The
development that followed did, indeed, take a direction that he was
far from foreseeing. The moderate party, which he supported, gradually
gained the upper hand in the Kirk, and, upholding as it did the system
of patronage, became more and more associated with the aristocracy who
bestowed the livings. The result was that the moderate clergy
degenerated under prosperity and lost their spiritual zeal; while
their opponents, chastened by adversity, became the champions of the
autonomy of the church, and, in the "ten years' conflict" that broke
out little more than a generation after the death of Burns, showed
themselves of the stuff of the martyrs. It would be impossible to
trace the extent of the influence of the poet on the purging of
orthodoxy or on the limitation of ecclesiastical despotism, since his
work was in accord with the drift of the times; but it is fair to
infer that, especially among the common people who were less likely to
be reached by more philosophical discussion, his share was far from
inconsiderable.
The poetical value of the satires is another matter. It may be
questioned whether satire is ever essentially poetry, as poetry has
been understood for the last hundred years. The dominant mood of
satire is too antagonistic to imagination. But if we restrict our
attention to the characteristic qualities of verse satire--vividness
in depicting its object, blazing indignation or bitter scorn in its
attitude, and wit in its expression, we shall be forced to grant that
Burns achieved here notable success.
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