THE LIFE OF ROBERT BURNS, WITH A CRITICISM ON HIS WRITINGS; BY JAMES CURRIE, M. D. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN CONNECTION WITH THE WORKS OF HERE CONSIDERABLY EXTENDED BY ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS, MANY OF WHICH WERE NEVER BEFORE MADE PUBLIC. EDINBURGH: PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS; AND W. S. ORR AND COMPANY, LONDON. 1838. PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION. THE circumstances under which Dr Currie undertook and executed the Life of Burns, are detailed in the following address, in which he dedicated his edition of the poet's works to Captain Graham Moore* of the Royal Navy, and which was dated from Liverpool, 1st May 1800: "When you were stationed on our coast about twelve years ago, you first recommended to my particular notice the poems of the Ayrshire ploughman, whose works, published for the benefit of his widow and children, I now present to you. In a distant region of the world, whither the service of your country has carried you, you will, I know, receive with kindness this proof of my regard; not perhaps without some surprise on finding that I have been engaged in editing these volumes, nor without some curiosity to know how I was qualified for such an undertaking. These points I will briefly explain. Having occasion to make an excursion to the county of Dumfries, in the summer of 1792, I had there an opportunity of seeing and conversing with Burns. It has been my fortune to know some men of high reputation in literature, as well as in public life, but never to meet any one who, in the course of a single interview, communicated to me so strong an impression of the force and versatility of his talents. After this I read the poems then published with greater interest and attention, and with a full conviction that, extraordinary as they are, they afford but an inadequate proof of the powers of their unfortunate author. Four years afterwards, Burns terminated his career. Among those whom the charms of his genius had attached to him, was one with whom I have been bound in the ties of friendship from early life - Mr John Syme, of Ryedale. This gentleman, after the death of Burns, promoted with the utmost zeal a subscription for the support of the widow and children, to which their relief from immediate distress is to be ascribed; and in conjunction with other friends of this virtuous and destitute family, he projected the publication of these volumes for their benefit, by which the return of want might be prevented or prolonged. To this last undertaking an editor and biographer was wanting, and Mr Syme's modesty opposed a barrier to his assuming an office for which he was in other respects peculiarly qualified. On this subject he consulted me; and with the hope of surmounting his objections, I offered him my assistance, but in vain. Endeavours were used to procure an editor in other quarters, without effect. The task was beset with considerable difficulties, and men of established reputation naturally declined an undertaking, to the performance of which, it was scarcely to be hoped that general approbation could be obtained by any exertion of judgment or temper. To such an office, my place of residence, my accustomed studies, and my occupations, were certainly little suited; but the partiality of Mr Syme thought me in other respects not unqualified; and his solicitations, joined to those of our excellent friend and relation, Mrs Dunlop, and of other friends of the family of the poet, I have not been able to resist. To remove difficulties which would otherwise have been insurmountable, Mr Syme and Mr Gilbert Burns made a journey to Liverpool, where they explained and arranged the manuscripts, and selected such as seemed worthy of the press. From this visit I derived a degree of pleasure which has compensated much of my labour. I had the satisfaction of renewing my personal intercourse with a much valued friend, and of forming an acquaintance with a man, closely allied to Burns in talents as well as in blood, in whose future fortunes the friends of virtue will not, I trust, be uninterested. The publication of these volumes has been delayed by obstacles which these gentlemen could neither remove nor foresee, and which it would be tedious to enumerate. At length the task is finished. If the part which I have taken shall serve the interest of the family, and receive the approbation of good men, I shall have my recompense. The errors into which I have fallen are not, I hope, very important, and they will be easily accounted for by those who know the circumstances under which this undertaking has been performed. Generous minds will receive the posthumous works of Burns with candour, and even partiality, as the remains of an unfortunate man of genius, published for the benefit of his family-as the stay of the widow and the hope of the fatherless. To secure the suffrages of such minds, all topics are omitted in the writings, and avoided in the life of Burns, that have a tendency to awaken the animosity of party. In perusing the following volumes no offence will be received, except by those to whom even the natural erect aspect of genius is offensive-characters that will scarcely be found among those who are educated to the profession of arms. Such men do not court situations of danger, or tread in the paths of glory. They will not be found in your service, which, in our own days, emulates on another element the superior fame of the Macedonian phalanx, or of the Roman legion, and which has lately made the shores of Europe and of Africa resound