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Article BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EMINENT (DECEAS... ← Page 9 of 14 →
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Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
soon after his father ' s death , he was furnished with the subject of his epistle to John Rankin , During this period also he became a Freemason , which Avas his first introduction to the life of a boon companion . Yet , notwithstanding these circumstances and the praise he has hestoAved on Scotch drink ( which seems to have misled his historians ) , I do not recollect during these seven years , nor till towards the end of his commencing author ( Avhen his growing celebrity occasioned his often being in company ) , to have ever seen him intoxicated ; nor Avas he at all given to drinking . "
In juxtaposition let us see what one of the recent lives of our poet says , — ____ u He contracted some acquaintance , of a freer manner of thinking and living than he had been used to , Avhose society prepared him for overleaping the bounds of rigid virtue , Avhich had hitherto restrained him . He became a Freemason , and Avas a constant attendant at the convivial meetings of the Brethren at Irvine and Tarbolton . " * ' " 1 t * 1 ¦ ' ¦ * l ¦* r % i it it " * *! ' ' /> r * "I 1 . reierrea to
i \ . na tins is actually put iorward as thequotation oerore , and attributed to his brother Gilbert , Avho neither insinuates that Masonry did more than lead him into company , nor does he use the sneer of italicising the word brethren , as the anonymous scribbler we quote from , who , if he were but known by name , we would gibbet to the world for his falsehood to the memorv of the man , and his utter Avant of knoAvledge of a society the principles of which he could not appreciate . Take , against this poison ( which occurs in more than one ofthe modern editions ) , the calm , dignified , testimony of our late brother , the philosopher Dugald Stewart , a man above suspicion ; he says :-
—u In the course ofthe same season , I was led by curiosity to attend for an hour or tAvo , a Masonic Lodge in Manchline , Avhere Burns presided . He had occasion to make some short , unpremeditated compliments to different individuals from Avhom he had no reason to expect a visit , and everything he said Avas happily conceived , and forcibly as well as fluently expressed . "
With the testimony of his brother and Professor Dugald Stuart in our favour , we have no further need to notice the calumnies that have been repeated ad nauseam , against our fraternity . At the risk of wearying our readers , we return to the time when our bard was about to sail to Jamaica , and cannot refrain from presenting them Avith ( to some ) the well known song he wrote on that occasion : —
u FAREWELL TO THE BRETHREN OF THE TARBOLTON LOIXJE . u Adieu ! a heart-Avarm , fond adieu ! Dear brothers of the mystic tic ! Ye favour'd , ye cnlightcn'd feAv , Companions of my social joy ! Though I to foreign lands must hie , Pursuing fortune ' s slidd ' ry ha ' , With melting heart , and brimful c } 'e , I'll mind you still , though far awa \
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
soon after his father ' s death , he was furnished with the subject of his epistle to John Rankin , During this period also he became a Freemason , which Avas his first introduction to the life of a boon companion . Yet , notwithstanding these circumstances and the praise he has hestoAved on Scotch drink ( which seems to have misled his historians ) , I do not recollect during these seven years , nor till towards the end of his commencing author ( Avhen his growing celebrity occasioned his often being in company ) , to have ever seen him intoxicated ; nor Avas he at all given to drinking . "
In juxtaposition let us see what one of the recent lives of our poet says , — ____ u He contracted some acquaintance , of a freer manner of thinking and living than he had been used to , Avhose society prepared him for overleaping the bounds of rigid virtue , Avhich had hitherto restrained him . He became a Freemason , and Avas a constant attendant at the convivial meetings of the Brethren at Irvine and Tarbolton . " * ' " 1 t * 1 ¦ ' ¦ * l ¦* r % i it it " * *! ' ' /> r * "I 1 . reierrea to
i \ . na tins is actually put iorward as thequotation oerore , and attributed to his brother Gilbert , Avho neither insinuates that Masonry did more than lead him into company , nor does he use the sneer of italicising the word brethren , as the anonymous scribbler we quote from , who , if he were but known by name , we would gibbet to the world for his falsehood to the memorv of the man , and his utter Avant of knoAvledge of a society the principles of which he could not appreciate . Take , against this poison ( which occurs in more than one ofthe modern editions ) , the calm , dignified , testimony of our late brother , the philosopher Dugald Stewart , a man above suspicion ; he says :-
—u In the course ofthe same season , I was led by curiosity to attend for an hour or tAvo , a Masonic Lodge in Manchline , Avhere Burns presided . He had occasion to make some short , unpremeditated compliments to different individuals from Avhom he had no reason to expect a visit , and everything he said Avas happily conceived , and forcibly as well as fluently expressed . "
With the testimony of his brother and Professor Dugald Stuart in our favour , we have no further need to notice the calumnies that have been repeated ad nauseam , against our fraternity . At the risk of wearying our readers , we return to the time when our bard was about to sail to Jamaica , and cannot refrain from presenting them Avith ( to some ) the well known song he wrote on that occasion : —
u FAREWELL TO THE BRETHREN OF THE TARBOLTON LOIXJE . u Adieu ! a heart-Avarm , fond adieu ! Dear brothers of the mystic tic ! Ye favour'd , ye cnlightcn'd feAv , Companions of my social joy ! Though I to foreign lands must hie , Pursuing fortune ' s slidd ' ry ha ' , With melting heart , and brimful c } 'e , I'll mind you still , though far awa \