66 wish for my undertaking the task we talk of, I will not, as I said before, withhold my assistance, or my best exertions; but, in the meantime, I do not wish to have my name mentioned in the business. I hear with pleasure that the salary enjoyed by Mr Burns is settled on his widow. This I have from Colonel Dunlop, of the Ayrshire Fencible Cavalry; it has made me relax in soliciting subscriptions. Mr Roscoe has written a beautiful monody on Burns, which I will send you soon. 66 I wish you would tell me whether you are always as busy as you say; and whether we may not hope to see you here this autumn. If you could come soon, we might settle many things with advantage in a personal conference. "I am going to talk over the whole of this business with Roscoe. He has promised to accompany me into Scotland when I next go down; and you will be pleased with his manners, as well as with his conversation.--I am, in haste, my dear Syme, Yours always, 'JAMES CURRIE." 66 66 Liverpool, 16th September, 1796. "MY DEAR SYME,-This is the last letter I shall write to you at present on the subject of Burns; for we now understand each other perfectly. "As the biography and criticism will not be wanted for some time, I can have no hesitation in undertaking it, provided a better hand does not seem likely to be procured, and that, under all the circumstances of the case, Cunningham, &c., wish it. The truth is, I could not well have executed. it if it had been wanted immediately; unless, indeed, it had been important to the fatherless children, for whom I would certainly be willing to make some sacrifices. As it will not be required for ten or twelve months, I can accomplish it, as I said before, if it be wished. "I am glad that our friend Cunningham is to have the papers in his charge; I know his excellent heart. He will, of course, be very cautious whom he trusts with a sight of the naked effusions of poor Burns; for there are many that would, from mere curosity, wish to inspect them; and several who, I fear, would be glad of an opportunity of finding in them food for their malevolence. “If I am to be the biographer, it will not be necessary to send me everything he has written; but it would be proper to convey to me a complete specimen, at least, of his letter-writing, &c., that I may see his style and character, as far as his correspondence displays it. "As to his character as a Poet (the principal point) that must be chiefly collected from his printed poems. The materials of his private character are very ample in your letters, and the incidents of his life may be easily collected as far as they are necessary to be detailed. His brother Gilbert's account of his infancy will be very interesting. 66 "If it should be fixed that I undertake this business I will get a MS. book, in which I will begin, at my leisure, to collect incidents and digest my thoughts; but I will not begin the composition till the time approaches that it may be required. "Besides my friend Roscoe's monody, I have got another by Rushton of this town-a truly original genius. He lost his sight on the coast of Africa, whither he sailed several voyages. He is truly a poet, as you will one day see. "It would amaze you to witness the enthusiasm felt about Burns among many English people here. They understand him easily in all the English counties from Lancashire north; and he everywhere takes that strong hold on the heart which is the criterion of original genius. "I will send you these monodies, with the life of Burns, when I get a private opportunity; they are both in the stanza of the 'Mountain Daisy,' and of some length. "When you write to Cunningham, pray make my best remem. brances to him. I hope he will be on his guard against the scoffers. "You may communicate such of my letters to him as you think fit, but in confidence; for it would give me great pain to get into the public mouth on this occasion. "I shall transmit you our subscriptions in a few days.--In haste, I am always, Yours affectionately, 66 JAMES CURRIE," "4th October, 1796. "MY DEAR SYME, -I enclose you a bill of this date for seventy guineas, for the use of the family of poor Burns. The subscriptions amount to £74 10s, of which I have as yet received about £50 only. The rest, however, are good, and will come in when I can meet the subscribers. Twenty shillings, at least, will be required for advertisements. It is possible that I may receive a few guineas more, which shall in due season be transmitted. "A report, however, prevails that the King has given a pension of £50 a year to the widow, which I hope is well founded; for it has, I am sure, been thirty guineas out of her pocket in the present instance, not only by preventing voluntary subscriptions coming forward, but by stopping my solicitations, as I before mentioned to you. Since you did not contradict the report, I conclude that it is well founded; if it be not, I think I could raise our subscription to a hundred guineas. I formerly mentioned to you that I had received two monodies on Burns-one by Roscoe and another by Rushton. They have both great merit, especially the first. But they have a common fault-that of attacking the ingratitude of Burns's countrymen too violently. I objected to this in my friend Roscoe; but I have not been able to prevail upon him to alter his poem in this or in several other particulars; partly because there is no reasoning down the indignation of a poet on a subject of this kind, and partly because what poetry he writes, which is very little, he executes at a single exertion, and cannot be got to retouch. "The foundation of my objection is this that the kind of attack to which I allude may set the adversaries on their defence; and, in conducting this defence, I fear the frailties of Burns might be unnecessarily exposed. I will, however, copy this poem for you. 66 By this opportunity I also send you the curious account of Burns by himself, of which I have taken a copy, which shall not be exposed. If anything new occurs on the subject, please to mention it In haste, I am, my dear Syme, Yours always, "Tell me what you think of Roscoe's poem. He is going to send you the copy of