May cauld ne'er catch you but • a hap, No. XVIII. TO DR. M'KENZIE, MAUCHLINE. (ENCLOSING HIM THE EXTEMPORE VERSES ON DINING WITH LORD DAER.) Gordon-The Countess of Glencairn, with my Lord, and Lady Betty-The Dean of Faculty -Sir John Whitefoord.-I have likewise warm friends among the literati; Professors Stewart, Blair, and Mr. M'Kenzie-the Man of Feeling. -An unknown hand left ten guineas for the Ayrshire bard with Mr. Sibbald, which I got. -1 since have discovered my generous unknown friend to be Patrick Miller, Esq. brother to the Justice Clerk; and drank a glass of claret with him by invitation at his own house yesternight. I am nearly agreed with Creech to print my book, and I suppose I will begin on Monday. I will send a subscription bill or two, next post; I NEVER spent an afternoon among great when I intend writing my first kind pation, folks with half that pleasure as when, in com- | Mr. Aiken. I saw his son to-day and he is pany with you, I had the honour of paying my devoirs to that plain, honest, worthy man, the professor. I would be delighted to see him perform acts of kindness and friendship, though I were not the object; he does it with such a grace. I think his character, divided into ten parts, stands thus-four parts Socrates-four parts Nathaniel-and two parts Shakespeare's Brutus. DEAR SIR, Wednesday Morning. very well. Dugald Stewart, and some of my learned friends, put me in the periodical paper called the Lounger, a copy of which I here enclose you-I was, Sir, when I was first honoured with your notice, too obscure; now I tremble lest I should be ruined by being dragged too suddenly into the glare of polite and learned observation. I shall certainly, my ever honoured patron, write you an account of my every step; and better health and more spirits may enable me to make it something better than this stupid mat The foregoing verses were really extempore, but a little corrected since. They may entertain you a little with the help of that partiality with which you are so good as favour the per-ter of fact epistle. formances of Dear Sir, Your very humble Servant. I have the honour to be, Your ever grateful humble Servant If any of my friends write me, my direction is, care of Mr. Creech, bookseier. No. XIX. TO JOHN BALLANTINE, ESQ. BANKER, AYR. Edinburgh, 13th Dec. 1786. MY HONOURED FRIEND, my I WOULD not write you till I could have it in my power to give you some account of self and my matters, which by the bye is often no easy task. I arrived here on Tuesday was se'nnight, and have suffered ever since I came to town with a miserable head-ache and stomach complaint, but am now a good deal better. I have found a worthy warm friend in Mr. Dalrymple, of Orangefield, who introduced me to Lord Glencairn, a man whose worth and brotherly kindness to me, I shall remember when time shall be no more.-By his interest it is passed in the Caledonian hunt, and entered in their books, that they are to take each a copy of the second edition, for which they are to pay one guinea.-I have been introduced to a good many of the Noblesse, but my avowed patrons and patronesses are, the Duchess of No. XX. TO MR. WILLIAM CHALMERS, WRITER, AYR. Edinburgh, Dec. 27, 1786. MY DEAR FRIEND, I CONFESS I have sinned the sin for which there is hardly any forgiveness-ingratitude to friendship-in not writing you sooner; but of all men living, I had intended to send you an entertaining letter; and by all the plodding, stupid powers, that in nodding, conceited majesty, preside over the dull routine of business— A heavily-solemn oath this!—I am, and have been, ever since I came to Edinburgh, as unfit to write a letter of humour, as to write a commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine, who was banished to the Isle of Patmos, by the cruel and bloody Domitian, son to Vespasian and brother to Titus, both emperors of Rome, and who was himself an emperor, and Lady Betty Cunningham. The paper here alluded to, was written by Mr. "But" is frequently used for "without;" e. M'Kenzie, the celebrated author of the Man of Feelwithout clothing. ↑ Professor Dugald Stewart. ing. This letter is now presented entire. raised the second or third persecution, I forget | which, against the Christians, and after throwing the said Apostle John, brother to the Apostle James, commonly called James the greater, to distinguish him from another James, who was, on some account or other, known by the name of James the less, after throwing him into a caldron of boiling oil, from which he was miraculously preserved, he banished the poor son of Zebedee, to a desert island in the Archipelago, where he was gifted with the second sight, and saw as many wild beasts as I have seen since I came to Edinburgh; which, a circumstance not very uncommon in story-telling, brings me back to where I set out. To make you some amends for what, before you reach this paragraph, you will have suffered; I enclose you two poems I have carded and spun since I past Glenbuck. One blank in the address to Edinburgh-"Fair B," is heavenly Miss Burnet, daughter to Lord Monboddo, at whose house I have had the honour to be more than once. There has not been any thing nearly like her, in all the combinations of beauty, grace, and goodness, the Great Creator has formed, since Milton's Eve on the first day of her existence. My direction is-care of Andrew Bruce, merchant, Bridge-Street. I went to a Mason-lodge yesternight, where the most Worshipful-Grand Master Charters, and all the Grand-Lodge of Scotland