and yet which are remembered as having a place in
the present century, must carry conviction that great changes have taken
place in the Scottish social circle. There were some things belonging to
our country which we must all have desired should be changed. There were
others which we could only see changed with regret and sorrow. The hardy
and simple habits of Scotsmen of many past generations; their industry,
economy, and integrity, which made them take so high a place in the
estimation and the confidence of the people amongst whom they dwelt in
all countries of the world; the intelligence and superior education of
her mechanics and her peasantry, combined with a strict moral and
religious demeanour, fully justified the praise of Burns when he
described the humble though sublime piety of the "Cottar's Saturday
Night," and we can well appreciate the testimony which he bore to the
hallowed power and sacred influences of the devotional exercises of his
boyhood's home, when he penned the immortal words:--

"From scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur springs,
That makes her loved at home, revered abroad."

On comparing Scotland past with Scotland present, we cannot evade the
question, Are "scenes like these"--devotional domestic scenes like
these--become less frequent than they were? Do they still hold their
place by the cottar's fireside, or are they becoming only a reminiscence
of what was _once_ a national distinction? Whatever be our religious
opinions, or whatever be our views on questions of ecclesiastical polity
and church order, no Scotsman who desires the happiness and honour of
his country could avoid a deep regret at the very idea of Burns'
"Cottar's Saturday Night" having become a thing of the past; and yet we
must not shrink from inquiry into the true state of the case. I have
asked the opinions of friends both of the Established and the Free
Church, who have met my inquiries in a fair and candid spirit, and, from
the answers I have received, have come to something like the following
conclusion:--I believe such scenes as Burns' "Cottar's Saturday Night"
are still to be met with in all their freshness and all their fervour in
the dwellings of a good religious peasantry; but in some places the
cottar population _itself_ has undergone a great change. Two causes have
combined to produce this effect:--An extensive system of emigration has
thinned the older families of the soil, whilst the practice of bri