Nae cauld or hunger e'er can steer them,
The vera thought o't need na fear them.

CÆSAR.

L-d, man, were ye but whyles whare I am, The gentles ye wad ne'er envy 'em.

It's true, they needna starve or sweat,
Thro' winter's cauld, or simmer's heat;
They've nae sair wark to craze their banes,
An' fill auld age wi' grips an' granes:
But human bodies are sic fools,
For a' their colleges and schools,
That when nae real ills perplex them,
They mak enow themsels to vex them;
An' ay the less they hae to sturt them,
In like proportion less will hurt them.

A country fellow at the pleugh,
His acres till'd, he's right enough;
A country girl at her wheel,

Her dizzen's done, she's unco weel:
But Gentlemen, an' Ladies warst,
Wi' ev'n down want o' wark are curst.
They loiter, lounging, lank, an' lazy ;
Tho' deil haet ails them, yet uneasy;
Their days insipid, dull, an' tasteless;
Their nights unquiet, lang, an' restless;

An' even their sports, their balls an' races,
Their galloping thro' public places.
There's sic parade, sic pomp, an' art,

The joy can scarcely reach the heart,
The men cast out in party matches,
Then sowther a' in deep debauches;

Ae night they're mad wi' drink and wh-ring,
Niest day their life is past enduring.
The Ladies arm-in-arm in clusters,
As great and gracious a' as sisters;
But hear their absent thoughts o' ither,
They're a' run deils an' jads thegither.
Whyles, o'er the wee bit cup an' platie,
They sip the scandal potion pretty;
Orlee-lang nights, wi' crabbit leuks
Pore owre the devil's pictur'd beuks;
Stake on a chance a farmer's stackyard,
An' cheat ke onie unhang'd blackguard.

There's some exception, man an' woman;
But this is Gentry's life in common.

By this, the sun was out o' sight,
Ar darker gloaming brought the night:
The bum-olock humm'd wi' lazy drone
The kye stood rowtin i' the loan;
When up they gat, and shook their lugs,
Rejoic'd they were na men but dogs;
An each took aff his several way,
Resolv'd to meet some ither day.

On the 17th of February, 1786, Burns writes to John Richmond-" I have completed my poem on the Dogs, but have not shewn it to the world." It is difficult to fix dates to compositions, some of which were struck off at one heat of fancy, while others were elaborated slowly out, as time suited or inclination willed. Mr. Neil, to whose k indness Iam much indebted, relates that, in a jaunt through the land of Burns, he met with Henry Cowan and Hugh his brother, who were early acquaintances of the Poet's family-members of the club, and remembered the discussion of the question regarding marriage, in which the young Poet spoke with great ardour and eloquence, and was successful. These brothers said they happened to be aiding Burns and his father with a load of wood at Coils field, when, in a field beside them, the Bard's collie and a collared Newfoundlander met and

"Scoured awa in lang excursion,
And worried other in diversion,"

:

and grew very social. Burns looked on them often, and smiled and said nothing but when the poem was pub lished, they knew to what period his thoughts had wan dered as he composed it.

In the first edition some lines of a rude stamp appear the Bard's own good sense, or the remonstrance of the critics, induced him to amend them in the next edition. These lines

"Until, wi' daffin weary grown,

Upon a knowe they sat them down;"

stood thus in the Kilmarnock edition :→→→

"Till tired at last wi' mony a farce,

They sat them down upon their a—.'

And thus in the original manuscript :

"Till tired at last an' doucer grown,
Upon a knowe they sat them down."

Two rougher and less tasteful lines occupied the place of the following :

"And clear the consequential sorrows

Love-gifts of Carnival Signoras."

The "Two Dogs" of Florian converse upon the affairs of the world, and satirize courts, camps and colleges the "Twa Dogs" of Burns talk only of matters connected with their different households, nor do they say any thing which is not in character :-Cæsar's hatred to the "blastit wonner," the whipper-in, is quite natural— and Luath's barking with gladness in the midst of the family joy is a fine touch of truth. The aim of the Poet was to make the peasantry contented with their humble condition he discusses the great question of human enjoyment with much knowledge, and refuses to consider wealth as happiness

::

:

"A country girl at her wheel,

Her dizzens done, she's unco weel:

A country fellow at the pleugh,
His acres tilled, he's right eneugh."

"The

Here Burns speaks from his own experience.poems of observation on life and characters," says Jeffrey, "are the "Twa Dogs' and the various Epistles, all of which show very extraordinary sagacity and powers of expression."

END OF VOL. II.

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