visited.The meeting was numerous and elegant; all the different Lodges about town were present, in all their pomp. The Grand Master, who presided with great solemnity and honour to himself as a gentleman and Mason, among other general toasts gave "Caledonia, and Caledonia's Bard, Brother B- -" which rung through the whole assembly with multiplied honours and repeated acclamations. As I had no idea such a thing would happen, I was downright thunder-struck, and trembling in every nerve made the best return in my power. Just as I had finished, some of the grand officers said, so loud that I could hear, with a most comforting accent, Very well indeed!" which set me something to rights again. I have to-day corrected my 152d page. My best good wishes to Mr. Aiken. I am ever, Dear Sir, Your much indebted humble Servant LETTERS, 1787. No. XXI. TO JOHN BALLANTINE, Esq. Edinburgh, Jan. 14, 1787. MY HONOURED FRIEND, Ir gives me a secret comfort to observe in myself that I am not yet so far gone as Willie Gaw's skate," past redemption;" for I have still this favourable symptom of grace, that when my conscience, as in the case of this letter, tells me I am leaving something undone that I ought to do, it teazes me eternally till I do it. I am still"dark as was chaos" in respect to futurity. My generous friend, Mr. Patrick Miller, has been talking with me about a lease of some farm or other in an estate called Dalswinton, which he has lately bought near Dumfries. Some life-rented embittering recollections whisper me that I will be happier any where than in my old neighbourhood, but Mr. Miller is no judge of land; and though I dare say he means to favour me, yet he may give me, in his opinion, an advantageous bargain, that may ruin me. I am to take a tour by Dumfries as I turn, and have promised to meet Mr. Miller on his lands some time in May. re This is one of a great number of old saws that Burns, when a lad, had picked up from his mother, of which the good old woman had a vast collection. No. XXII. TO THE EARL OF EGLINTON. MY LORD, Edinburgh, Jan. 1787. As I have but slender pretensions to philosophy, I cannot rise to the exalted ideas of a citizen of the world; but have all those national prejudices which, I believe, glow peculiarly strong in the breast of a Scotchman. There is scarcely any thing to which I am so feelingly alive, as the honour and welfare of my country; and, as a poet, I have no higher enjoyment than singing her sons and daughters. Fate had cast my station in the veriest shades of life; but never did a heart pant more ardently than mine, to be distinguished; though, till very lately, I looked in vain on every side for a ray of light. It is easy, then, to guess how much I was gratified with the countenance and approbation of one of my country's most illustrious sons, when Mr. Wauchope called on me yesterday, on the part of your lordship. Your munificence, my lord, certainly deserves my very grateful acknowledgments; but your patronage is a bounty peculiarly suited to my feelings. I am not master enough of the etiquette of life to know whether there be not some impropriety in troubling your lordship with my thanks; but my heart whispered me to do it. From the emotions of my inmost soul I do it. Selfish in gratitude, I hope, I am incapable of; and mer cenary servility, I trust, I shall ever have so much honest pride as to detest. No. XXIII. TO MRS. DUNLOP. ward rusticity and crude unpolished ideas on my head-I assure you, Madam, I do not dissemble when I tell you I tremble for the consequences. The novelty of a poet in iny obscure situation, without any of those advantages which are reckoned necessary for that character, at least at this time of day, has raised a partial tide of public notice, which has borne me to a height where I am absolutely, feelingly certain, my abilities are inadequate to support me; and too surely do I see that time when the same tide will leave me, and recede, perhaps, as far below the mark of truth. SALAM, Edinburgh, 15th Jan. 1787. YOURS of the 9th current, which I am this moment honoured with, is a deep reproach to me for ungrateful neglect. I will tell you the real truth, for I am miserably awkward at a fib: I wished to have written to Dr. Moore before I wrote to you; but though, every day since I received yours of December 30th, the idea, the wish to write him, has constantly pressed on my thoughts, yet I could not for my soul set about it. I know his fame and character, and I am one of "the sons of little men." Your patronizing me, and interesting yourTo write him a mere matter-of-fact affair, like self in my fame and character as a poet, I rea merchant's order, would be disgracing the lit- joice in; it exalts me in my own idea; and tle character I have; and to write the author whether you can or cannot aid me in my subof The View of Society and Manners a letter scription is a trifle. Has a paltry subscriptionof sentiment I declare svery artery runs cold bill any charms to the heart of a bard, comparat the thought. I shall try, however, to write ed with the patronage of the descendant of the him to-morrow or next day. His kind interpo-immortal Wallace? sition in my behalf I have already experienced, as a gentleman waited on me the other day, on the part of Lord Eglinton, with ten guineas by way of subscription for two copies of my next edition. The word you object to in the mention I have made of my glorious countryman and your immortal ancestor, is indeed borrowed from Thomson; but it does not strike me as an improper epithet. I distrusted my own judgment on your finding fault with it, and applied for the opinion of some of the literati here, who honour me with their critical strictures, and key all allow it to be proper. The song you ask I cannot recollect, and I have not a copy of it. I have not composed any thing on the great Wallace, except what you have seen in print, and the enclosed, which I will print in this edition. You will see I have mentioned some others of the name. When I composed my Vision, long ago, I had attempted a description of Kyle, of which the additional stanzas are a part, as originally stood. My heart glows with a wish to be able to do justice to the merits of the Saviour of his Country, which, sooner or later, I shall at least attempt. a No. XXIV. TO DR. MOORE. 