer to such passages as that which has been quoted by critics as being the very essence of a thousand love stories: 66 "Had we never loved so kindly, Had we never loved so blindly; Never met, or never parted, We had ne'er been broken-hearted." (Applause.) And that most exquisite specimen of his muse, "John Anderson, my Jo." "Noo we maun totter down, John, (The rev. gentleman threw great pathos into the last two lines, and drew forth from the audience a round of applause.) Nothing can be finer than that; nothing can be truer to nature. It has the ring of the true metal, and to borrow an expressive Yankee phrase, "and no mistake." I do not envy the man who has come to that period of life when his hair begins to turn a little white that does not feel his heart throb responsive to those verses, which express so beautifully the crown and glory of domestic peace. I admire Burns too, for his pathos. Take for instance his poem to "Mary in Heaven." I admire him for his originality, his power of changing rapidly from the terrific to the ludicrous, such as is embodied in his poem of "Tam o' Shanter." But I admire him also for his thorough independence of character, for his thorough conviction of the nobleness of man. (Applause.) Need I mention that poem which has supplied so many quotations that few remember from whence they are derived, such words as "The rank is but the guinea stamp, The man's the gowd for a' that." But, Sir, I fear I have already trespassed too far on the audience, and I shall therefore close with one characteristic of Burns; that characteristic that is apparent in every one of his verses, I mean his thorough nationality; he is an unequivocal, undoubted, straightforward Scotsman. I believe, Sir, there is a class of philosophers, the growth of these later years, who look on this love of country, such as Burns had, as a reprehensible infirmity. They look on it as a proof of intellectual infirmity. If these be their tenets, and I have but little doubt of it, for they use such grand terms as "wide extended cosmopolitan views," all I can say is, that I am no disciple of their school, and if they found an institution for the propagation of their doctrines, most unquestionably I will not matriculate in it. My feeling is as Burns' feeling, that that man is devoid of sensibility that does not love beyond every other country on the earth, be its features what it may, his own, his dear native land. Take that most beautiful passage in which he states that he hopes, "for puir auld Scotland's sake, Some usefu' plan or benk he'd make, Or sing a sang at least." And, Sir, did he not sing a song, did he not for poor old Scotland's sake sing a song that has rendered himself and his country celebrated throughout the world? That song was originally uttered in his native county Ayrshire; it was low, faint, and feeble, as the tones that are uttered by an Eolian harp when the wind elicits music from its dormant strings. But that song spread. It was sung by the ploughman at the plough, it was joined in by high and low. That song sped on to the capital of the kingdom. It crossed the border, and there won the admiration of the rank, wealth, and humble parents. His father seemed to have been a man of remarkable abilities, and his son had the highest reverence for him. His mother was a very superior woman, and Burns bore for her the greatest love. This was one of the many incidents where the higher gifts of the mind were found developed in the child. It was through an old ballad that his mother was very fond of singing, "The life and age of man," which inspired Robert to write his exquisite song, "Man was made to mourn," one of the most beautiful dirges in the whole range of English literature. His sphere of life was a very humble one; it was to labour with his hands upon the small plot of land where he was born. But his natural avocation was in another field, and he asserted his right, and entered into his inheritance. The poetry of Burns was much affected by his love for women, and although it led him into serious faults and irregularities, we must also bear in mind, that, had it not been for the very exercise of that irregularity, we should not have had so many of his noble songs and poems. One sentiment which the poet was most anxious to impress on all mankind, was forbearance and charity to the faults of others. In that admirable production of his, to the "Unco guid and rigidly righteous," it was especially apparent. There was one special reason why his poetry had taken so strong hold upon the people; his intense nationality. For there never was a Scotchman so powerfully, so perfectly a Scotchman as Robert Burns. He celebrated her soil; he even celebrated her Scotch drink intelligence of England. And it crossed the | This also was the 100th anniversary of the little narrow channel and came to my own taking of Quebec. Burns was born of very country, and there it found people in the north of