ABSTRACT
This is a typical remark of the person who has listened and although finding the reasoning of the preacher hard to follow, nevertheless acknowledges that the fault probably lies with themselves and not the preacher, who really does have something worthwhile to say. The Kirk Session decided that: it is their firm purpose to cause every house suspected of such ungodly practice to be visited in time of the public worship, especially in the forenoon. Peebles proceeds to cut, slash and mutilate both the work and the character of the Burns. It is a vicious, vindictive and intemperate work that says far more about Peebles than the subject he sets out to deal with. Not surprisingly, and perhaps characteristically, it was printed anonymously, but it was later acknowledged as the work of Peebles. Peebles's criticism of Burns's poetry is minimal.
