THE Hundredth Anniversary of the birth of ROBERT BURNS was by all classes in Edinburgh regarded as a holiday. So far as the weather was concerned, the day corresponded pretty closely with that on which the poet was bornthe "Januar' wind" blowing with the strength and energy of a hurricane. About two o'clock, without concert, but with one accord, shopkeepers began to shut up; and within little more than an hour after, crowds were in all | parts of the town to be seen proceeding to the various places in which the Centenary Festivals were to be held. Long lines of cabs and carriages extended from all the entrances to the Music Hall, and groups of spectators gathered at every door, or promenaded George Street, observing the arrivals. Nothing could have been more cordial or general than the enthusiasm that prevailed at all the meetings; at the great gathering in the Music Hall especially the tone was admirably struck by Lord Ardmillan, to whose hearty manly eloquence as a speaker, and tact and good-humour as a chairman, the complete success of this chief festival was in no slight degree indebted. Here and at the Corn Exchange and Queen Street Hall all the proceedings passed off with the greatest éclat, while lesser celebrations, of which we have no note, numbered by scores; and in no case have we heard of any untoward occurrence. The monument to the poet at the Calton Hill was florally decorated for the occasion-the dome, pillars, and base being wreathed and encircled with evergreens; and in the course of the day many persons paid to this memorial of genius the homage of a visit.

THE MUSIC HALL.

A great banquet took place in the Music Hall in the evening. Tables were laid out for

seven hundred persons, besides which the galleries and orchestra were crowded with five hundred ladies in full dress, who took their places at an early hour, and remained till nearly the conclusion of the proceedings.

Lord Ardmillan presided, and he was accompanied to the platform by the Lord Provost, the Lord Justice-Clerk, Lord Ivory, Lord Neaves, Colonel M'Laverty, Captain Carnegie, Rev. Dr. Robert Lee, Mr. Adam Black, M. P., Sir William Gibson-Craig, Professor Blackie, Mr. D. O. Hill, Secretary, R. S. A., Mr. James Ballantine, and Professor Campbell Swinton. Sheriff Gordon and Mr. R. Chambers acted as croupiers.

Among the gentlemen in the body of the hall were Sir W. Dunbar, M. P., Bishop Gillis, Mr. Hepburn, as representative of the Caledonian Society of London, Sir John Richardson of Lancrigg (the Arctic navigator, and in his youth a frequent visitor at Burns' house in Dumfries), Mr. Gray of Preston (who, as a playmate of his children, knew the poet, and who came from Preston to be present on this occasion), the Provost of Leith, Sir W. Baillie, Professor Simpson, Mr. A. T. Boyle, Mr. Russell (Scotsman), Bailie Forester, Bailie Grieve, Bailie Johnston, Treasurer Russell, Councillor F. Richardson, Councillor Mossman, Councillor Cassels, Councillor Hill, Councillor Wood, Councillor Hay, Councillor Marshall, Bailie Lindsay of Leith, Professor Dick, Mr. A. Morrison, Dr. Schmitz, Mr. John Ritchie, Mr. Maurice Lothian, Mr. F. Russell, Mr. G. Lorimer, Mr. C. Maclaren, Mr. Edmonston, Professor Kelland, Professor M'Dougall, Colonel M'Niven, Sir William Forbes, Bart., Mr. Cosmo Innes, Mr. E. F. Maitland, Mr. David Laing, Mr. William Tait of Priorbank, Mr. David Rhind, Mr. John Archibald Campbell, Dr. John Renton, Mr. Williamson (Kinross), Mr. John Philip, R. A.,

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Mr. George Harvey, R. S. A., Mr. John Steele, R. S. A., Mr. Horatio M'Culloch, R. S. A., Mr. Kenneth Macleay, R. S. A., Mr. James Drummond, R. S. A., Mr. W. B. Johnston (Royal Academy librarian), Mr. James Archer, R. S. A., Mr. William Brodie, R. S. A., Mr. Allan Fraser, Mr. Howden, Dr. W. T. Gairdner, Mr. Gillon, Rev. Mr. Boyle, Rev. Mr. Torrance, Mr. J. C. Smith, Mr. M'Ewan, Mr. Oliver G. Miller (Dundee), Mr. Peter M'Kenzie (Glasgow), Mr. P. S. Fraser, Mr. Hunter (New Mains), &c. There were also present as guests of the meeting, Miss Burns, granddaughter of the Poet, and three daughters of his friend the late Mr. George Thomson. After dinner, before and after which grace was said by the Rev. Dr. Robert Lee,

The CHAIRMAN rose amid loud cheering, and said-I cannot, in mere words of form, propose to you the toast with which it becomes us, as good subjects, to commence our proceedings. This is the centenary of a day when, within the "auld clay bigging" of a Scottish cottage, the peasant-bard of our country was born; and now that each returning summer brings royal visits of condescending kindness to Scottish cottages, I am sure that you will join me in dedicating loyally, thankfully, and joyously our first enthusiastic pledge to the health, happiness, and prosperity of the Queen. (Great cheering.) Whether we take a retrospect of the years which have passed since the birth of Burns, or try to number our national blessings, or mark the present aspect of the times, and anticipate the bursting on other lands of the storm with which the little cloud on the horizon may be charged, we have great reason to be thankful to Divine Providence that our beloved Queen is, by the personal virtues of her pure and amiable character, an illustrious example to her subjects, and that in her wise and benign sway we have the best security for social order and national tranquillity, and the surest guarantee of personal and constitutional freedom. (Cheers.) Thus it is that, from the stateliest castle to the humblest cottage of our happy land there prevails one universal feeling of devoted loyalty to the Throne; and that, with the deliberate conviction of our judgment, and the earnest affections of our hearts, we unite loyally and lovingly in a bumper to the Queen. (The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm.)

