Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotland.
lessons of simplicity and good taste which they taught , never tending to foster a bad , or to throw ridicule on a good or generous feeling . Perhaps the works of no author in any country , at any period , commanded a circulation to the same prodigious extent , in the same space of time . The admiration won by his writings has been extended to his country . Those who have been delighted with his delineations have been attracted to the scenes which he has so beautifully described ; and I may also say , that
even his own countrymen have viewed them with a deeper interest and increasing admiration ; and , as has been quaintly saicl , if his country had not received its name before , it might now have acquired the name of Scott-land—( applause ) . AVere I even competent to speak of the valuable
contributions of an historical ancl . miscellaneous kind which Scott has made to British literature , I would not so far trespass on your patience . I cannot , however , sit down without adverting to the claims he has on our esteem as a man—( applause ) . With reputation and talents which the most elevated might envy , he never assumed superiority over the less gifted and less fortunate . To the young—even to those in the humblest ranks—who sought his counsel , he was a kind and judicious
adviser . To those who required pecuniary assistance his hand was open as day . Although his company was courted by princes and nobles , he was not onl y the joyous companion of his equals , but he did not despise the society of the humble but honest cottar —( applause ) . None of his writings are more delightful than the letters in which , relaxing from his literary toils , he depicts the groupes of friends ancl neighbours of all degrees bent on rural recreations . Alen of genius have sometimes thought they were released from the trammels of ordinary mortals ; but Scott
took the most sensible views of the affairs of the world , and attended to all the proprieties of life . And his advice to others were at once mingled with the greatest kindness of heart and the most perfect sagacity—( great applause . ) Alas , that prudence should ever have failed him in his own case ! but even here the glory and strength of his character stand out in bolder relief . Like one of his own chivalrous champions , fearful as were the odds with which he had to contendhe resolved to buckle on his
, armour , to summon up all his energies , and to vindicate his honour , or die in the contest . He persevered amidst deep discouragement and sorrows to tax his powers to the uttermost , and , in his own words , " if there be a mental drudgery which lowers the spirits and lacerates the nerves , like the toil of the slave , it is that which is exacted by literary composition , when the heart is not in unison ivith the work in which the head is employed . " The struggle was too severe for his manly frame :
he conquered , but he fell , and , in dying , left behind him a renown which will only perish with the English language . The toast was not drunk in solemn silence , but with enthusiastic cheering , ancl the most vehement marks of attachment to the name of the great minstrel . Bro . AVilson afterwards sung , in fine voice , Scott ' s song of " The Pibroch of Donald Dhu , " a dirge having previously been executed by the band . Bro . PRINOLE M . P . after a few introductory remarkssaidthe
, , , , Freemasons hacl the honour that day of having at their head a young nobleman , the descendant of an ancient family , distinguished in Scottish history . They might remember that a few years ago , when the Sovereign , after having made a short excursion through Scotland , and wishing to see more of it , and , at the same time , enjoy the seclusion of the Highlands , where none of her ancestors had resided for centuries before
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scotland.
lessons of simplicity and good taste which they taught , never tending to foster a bad , or to throw ridicule on a good or generous feeling . Perhaps the works of no author in any country , at any period , commanded a circulation to the same prodigious extent , in the same space of time . The admiration won by his writings has been extended to his country . Those who have been delighted with his delineations have been attracted to the scenes which he has so beautifully described ; and I may also say , that
even his own countrymen have viewed them with a deeper interest and increasing admiration ; and , as has been quaintly saicl , if his country had not received its name before , it might now have acquired the name of Scott-land—( applause ) . AVere I even competent to speak of the valuable
contributions of an historical ancl . miscellaneous kind which Scott has made to British literature , I would not so far trespass on your patience . I cannot , however , sit down without adverting to the claims he has on our esteem as a man—( applause ) . With reputation and talents which the most elevated might envy , he never assumed superiority over the less gifted and less fortunate . To the young—even to those in the humblest ranks—who sought his counsel , he was a kind and judicious
adviser . To those who required pecuniary assistance his hand was open as day . Although his company was courted by princes and nobles , he was not onl y the joyous companion of his equals , but he did not despise the society of the humble but honest cottar —( applause ) . None of his writings are more delightful than the letters in which , relaxing from his literary toils , he depicts the groupes of friends ancl neighbours of all degrees bent on rural recreations . Alen of genius have sometimes thought they were released from the trammels of ordinary mortals ; but Scott
took the most sensible views of the affairs of the world , and attended to all the proprieties of life . And his advice to others were at once mingled with the greatest kindness of heart and the most perfect sagacity—( great applause . ) Alas , that prudence should ever have failed him in his own case ! but even here the glory and strength of his character stand out in bolder relief . Like one of his own chivalrous champions , fearful as were the odds with which he had to contendhe resolved to buckle on his
, armour , to summon up all his energies , and to vindicate his honour , or die in the contest . He persevered amidst deep discouragement and sorrows to tax his powers to the uttermost , and , in his own words , " if there be a mental drudgery which lowers the spirits and lacerates the nerves , like the toil of the slave , it is that which is exacted by literary composition , when the heart is not in unison ivith the work in which the head is employed . " The struggle was too severe for his manly frame :
he conquered , but he fell , and , in dying , left behind him a renown which will only perish with the English language . The toast was not drunk in solemn silence , but with enthusiastic cheering , ancl the most vehement marks of attachment to the name of the great minstrel . Bro . AVilson afterwards sung , in fine voice , Scott ' s song of " The Pibroch of Donald Dhu , " a dirge having previously been executed by the band . Bro . PRINOLE M . P . after a few introductory remarkssaidthe
, , , , Freemasons hacl the honour that day of having at their head a young nobleman , the descendant of an ancient family , distinguished in Scottish history . They might remember that a few years ago , when the Sovereign , after having made a short excursion through Scotland , and wishing to see more of it , and , at the same time , enjoy the seclusion of the Highlands , where none of her ancestors had resided for centuries before