with the shouts of victory, from the Texel to the Tagus, and from the Tagus to the Nile! * One of the sons of Dr John Moore, author of " Zeluco." The works of Burns will be received favourably by one who stands in the foremost rank of this noble service, and who deserves his station. On the land or on the sea, I know no man more capable of judging of the character or of the writings of this original genius. Homer, and Shakspeare, and Ossian, cannot always occupy your leisure. These volumes may sometimes engage your attention, while the steady breezes of the tropic swell your sails, and in another quarter of the earth charm you with the strains of nature, or awake in your memory the scenes of your early days. Suffer me to hope that they may sometimes recall to J. CURRIE." your mind the friend who addresses you, and who bids you-most affectionately-adieu ! The Life of Burns by Dr Currie has taken a respectable place amongst works of that class in British literature. It is written with great modesty and good taste, and embraces some philosophical and critical speculations of considerable value, though in certain instances, perhaps, drawn out to a greater length than was necessary. At the same time, it is obvious that the author was prevented by various circumstances from giving all the details which are now desired respecting the poet and his connexions. The taste of the age was in the first place unfavourable to that minuteness of detail which is now demanded. The interest of the public of that day respecting Burns was not so great as it now is, and the biographer consequently had no inducement to break, in his case, through the general rule. There were also considerations of a political nature, and others touching the surviving domestic relations of Burns, which prevented any more than a general notice being taken of some of the most remarkable events of the poet's life. For these reasons, it has become necessary that the Life of Burns should be revised, and in some degree extended. As is well known, a new memoir, compiled from the materials furnished by Currie, with additional information, was written by Mr J. G. Lockhart for the series entitled Constable's Miscellany; and, more recently, Messrs Allan Cunningham and James Hogg have produced biographical memoirs of their illustrious predecessor. By these means, the deficiencies of Dr Currie's narrative have been to a certain extent supplied, though at the expense, it is to be feared, of some part of the accuracy of that writer, as well as of whatever is valuable in his critical and philosophical speculations. When the resolution was formed of incorporating the poetical and prose writings of Burns with the series entitled PEOPLE'S EDITIONS OF STANDARD WORKS, the propriety of also presenting a biographical memoir of the poet was at once obvious. The publishers had to consider in what manner this desideratum could be best supplied; and they readily perceived that, while the work of Dr Curric was defective, as above stated, so also were the more copious productions of Lockhart, and others, not at their command, except perhaps at an expense which would have precluded the idea of a cheap and popular publication. Under these circumstances, they resolved to republish the Life by Dr Currie, with such additions as might seem necessary, or, as they might be able to obtain. The present volume, accordingly, contains the entire work of Currie, excepting only a few notes which appear to be no longer of any use or interest. In addition, there are given, in the shape of interpolations, notices respecting several important passages of the poet's life (several of which must be quite new to the public), and, in the shape of notes, a large quantity of particulars respecting Burns and his friends, as well as many matters illustrative of the text of Dr Currie. The additional matter is distinguished from the original, by being within brackets. It is left to the public to decide in what measure the editor has succeeded in forming a publication, which, preserving the classic elegance of the original biographer of Burns, adds a satisfying variety of details, many of them the result of his own inquiry, the whole being in a shape calculated to extend a sympathy for the wondrous and ill-requited poet to quarters where the circumstances of his life have as yet been comparatively little known, though it is there chiefly—namely, among the lowly-born and obscurely-toiling -that the story of Burns might be expected to awaken most interest. R. C. * Dr Currie was born, May 31, 1756, in the parish of Kirkpatrick-Fleming, Dumfriesshire, of which his father was the established pastor. He received the chief part of his early education at the grammar-school of Dumfries. He entered life in connection with a mercantile company of Glasgow, whose interests required his taking up his residence in Virginia, where he lived for some years. In consequence of the breaking out of the war in America, he returned at the age of twenty to Britain, and, having studied medicine at the university of Edinburgh, commenced practice as a physician at Liverpool in 1780. Here his literary tastes introduced him to the society of Mr Roscoe, and other gentlemen, whose pursuits shed a lustre on the mercantile capital of the west during the closing years of the eighteenth century. He wrote several medical and political pamphlets, but no work of much importance until his undertaking the task of editing the life and works of Burns. This amiable and accomplished man sank under pulmonary disease, August 31, 1805, before he had completed his fiftieth year. |