The CHAIRMAN then gave, in succession, "The Prince Consort," and "The Prince of Wales and the rest of the Royal Family."

of departed ages; but the two brave and powerful arms with which Britain now guards her shores, maintains her rights, and achieves her triumphs-the Navy and Army. It is in no narrow or exclusive spirit that at this Scottish festival we rejoice to think that Scotsmen have ever been, and now are, in the front rank of our defenders on sea and shore. In the navy, where a Prince of the blood royal is now training for service and developing his promise of distinction, there are leading Scotsmen too numerous to mention; and I am happy to see present my honourable and gallant friend, peculiarly qualified to represent his noble profession, as he adds new lustre to a name hereditarily distinguished in the annals of naval war. In the army our eyes turn to the daring veteran whose Scottish arm now bears aloft the standard of victory in the East, and to that determined Scottish brigade who so brilliantly accomplish the plans of a leader worthy of their confidence. (Cheers.) On this occasion there is a peculiar propriety in the toast; for in every phase of the soldier's life-at each step in the course of conflict, victory, and returning peace -some tones from the harp of Burns come thrillingly to our feelings. In the unflinching stand from which attacking foes recoil, scattered like waves from a rock; in the desperate onset which sweeps the enemy from the field, how has there run along the Scottish line the sound-first murmuring low, then swelling like thunder-of that noblest of martial odes,— "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." (Enthusiastic applause.) In the hour which crowns the triumph, and closes the career, as "victory shines on life's last ebbing sands," how finely, with a touch at once powerful and delicate, does Burns describe the dying hero:—

"A leal light heart was in my breast,
My hand unstained wi' plunder,
And for fair Scotia hame again
I cheery on did wander.

I thought upon the banks of Coil,
I thought upon my Nancy,
I thought upon the witching smile
That caught my youthful fancy.

"At length I reached the bonny glen,
Where early life I sported,

I passed the mill and trysting thorn
Where Nancy oft I courted.
Wha spied I, but my ain dear maid,
Down by her mother's dwelling,
I turn'd me round to hide the flood
That in my een was swelling."

May many such returns be soon witnessed, and may peace, and home, and love be the rewards of the brave! The toast is "The Navy and Army," coupled with the health of Captain Carnegie and Colonel M Laverty. (Drunk with great enthusiasm.)

Captain CARNEGIE, in reply for the Navy, remarked that, while the Navy could claim a monopoly of Dibdin as a poet, and a large share of Campbell, he could not find anything specially connected with the navy in the career of Burns. The fact was that he wrote not or one class but for all; he struck every chord in the human heart that ever beat, whether under a black coat, a red coat, or a blue coat. (Cheers.)

Colonel M'LAVERTY replied for the Army, and referred to the influence of Burns on the soldier, in all circumstances, and especially on the Scottish soldier. He also remarked that the people of Belfast, in his native county of Antrim, were at that moment celebrating the centenary of the poet with the same cordiality and enthusiasm as in this country. (Cheers.)

he was so well entitled to occupy, I take the earliest opportunity of proposing his health and that of the Magistrates; and sure I am the toast deserves, and will receive, your hearty adoption. (Drunk with Town Council honours.)

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The LORD PROVOST, in acknowledging the toast, said-For myself and my colleagues in the Magistracy I beg to thank you for the honour which you have been pleased to confer upon us. While this day brings along with it associations which are dear to every lover of his country, it is invested with a peculiar interest to the inhabitants of this city as the place which was visited by our great national poet during the prime of his active manhood, and where his genius received an additional impetus from coming into close contact with many of the master-spirits of his day. (Cheers.) was here that he published the second edition of his works, and his genius broke forth into full effulgence-an edition which contains prefixed to it one of the finest of his prose compositions-I refer to the dedication which he then made of his works to the members of the Caledonian Hunt, where he gives expression to that noble spirit of self-reliance and pride of country for which he was so remarkable. "I was bred," he says, "to the plough, and am independent. I come to claim the common Scottish name with you my illustrious countrymen, and to tell the world that I glory in the title." (Cheers.) It was in this city that, by the kind influence of the amiable and accomplished Dr. Blacklock, he was induced to change his resolution to emigrate, and was thus preserved to his country. I rejoice to know that, on this day set apart to commemorate his genius, such is the enthusiasm felt by the inhabitants of this metropolis, no apartment could be found sufficiently capacious to contain the numbers of those who are ready to do him homage. (Ap

The CHAIRMAN then rose amidst enthusiastic cheering, and said-Though I am deeply conscious that I shall very inadequately present to you the great toast of this evening-especially as I am a most unworthy substitute for the illustrious man whom we had hoped to see in the chair-I shall, without prelude, address myself to the subject which has evoked these simultaneous gatherings in every part of the world. One hundred years ago, a Scottish peasant was born, who in his life was first flattered and tempted, then scorned and neglected, by the great, and whose world-wide fame now craves a demonstration altogether without precedent. There is a pretty impromptu by James Montgomery-with the manuscript of which I was favoured by Mr. Watson in Princes' Street, whose store of literary memorials, and especially