Lorenzo de Medici which he designed for poor Burns." "In regard to Burns's remains, they may certainly be printed as well here as anywhere, if they can be printed as conveniently. But to tell you the truth, I suspect that many of his effusions, and probably some of the best of them, have such strong parts in them of different kinds, that I am not willing, even with Roscoe's assistance, to take the responsibility of editing them. All that I can say is this: if no better can be done, you may, if you approve of it, send such of the MSS. here as you have arranged, and as you think may be printed. Roscoe and I will look them over with attention, and look out for a printer, &c. We will also look out for a London bookseller. "After I have perused these MSS. I shall be prepared for the biography, which I will sketch out of such materials as you may furnish me with. When everything is so far prepared, you shall come up for a fortnight and revise the whole, and then you, Roscoe, and myself will sit in a final council on the remains of this immortal genius before they are put to the press—a pleasing, though melancholy, occupation! It appears to me that everything that is now printed should be as free of exceptions as may be; but that a future volume may contain such things as are now too vehement, but which yet may stand the test of time. However, on this and other points, we shall judge better when we see the MSS. 66 If you approve of this plan, you must take the trouble of collecting letters, &c., and of answering such queries as I may put to you as to his Dumfriesshire life. As to his life in Ayrshire, that is chiefly found in his letter to Dr Moore, and I can apply there for what is deficient. Here, then, our correspondence on this point may rest for the present. I have got ten or twelve guineas more. My situation (as a physician) makes it an object with me not to be talked of on this occasion. "Your visit to us will fall about May or June. -In great haste, Yours ever, "JAMES CURRIE." "MY DEAR SYME,-Your letter of the 6th January reached me on the 12th, and along with it came the remains of poor Burns. I viewed the huge and shapeless mass with astonishment! Instead of finding, as I expected, a selection of his papers, with such annotations as might clear up any obscurities-of papers perused and approved by his friends as fit for publication, or furnishing the materials of publication-I received the complete sweepings of his drawers and of his desk (as it appeared to me), even to the copybook on which his little boy had been practising writing. No one has given these papers a perusal, or even an inspection; the sheep were not separated from the goats; and-what has, perhaps, not happened before since the beginning of the world—the manuscripts of a man of genius, unarranged by himself, and unexamined by his family or friends, were sent, with all their sins on their head, to meet the eye of an entire stranger ! 66 Finding what an extraordinary charge was devolved upon me, I shut myself up in my study for the greater part of several nights, and on the 22nd ult. I had finished the perusal of these singular papers. I read them with sympathy, with sorrow, with pity, and with admiration; and at times with strong though transient disgust. Sealing up a few by themselves, that in my judgment ought to be committed to the flames, I sent the rest to my friend Mr Roscoe, as you desired, who has perused them also. He returned them to me the day before yesterday, previous to his setting out for London. I had desired him to mark such as he thought might be published, or as afforded the materials of publication, and to give me his sentiments on the best method of disposing of the whole for the family. "The following is a copy of his answer :- 666 'MY DEAR FRIEND, I have read the papers with infinite amusement, though with infinite regret. Inclosed is what occurred to me as to the publication. I have not attempted to make any selection, as there is scarcely anything of his own which on the plan suggested may not be useful. On my return I yet hope for another opportunity of looking into them, and shall always be happy to render any service in my power. I wish to return them when you are in the way to receive them; and, you will please to mention any hour to-day or to-morrow when you are to be at home, I will take care they shall be punctually with you.-I am, most truly yours, 'W. R. 66 6 [Inclosed in the above.] 666 Suggestions as to the disposing of the papers of the late much lamented Robert Burns : 66 6 1. That whatever is done as to returning any letters, papers, &c., should be considered as the act of the widow, and transacted in her name. 66 6 2. That the letters from Mr Burns's stated correspondents should be selected, and each person's enclosed in a cover, till it be known whether they wish them to be returned; and in case they should, may it not be reasonable to require Mr Burns's letters in return, as being a necessary part of the materials for the intended publication? 66 “‘3. That an arrangement should be made of such of his letters and unpublished poems as are proper for publication; but that nothing which he has written in his moments of levity or eccentricity, and which may be supposed to affect his character in a moral view, be allowed to see the light. 66 6 4. That a narrative should be written of his life, introducing occasionally his own detached memoirs, letters, observations, poems, &c., as illustrating the progress of his mind, the state of his opinions, moral, political, and religious, &c., adding from time to time such observations as may naturally arise from the documents, so as to render the whole honourable to the character of Burns, and interesting and useful to the world at large. "It is greatly to be wished (if not an indispensable requisite) that the narrative should be written by some person who has lived in habits of intimacy with the Poet, and who may often be enabled to illustrate his sentiments and observations by his own personal knowledge of him; but, at all events, it is necessary that he should feel a thorough disregard of vulgar prejudices, and should avow the work. |