brief as well as more circumstantial, and then add the _variorum_ opinions.

"Little else has been talked of these ten days, in the literary world of
London, but the Festival in memory of the birthday of Burns and the visit
of the Ettrick Shepherd. The names of stewards, noble and learned, were
announced in the newspapers: hopes were held out that verses in honour of
the occasion, written by Campbell, would be recited by Reding: and it was
moreover added, that Captain Burns was to be present, and that the
punch-bowl of Murray marble, filled with the liquor which his great father
loved, would be smoking on the table. The Festival took place in
Freemasons' Hall on Wednesday last, and though arrangements were made for
two hundred and fifty guests, such was the curiosity, and such the crush,
that by six o' clock, four hundred and fifty tickets were disposed of, and
the like number of gentlemen sat down, amid no little confusion, about
seven o' clock, to dinner. Sir John Malcolm, well known for his 'History
of Central India,' was in the chair; on his left hand sat the eldest and
youngest sons of Burns; the former like his father, the latter more
resembling his mother; and on the other hand sat James Hogg, accompanied
by many gentlemen distinguished in science and literature. The punch-bowl
of Burns, now the property of Mr. Hastie, stood before the chair, and
beside it, a drinking quaigh, formed from the Wallace Oak of the Torwood,
brimmed with silver, and bearing on the bottom the grim visage of the
northern hero."

"Sir John Malcolm having consumed some time in introductory toasts, which
the company received with impatience, proceeded to propose 'the Memory of
ROBERT BURNS:' he dwelt less on his history than on the wide influence of
his works, and recited many verses with taste and feeling. He related how
deeply his fame had taken root in the East, and instanced the admiration
of Byron in proof of his wonderful genius: but no such testimony is at all