1787. SIR, extracts of letters she has had from you, where Those who have felt the anxieties and solicitudes of authorship, can only know what pleasure it gives to be noticed in such manner by judges of the first character. Your criticisms, Sir, I receive with reverence; only, am sorry they mostly came too late; a peccant passage or two, that I would certainly have altered, were gone to the press. The hope to be admired for ages is, in by far the greater part of those even who are authors of repute, an unsubstantial dream. For my part, my first ambition was, and still my strongest wish is, to please my compeers, the rustic inmates of the hamlet, while ever changing language and manners shall allow me to be relished and understood. I am very willing to admit You are afraid I shall grow intoxicated with that I have some poetical abilities; and as few, my prosperity as a poet. Alas! Madam, I know myself and the world too well. I do not if any writers, either moral or poetical, are intimean any airs of affected modesty; I am wil-mately acquainted with the classes of mankind ling to believe that my abilities deserved some notice; but in a most enlightened, informed age and nation, when poetry is and has been the study of men of the first natural genius, aided with all the powers of polite learning, polite books, and polite company-to be dragged forth to the full glare of learned and polite observation, with all my imperfections of awk Stanzas in the Vision, beginning third stanza, "By stately tower or palace fair," and ending with the first duan. among whom I have chiefly mingled, I may have seen men and manners in a different phasis from what is common, which may assist originality of thought. Still I know very well the novelty of my character has by far the greatest share in the learned and polite notice I have lately had; have raised the laugh, and Shenstone and Gray and in a language where Pope and Churchill drawn the tear-where Thomson and Beattie have painted the landscape, and Lyttleton and Collins described the heart, I am not vain enough to hope for distinguished poetic fame. SIR, No. XXV. FROM DR. MOORE. Clifford Street, Jan. 23, 1787. I HAVE just received your letter, by which I find I have reason to complain of my friend Mrs. Dunlop for transmitting to you extracts from my letters to her, by much too freely and too carelessly written for your perusal. I must forgive her, however, in consideration of her good intention, as you will forgive me, I hope, for the freedom I use with certain expressions, in consideration of my admiration of the poems in general. If I may judge of the author's disposition from his works, with all the other good qualities of a poet, he has not the irritable temper ascribed to that race of men by one of their own number, whom you have the happiness to resemble in ease and curious felicity of expression. Indeed the poetical beauties, however original and brilliant, and lavishly scattered, are not all I admire in your works; the love of your native country, that feeling sensibility to all the objects of humanity, and the independent spirit which breathes through the whole, give me a most favourable impression of the poet, and have made me often regret that I did not see the poems, the certain effect of which would have been my seeing the author last summer, when I was longer in Scotland than I have been for many years. I rejoice very sincerely at the encouragement you receive at Edinburgh, and I think you pe culiarly fortunate in the patronage of Dr. Blair, who, I am informed, interests himself very much for you. I beg to be remembered to him: nobody can have a warmer regard for that gentleman than I have, which, independent of the worth of his character, would be kept alive by the memory of our common friend, the late Mr. George B- -e. Before I received your letter, I sent enclosed in a letter to He felt each storm that on the mountain blows, On nature with impassion'd look he gazed; SIR, No. XXVI TO DR. MOORE. Edinburgh, 15th Feb. 1787. PARDON my seeming neglect in delaying so long to acknowledge the honour you have done me, in your kind notice of me, January 23d. I knew no other emNot many months ago, ployment than following the plough, nor could boast any thing higher than a distant acquaintance with a country clergyman. Mere greatness never embarrasses me: I have nothing to ask from the great, and I do not fear their judgment; but genius, polished by learning, and at its proper point of elevation in the eye of the world, this of late I frequently meet with, and tremble at its approach. I scorn the affectation of seeming modesty to cover self-conceit. That I have some merit I do not deny; but I see, with frequent wringings of