the most virtuous of nations is of itself
a decisive circumstance.

On one point there can be no controversy; the poetry of Burns has had
most powerful influence in reviving and strengthening the national
feelings of his countrymen. Amidst penury and labour his youth fed on
the old minstrelsy and traditional glories of his nation, and his genius
divined that what he felt so deeply must belong to a spirit that might
lie smothered around him, but could not be extinguished. Burns "knew his
own worth, and reverenced the lyre." But he ever announced himself, as a
peasant, the representative of his class, the painter of their manners,
inspired by the same influences which ruled their bosoms; and whosoever
sympathised with his verse had his soul opened for the moment to the
whole family of man.

Short and painful as were his years, Burns has left behind him a volume
in which there is inspiration for every fancy and music for every mood;
which lives, and will live in strength and vigour, "to soothe," as a
generous lover of genius has said, "the sorrows of how many a lover, to
inflame the patriotism of how many a soldier, to fan the fires of how
many a genius, to disperse the gloom of solitude, appease the agonies of
pain, encourage virtue, and show vice its ugliness." In this volume,
centuries hence as now, wherever a Scotsman may wander he will find the
dearest consolation of his exile.

* * * * *

MARTIN LUTHER

Table Talk

Martin Luther, "the monk who shook the world," was born Nov.
10, 1483, at Eisleben, in Germany. In 1507 he was ordained a
priest, and became popular almost immediately as a preacher. A
visit to Rome shocked him, and in revolt against the practice
of raising money by the sale of indulgences, he began his
career as a reformer. In 1518 he was summoned to Rome to
answer for his opinions, which now included a total denial of
the right of the Pope to forgive sins. He proceeded to attack
the whole doctrinal system of the Roman Catholic Church. For
this he was denounced in a papal bull and his writings were
condemned to be burned. In 1525 he married an escaped nun.
That Luther was a true child of his age may be seen in the
selections made from his "Table Talk." His shrewdness, humour,
plain bold speech, and his change of belief from an infallible
Church to an infallible Bible there appear, as al