Ireland acquainted with the dialect in which it was written. Further still, it crossed the surging Atlantic, it reached those States, our neighbours to the south of the lakes, and there it was welcomed. Such words as those I have quoted, "A man's a man for a' that," became the watchword of freedom. It passed on still further, it reached this country, then not as it is now, but it reached the backwoodsman, who laid by his axe and dropped a tear for the heather-clad hills he had left behind him. It spread throughout the habitable globe; wherever it came, it was welcomed with joy; it was welcomed with admiration. This very meeting, crowded as it is, and hundreds of others throughout the earth, all bear witness, not merely to the wide extent his songs have traversed, but to the strong affection whereby they are fixed in the mind. And depend upon it, that Hesperus who rides the starry host,-on this day as the shadows of evening fall, as he looks down to this earth, presenting in its revolution its various parts to his observations looks down upon eloquence bringing forth the choicest treasures of knowledge; music gushing with melody; he looks down upon not merely eloquence and song pouring forth their treasures, he looks forth on the ruddy wine flowing in brimming bowls, and he looks down also upon-to those who prefer it-the more healthful "cup which cheers but not inebriates." He looks forth on one wide, unbroken scene of mirth. And when Hesperus is called upon to do that other duty of ushering into the expect ant world, the rosy-fingered Aurora, the Daughter of the Dawn," depend upon it, he will look back with regret on the festive scenes he must leave, on halls flashing with light, ringing with acclamation, and "Mirth with all her jocund train" holding high festival in honour of Scotland's peasant bard of Ayrshire, Robert Burns. " The MAYOR, who had entered during the speech of Dr. M'Caul, apologized for not having been present in time. He had been busily engaged in some other matter. His Worship very much regretted that one so disqualified for the situation he had the honour to fill should have been selected for the purpose. It was one of the inconveniences of being a Mayor of this city that he was occasionally called upon to discharge duties for which he was disqualified. We had met here to celebrate this evening the centennial birthday of Robert Burns, who was born on the 25th January, 1759. That was the year, and it was well to bear it in mind, in which these Provinces fell to the British arms. whisky. Very shortly after Burns had written that finest of all ballads, "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," he was called to his last account. He died at the early age of thirtyseven. In conclusion, His Worship said the memory of him whose centennial birthday we had met here to celebrate was not confined to the country that gave him birth. His memory was known and was fresh in every land wherever the literature of England was published, and throughout the world wherever a people used the same language as ourselves, they were as deeply and strongly attached to the memory of Robert Burns as any Scotchman could be. (Loud applause.) Mr. M'LACHLAN concluded an eloquent and feeling address on the life and character of Burns by reading a very beautiful poem composed by him for the occasion, the three first stanzas of which we can only give: "All hail! prince and peasant, To the heart whose wild beatings All hail! mighty Minstrel, Was the breathings of love, through Let the poor and the lowly And brother of all. Several other speeches were made, and songs were sung, and precisely at ten o'clock, His Worship gave "The memory of Burns," a toast which it had been agreed upon to drink at that moment throughout America. THE SUPPER. An adjournment to the supper-room then took place. As the tables, spacious as they were, could not accommodate all present, a portion of the guests had to stop in the hall, while the others were partaking of the good things prepared by Mr. Webb. Upon entering the rooms, a sight met their gaze which must have astonished many. The tables seemed of an illimitable length; the eatables were in such quantities that the idea of disposing of all in a legitimate manner seemed almost ludicrous. Castles of sugar, surmounted by the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew were every where seen. There were lions rampant made of cake, and lions couchant made of jelly. Bonbons and turkeys, ices and salmon, hams real, and hams unreal, the latter resembling "Everton Taffy" to the taste. But we cannot attempt to name the good things; it would take too long. The rooms were decorated with flags in admirable order, and a dais had been erected for the Governor-General, which, as he was not present, the Mayor took possession of. During the supper, Mr. Geo. Brown entered the room, and was loudly cheered. The following toasts were proposed in succession; no speeches were made:-"The Queen and the Royal Family; His Excellency the GovernorGeneral; the Army and Navy; the Memory of Scotland's immortal Bard, Robert Burns; Kindred Burns' Clubs all over the world." His Worship's health was called for and drunk amid loud cheers. Mr. Wilson returned thanks in a few words. Meanwhile the hall had been cleared, and before the sound of the last cheers had died away, the dancing had commenced; it continued till a late hour in the morning. WOODSTOCK, C. W.