Englishmen to adopt, and well
worthy of your Majesty's encouragement. We cannot long be deluded by
nominal distinctions. The name of Stuart, of itself, is only
contemptible; armed with the sovereign authority, their principles are
formidable. The prince who imitates their conduct should be warned by
their example, and, while he plumes himself upon the security of his
title to the crown, should remember that, as it was acquired by one
revolution, it may be lost by another.

ROBERT BURNS.

(1759-1796.)

XLVI. ADDRESS TO THE UNCO GUID, OR THE RIGIDLY RIGHTEOUS.

My son, these maxims make a rule,
And lump them aye thegither;
The Rigid Righteous is a fool,
The Rigid Wise anither;
The cleanest corn that ere was dight
May ha'e some pyles o' caff in;
So ne'er a fellow-creature slight
For random fits o' daffin'.--_Solomon_.--Eccles. vii. 16.

This undoubtedly ranks as one of the noblest satires in our
literature. It was first published as a broadside, and afterwards
incorporated in the Kilmarnock and Edinburgh editions.

Oh ye wha are sae guid yoursel',
Sae pious an' sae holy,
Ye've nought to do but mark an' tell
Your neebour's fauts an' folly!
Whase life is like a weel-gaun[216] mill,
Supplied wi' store o' water,
The heaped happer's[217] ebbing still,
An' still the clap plays clatter.

Hear me, ye venerable core,
As counsel for poor mortals,
That frequent pass douce Wisdom's door,
For glaiket[218] Folly's portals;
I, for their thoughtless, careless sakes,
Would here propone defences,
Their donsie[219] tricks, their black mistakes
Their failings an' mischances.

Ye see your state wi' theirs compar'd,
An' shudder at the niffer[220],
But cast a moment's fair regard,
What mak's the mighty differ?
Discount what scant occasion gave
That purity ye pride in,
An' (what's aft mair than a' the lave)
Your better art o' hiding.

Think, when your castigated pulse
Gi'es now an' then a wallop,
What ragings must his veins convulse,
That still eternal gallop.
Wi' wind an' tide fair i' your tail,
Right on ye scud your sea-way;
But in the teeth o' baith to sail,
It makes an unco lee-way.

See social life an' glee sit down,
All joyous an' unthinking,
Till, quite transmugrified, they're grown
Debauchery an' drinking: