It was by his style, and not by his matter, that he affected
Wordsworth and the world. There is, indeed, only one merit
worth considering in a man of letters - that he should write
well; and only one damning fault - that he should write ill.
We are little the better for the reflections of the sailor's
parrot in the story. And so, if Burns helped to change the
course of literary history, it was by his frank, direct, and
masterly utterance, and not by his homely choice of subjects.
That was imposed upon him, not chosen upon a principle. He
wrote from his own experience, because it was his nature so
to do, and the tradition of the school from which he
proceeded was fortunately not oppose to homely subjects. But
to these homely subjects he communicated the rich commentary
of his nature; they were all steeped in Burns; and they
interest us not in themselves, but because they have been
passed through the spirit of so genuine and vigorous a man.
Such is the stamp of living literature; and there was never
any more alive than that of Burns.

What a gust of sympathy there is in him sometimes flowing out
in byways hitherto unused, upon mice, and flowers, and the
devil himself; sometimes speaking plainly between human
hearts; sometimes ringing out in exultation like a peal of
beals! When we compare the FARMER'S SALUTATION TO HIS AULD
MARE MAGGIE, with the clever and inhumane production of half
a century earlier, THE AULD MAN'S MARE'S DEAD, we see in a
nutshell the spirit of the change introduced by Burns. And
as to its manner, who that has read it can forget how the
collie, Luath, in the TWA DOGS, describes and enters into the