No More Learning

TO MR. SIBBALD,

BOOKSELLER IN EDINBURGH.

[This letter first appeared in that very valuable work, Nicholl's
Illustrations of Literature. ]

_Lawn Market. _

SIR,

So little am I acquainted with the words and manners of the more
public and polished walks of life, that I often feel myself much
embarrassed how to express the feelings of my heart, particularly
gratitude:--

"Rude am I in my speech,
And little therefore shall I grace my cause
In speaking for myself--"

The warmth with which you have befriended an obscure man and a young
author in the last three magazines--I can only say, Sir, I feel the
weight of the obligation, I wish I could express my sense of it. In
the mean time accept of the conscious acknowledgment from,

Sir,

Your obliged servant,

R. B.

* * * * *




LV.


TO DR. MOORE.

[The book to which the poet alludes, was the well-known View of
Society by Dr. Moore, a work of spirit and observation. ]

_Edinburgh, 23d April, 1787. _

I received the books, and sent the one you mentioned to Mrs. Dunlop.
I
am ill skilled in beating the coverts of imagination for metaphors of
gratitude. I thank you, Sir, for the honour you have done me; and to
my latest hour will warmly remember it. To be highly pleased with your
book is what I have in common with the world; but to regard these
volumes as a mark of the author's friendly esteem, is a still more
supreme gratification.

I leave Edinburgh in the course of ten days or a fortnight, and after
a few pilgrimages over some of the classic ground of Caledonia, Cowden
Knowes, Banks of Yarrow, Tweed, &c. , I shall return to my rural
shades, in all likelihood never more to quit them. I have formed many
intimacies and friendships here, but I am afraid they are all of too
tender a construction to bear carriage a hundred and fifty miles. To
the rich, the great, the fashionable, the polite, I have no equivalent
to offer; and I am afraid my meteor appearance will by no means
entitle me to a settled correspondence with any of you, who are the
permanent lights of genius and literature.

My most respectful compliments to Miss Williams. If once this tangent
flight of mine were over, and I were returned to my wonted leisurely
motion in my old circle, I may probably endeavour to return her poetic
compliment in kind.

R. B.

* * * * *




LVI.


TO MRS. DUNLOP.

[This letter was in answer to one of criticism and remonstrance, from
Mrs. Dunlop, respecting "The Dream," which she had begged the poet to
omit, lest it should harm his fortunes with the world.