I might indeed get a job of
officiating, where a settled supervisor was ill, or aged; but that
hauls me from my family, as I could not remove them on such an
uncertainty.
officiating, where a settled supervisor was ill, or aged; but that
hauls me from my family, as I could not remove them on such an
uncertainty.
Robert Forst
how few and
fleeting are those things we call pleasures! on my road to Ayrshire, I
spent a night with a friend whom I much valued; a man whose days
promised to be many; and on Saturday last we laid him in the dust!
_Jan. 2, 1793. _
I have just received yours of the 30th, and feel much for your
situation. However, I heartily rejoice in your prospect of recovery
from that vile jaundice. As to myself, I am better, though not quite
free of my complaint. --You must not think, as you seem to insinuate,
that in my way of life I want exercise. Of that I have enough; but
occasional hard drinking is the devil to me. Against this I have again
and again bent my resolution, and have greatly succeeded. Taverns I
have totally abandoned: it is the private parties in the family way,
among the hard-drinking gentlemen of this country, that do me the
mischief--but even this I have more than half given over.
Mr. Corbet can be of little service to me at present; at least I
should be shy of applying. I cannot possibly be settled as a
supervisor, for several years. I must wait the rotation of the list,
and there are twenty names before mine.
I might indeed get a job of
officiating, where a settled supervisor was ill, or aged; but that
hauls me from my family, as I could not remove them on such an
uncertainty. Besides, some envious, malicious devil, has raised a
little demur on my political principles, and I wish to let that matter
settle before I offer myself too much in the eye of my supervisors. I
have set, henceforth, a seal on my lips, as to these unlucky politics;
but to you I must breathe my sentiments. In this, as in everything
else, I shall show the undisguised emotions of my soul. War I
deprecate: misery and ruin to thousands are in the blast that
announces the destructive demon.
R. B.
* * * * *
CCXLV.
TO MR. THOMSON.
[The songs to which the poet alludes were "Poortith Cauld," and "Galla
Water. "]
_Jan. 1793. _
Many returns of the season to you, my dear Sir. How comes on your
publication? --will these two foregoing [Songs CLXXXV.
fleeting are those things we call pleasures! on my road to Ayrshire, I
spent a night with a friend whom I much valued; a man whose days
promised to be many; and on Saturday last we laid him in the dust!
_Jan. 2, 1793. _
I have just received yours of the 30th, and feel much for your
situation. However, I heartily rejoice in your prospect of recovery
from that vile jaundice. As to myself, I am better, though not quite
free of my complaint. --You must not think, as you seem to insinuate,
that in my way of life I want exercise. Of that I have enough; but
occasional hard drinking is the devil to me. Against this I have again
and again bent my resolution, and have greatly succeeded. Taverns I
have totally abandoned: it is the private parties in the family way,
among the hard-drinking gentlemen of this country, that do me the
mischief--but even this I have more than half given over.
Mr. Corbet can be of little service to me at present; at least I
should be shy of applying. I cannot possibly be settled as a
supervisor, for several years. I must wait the rotation of the list,
and there are twenty names before mine.
I might indeed get a job of
officiating, where a settled supervisor was ill, or aged; but that
hauls me from my family, as I could not remove them on such an
uncertainty. Besides, some envious, malicious devil, has raised a
little demur on my political principles, and I wish to let that matter
settle before I offer myself too much in the eye of my supervisors. I
have set, henceforth, a seal on my lips, as to these unlucky politics;
but to you I must breathe my sentiments. In this, as in everything
else, I shall show the undisguised emotions of my soul. War I
deprecate: misery and ruin to thousands are in the blast that
announces the destructive demon.
R. B.
* * * * *
CCXLV.
TO MR. THOMSON.
[The songs to which the poet alludes were "Poortith Cauld," and "Galla
Water. "]
_Jan. 1793. _
Many returns of the season to you, my dear Sir. How comes on your
publication? --will these two foregoing [Songs CLXXXV.