-There assembled at Norton's Hotel, to do honour to the memory of Scotland's immortal bard, a large and respectable company. The dinner was got up in the very best style, and was placed on the table at half-past six o'clock, when upwards of two hundred took their seats. Excellent speeches were delivered by the Chairman, James Kintrea, Esq., and the Rev. Duncan M'Diarmid, and John Douglass, Esq. YAAS (AUSTRALIA).-The celebration of the Centenary of Robert Burns, the Scotch Bard, was observed here by a public dinner, and kept up till morning. The attendance was good, and most of the speeches pithy. Dr. Campbell gave the toast "Robert Burns" with true Scotch fervour. UNITED STATES. ADRIAN, MICHIGAN.-On the evening of the 25th, the Scotchmen of this city met at the residence of C. M. M'Kenzie. A pleasant evening was spent in recurring to the days of "Auld Langsyne." A beautiful repast, with a few good Scotch songs, and appropriate remarks, formed the principal attractions of the evening. Before parting, a committee was formed for the purpose of organizing a St. Andrew's Society for this county. Thus an opportunity will be afforded to Scotchmen in the county to have a friendly meeting occasionally with their countrymen of the city. is indebted to the Hon. J. V. L. Pruyn, who has recently become the possessor of this precious relic. "The fragment containing Auld Langsyne,'" says Henry Stevens, Esq. of Massachusetts, "is part of a letter to Mrs. Dunlop, and is beyond all question in the autograph of Burns. I have placed beside it a characteristic letter of the poet, dated Feb., 1788, bearing his signature, and addressed to John Richmond. This autograph of Auld Langsyne' was for many years in the possession of my late friend William Pickering, the publisher, and after his death it fell, under Sotheby's hammer, in 1855, to me, at a price which I dare not name." ALBANY, N. Y.-The Albany Burns Club celebrated the centenary with becoming spirit. ANDOVER, MASS.-The Burns Club of No more elegant repast was ever served up in Andover, now two years old, celebrated the this city upon any similar occasion. And the anniversary by a supper, to which a large party 'feast of reason' corresponded with it. The sat down. Mr. Hugh Smart, President, delivspeeches, toasts, and songs were appropriate, ered an opening address, after which appropriexpressive, and exhilarating. A pleasant hi- ate sentiments were read and responses received larity pervaded the Club; and although every- from P. Smith, Esq., Messrs. D. Middleton, thing passed off with becoming decorum, the James Smith, A. Scrimgeour, J. Tytler, and J. felt presence of the spirit of the immortal poet B. Lyall. Recitations were given by Messrs. awakened an enthusiasm which gave a joyous R. Clarke, J. B. Smith, Tytler and Lyall. zest to the feast. James Dickson, the Presi- Songs, instrumental music, and social chat filldent of the Club, presided with becoming dig-ed up the time till the "wee short hour," when nity and grace. He was ably assisted by Vice- the company separated. President Dodds; while Secretary M'Goun made himself useful everywhere. The indefatigable labours of Treasurer Shanks and Mr. Manson, through the evening, as general superintendents of the feast, were fully appreciated. BALTIMORE.-The festival came off at the But as a Burns anniversary would be sadly de- Maltby House on Tuesday night, a full attendfective without a song, the Club owe a thou-ance of the Club and a large number of invited sand thanks to Messrs. Ellis, Drummond, Traynor, Watkins, M'Haffey, Lamb, Gresham, Dodds, Yuill, M'Farland, Murphy, and others, for the admirable manner in which they rendered a score of the choice gems of Scotland and America. Indeed, there was every variety of song and sentiment appropriate and befitting such an occasion. The chief feature of the evening was the exhibition of the autograph copy of "Auld Langsyne," of the genuineness of which there is no doubt. For this the Club guests being present. The president, James Stirratt, Esq., sat at the head of the table. Near him were seated Hon. John P. Kennedy, S. Teakle Wallis, Esq., Samuel Cairns, Esq., Secretary of the Club, and other well-known citizens. Vice-Presidents William M'Clymont and M. J. Drummond occupied the foot of the tables. The President, after removal of the cloth, having opened the proceedings with an appropriate address, proceeded to announce the toast of the evening, "The Memory of Robert |