heart, that the novelty of my character, and the honest national prejudice of my countrymen, have borne me to a height altogether untenable to my abilities. For the honour Miss W. has done me, please, Sir, return her in my name, my most grateful thanks. I have more than once thought of paying her in kind, but have hitherto quitted the idea in hopeless despondency. I had never before heard of her; but the other day I got her -, a sonnet by Miss Wil-poems, which, for several reasons, some belonging to the head, and others the offspring of the heart, give me a great deal of pleasure. I have little pretensions to critic lore: there are, I think, two characteristic features in her poetry -the unfettered wild flight of native genius, and the querulous, sombre tenderness of " time. liams, a young poetical lady, which she wrote on reading your Mountain-Daisy; perhaps it may not displease you. Í have been trying to add to the number of your subscribers, but I find many of my acquaintance are already among them. only to add, that with every sentiment teem, and most cordial good wishes, I am, I have Your obedient humble servant, settled sorrow." I only know what pleases me, often without being able to tell why. scribers' names, so if any of my Ayr friends | land too early in life for recollection. is not have subscription bills, they must be sent in to without it. Creech directly.-I am getting my phiz done by an eminent engraver; and if it can be ready in time, I will appear in my book looking like other fools, to my title page." I have the honour to be, I remain, with greatest sincerity, J. MOORE DEAR SIR, No. XXVIII. FROM DR. MOORE. Clifford Street, 28th Feb. 1787. YOUR letter of the 15th gave me a great deal of pleasure. It is not surprising that you improve in correctness and taste, considering where have been for some time past. And I dare you swear there is no danger of your admitting any polish which might weaken the vigour of your native powers. I am glad to perceive that you disdain the nauseous affectation of decrying your own merit as a poet-an affectation which is displayed with most ostentation by those who have the greatest share of self-conceit, and which only adds undeceiving falsehood to disgusting vanity. For you to deny the merit of your poems would be arraigning the fixed opinion of the public. As the new edition of my View of Society is not yet ready, I have sent you the former edition, which, I beg you will accept as a small mark of my esteem. It is sent by sea, to the care of Mr. Creech; and, along with these four volumes for yourself, I have also sent my Medical Sketches, in one volume, for my friend Mrs. Dunlop of Dunlop: this you will be so obliging as to transmit, or if you chance to pass soon by Dunlop, to give to her. No. XXIX. TO THE EARL OF GLENCAIRN. MY LORD, Edinburgh, 1787. "human face divine.' I WANTED to purchase a profile of your lord ship, which I was told was to be got in town; but I am truly sorry to see that a blundering painter has spoiled a The enclosed stanzas I intended to have written below a picture or profile of your lordship, could I have been so happy as to procure one with any thing of a likeness. As I will soon return to my shades, I wanted to have something like a material object for my gratitude; I wanted to have it in my power to say to a friend, There is my noble patron, my Allow me, my lord, to generous benefactor. I conjure your lordship publish these verses. by the honest throe of gratitude, by the generous wish of benevolence, by all the powers and feelings which compose the magnanimous mind, do not deny me this petition. I owe to your lordship; and what has not in some other in stances always been the case with me, the weigh of the obligation is a pleasing load. I trust, have a heart as independent as your lordship's than which I can say nothing more: and would not be beholden to favours that would crucify my feelings. Your dignified character in life, and manner of supporting that character are flattering to my pride; and I would be jea lous of the purity of my grateful attachment, where I was under the patronage of one of the much favoured sons of fortune. Almost every poet has celebrated his patrons, particularly when they were names dear to fame, and illustrious in their country; allow me, then, my lord, if you think the verses have intrinsic merit, to tell the world how much I have the honour to be I am happy to hear that your subscription is so ample, and shall rejoice at every piece of good fortune that befalls you: for you are a very great favourite in my family; and this is a higher compliment than perhaps you are aware of. It includes almost all the professions, and of course is a proof that your writings are adapted to various tastes and situations. My youngest son who is at Winchester school, writes to me that he is translating some stanzas of your Hallowe'en into Latin verse, for the benefit of his comrades. This union of taste partly proceeds, no doubt, from the cement of Scottish It does not appear that the Earl granted this repartiality, with which they are all somewhat quest, nor have the verses alluded to been found tinctured. Even your translator, who left Scot-among the MSS. This portrait is engraved by Mr. Beugo, an artist who well merits the epithet bestowed on him by the poet, after a picture of Mr. Nasmyth, which he painted con amore, and liberally presented to Burns. This picture is of the cabinet size. Your lordship's highly indebted, And ever grateful humble servant |