he
inscription bore,

"Had turn'd his weeder-clips aside,
And spared the symbol dear,"

such was not the fate of the offspring plant. Scarcely had it reached
the platform, when Christopher North violently possessed himself of one
branch, the Lord Justice-General seized upon another, and in the
twinkling of an eye it was torn into fragments, and its rough leaves and
rougher flowers displayed upon manly bosoms, from which it would have
been difficult to wrest them again. So closed the Procession--but not
the gathering. Deafening were the cheers which followed for Burns--for
his Sons--for Professor Wilson--for Lord Eglinton; until the last
remnant of reserve gave way, and a torrent of people swept forward to
obtain, if possible, a pressure of their hands that were gladly and
gratefully held forth. Descending from the Platform, we entered the
meadow-ground beyond, where the multitude were now assembled. One of the
bands struck up the beautiful air--"Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon;"
and immediately the People, as if actuated by one common impulse, took
up the strain, and a loftier swell of music never rose beneath the cope
of heaven. We thought of the fine lines of Elliott--

"To other words, while forest echoes ring,
'Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon,' they sing;
And far below, the drover, with a start
Awaking, listens to the well-known strain,
Which brings Schehallion's shadow to his heart,
And Scotia's loveliest vales: then sleeps again,
And dreams on Loxley's banks of Dunsinane."

Few could abstain from tears as the last glorious note died solemnly
away into the skies. We looked down from the top of the pavilion-stairs
upon the vast multitude beneath. There could not have been less than
80,000 souls collected upon the ground. Of all that mighty mass, not
one man had thrown discredit upon the harmony and order of the day.
Every face glowed with happiness and congratulation, as if conscious
that a good work had been done, and that the nation had at length
discharged the duty which she owed to one of her most gifted sons.

THE BANQUET.

The company began to enter the Pavilion almost immediately after the
close of the Procession, and the chair was taken about two o'clock. The
Pavilion was erected in a field of twenty-two acres, adjoining to the
Monument, and was a magnificent building. It measured not less than 120
feet by 110, forming nearly a perfect square. The roof, suppor