flights of his imagination. They often
saw him pourtray with a pencil dipt in
the colours of the rainbow, every thing
fair or great, or sublime in character,
and heard him the zealous advocate of
humanity, religion, virtue and freedom.
On these occasions, he was heard to
quote the English poets from Shakes-
pear to Cowper, while their finest pas-
sages seemed to acquire new beauties
from his energetic recitation. His coun-
tenance was seen to brighten, and his
large dark eyes to sparkle with delight,
as he rolled them over the purpling
tints of a morning sky, or the varied
beauties of a fine landscape, while he
burst out into warm and enthusiastic
strains of adoration worthy of the
Hebrew Bard. In the bosom of his
own family, he was seen superintending
the education of a son worthy of his
culture; explaining to a boy of nine
years of age, the beauties of Gray's
Progress of Poesy, or pouring on his
soul a love of the great and sublime in
character, as they live in the immortal
portraits of Gibbon, Hume, or Robert-
son; yet all this happened in the days
of the Poet's degradation! Is this like
mental degradation? Are these the
sentiments, this the conversation, this
the tone of mind of a man brutified
and debased by vice? No, no! the Poet,
like other men, had vices; he was guilty
of occasional deviations from that path
which his own mind told him he ought
to tread; he was sometimes the sport
of ardent and impetuous passions, "of
passions wild and strong," which too
often accompany high genius; but his
heart was still pure and uncorrupted,
and to counterbalance his failings, he
possessed many splendid virtues. All

that is asked for him is, that his virtues
and vices should be fairly balanced, and
that he should be acquitted or condemn-
ed of the heavy charges which have
been brought against him, as the scale
shall preponderate. This is due to the
most profligate of mankind; to the
tyrant, who has trampled under foot
the rights of nations, and shall we deny
it to him, whose fine delineations of
piety and virtue are destined to delight
and improve future ages, and prove
that these feelings were the habitual in-
mates of his soul? But the Poet was
a prodigy of genius, and as men are
fond of prodigies, he must likewise be
a prodigy of vice! From mere hearsay
report, slander is added to slander, falsc-
hood to falsehood, and such a picture
is drawn of the immortal Bard, as hard-
ly to resemble the original in any one
feature, into which not a trait of vir-
tue is thrown to redeem the haggard
deformity of vice! This is an unpre-
cedented proceeding. What question
of property is decided on hearsay re-
port? and shall the man of genius be
"filched of his good name" on no bet-
ter evidence, and that too when his
cloquence can no longer be exerted in
his own defence? He is accused of
spending his time and his money in the
lowest haunts of vice, while his family
at home were starving! The answer
is short; the charge is false! It is con-
tradicted by uncontrovertible evidence.
His income was barely sufficient for the
support of his family; yet, such was
his economy, that on a sum unequal to
the wages of many a valet, they were
fed and decently clothed, and he incur.
red no debt! Such was the indepen-
dence of his mind, that, though strug-

gling with cheerless poverty, he refused the honest price of the offspring of his genius, lest he should seem to prostitute the muse. He was a good son, a good brother, a good father, a faithful friend, and an affectionate husband; yet, say his enemies, he was a monster of vice. It is painful to reflect, that though many of those calumnies had their origin in political rancour, they have misled men of the most enlightened minds,

and the highest literary reputation.—
Under the most respectable sanction,
they have been repeated on the banks
of the Ganges and the Delaware, in
such a manner as to leave little hope of
their being contradicted with success,
at least for many years, but truth will
ultimately
ultimately prevail, and the calumny
will be remembered only to the dis-
grace of its inventors.

VERSES BY BURNS.

NEVER BEFORE PRINTED.

AH! woe is me my mother dear,
A man of strife you've born me;
For sair contention I maun bear,
They hate, revile, and scorn me.

I ne'er could lend on bill or land,
Per cent has never blest me;
And borrowing on the tother hand,----
There's ne'er a ane will trust me.

Yet though a coin denied wight,

By fortune quite discarded;

You see how I'm baith day and night,
By lad and lass blackguarded!!!

EDINBURGH-Printed at the Star Office, (price 4d. a single Number, 4s. 6d. per quarter, deliverable in town, and 5s. when sent to the country), by A. AIKMAN, for the PROPRIETORS; where Subscriptions, and Communications, (post paid), will be received.

extraordinary powers of estimating human characters, and human actions aright, one whom it would be wisdom for all men, both high and low, to consult before they formed any permanent: connection, or entered upon any undertaking of moment.

THE other night, on my way home, after a fatiguing day, I stumbled into the house of an old acquaintance, on purpose to rest myself, as well as to find amusement in his conversation, until my usual time of going to bed. For you must know, Sir, that this friend of mine is a phenomenon of wisdom and foresight. He keeps a weekly, if not a daily, register of all the undermining and unmannerly actions practised by the men and women of this metropolis and its environs, as far as his information serves him, and he spares no pains to gain that information; and consequently can, when he pleases, retail all the incidents that have led to the births, marriages, and deaths for twenty years bygone; as well as to all the failures in business, most of which he foresaw and prognosticated with the great-reached, and will soon singe in two.

est punctuality. In a short time I was struck with astonishment at the man's amazing discernment, for though we were fellow collegians, and have long been known to one another, we have not been in habits of intimacy; and I did not use to hear him mentioned by associates with half so much deference as it appeared to me he was entitled to. I set him down in my mind as a most useful member of society, and from his

Impelled by a curiosity too natural, of seeing into futurity, I soon began to consult him about the affairs of the nation, and what was most likely to be the result of the present stagnation of trade, and measures of government.But, O Mr. Spy! my heart thrills with horror to this hour, when I reflect upon the authentic and undeniable information which I received from him!-Do you know Sir, that we are all in the very jaws of destruction? our trade, our liberties, our religion, yes Sir, heaven be our guard! our religion and all are hanging by one slender thread! which the flames of hell have already

This was a shocking piece of intelligence for me, Sir, who had always cherished the fond idea that we were the most thriving and flourishing people on the face of the whole earth. When I was a young man the several classes of society in this country, were not half so well fed, clothed, or educated as they now are, what could I think but that we were a thriving and happy people? But instead of that Sir, we were ruin.