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Article BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EMINENT (DECEAS... ← Page 7 of 14 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
friends , and sent his chest on its way to Greenock , he had written the last song he ever expected to write ill Caledonia —•
" The gloomy night is gathering fast , "when a letter from Dr . Blacklock to a mutual friend overthrew all our poet ' s schemes , by opening up new prospects of ambition . Dr . Blacklock ' s opinion was , that our bard would meet with sufficient encouragement in Edinburgh to warrant his undertaking a second edition . The Doctor was right in his suggestion , and Bums , who had posted off to Edinburgh , on this hint , without a single letter of introduction or a personal acquaintance in that city , burst forth from
comparative obscurity as the poet of a nation ; and , to the credit of the modern Athenians , was placed at once on that pinnacle of fame which neither time , nor space , can entirely destroy . This just and fortunate result , was mainly owing to a paper entitled " An Account of Robert Burns , the Ayrshire Ploughman ,, with extracts from his Poems , " which appeared in " The Lounger . " That paper having an extensive circulation in Scotland and England , our bard was thus
introduced to a large circle of admirers ; and this was increased by extracts being copied into many of the London and first-class provincial papers ; so that his fame may be said to have flown over the country as if by magic . The Edinburgh edition of his poems was so successful , that Burns
found himself , on his return home , master oi about six hundred pounds , and determining to settle into steady habits , he took a farm at Ellisland , for himself , and found that he was unimpaired for manual labour , notwithstanding the different kind of life he had led in Edinburgh and his country tours . Burns again returned to Edinburgh in 1787 , and , on the last day of the year , attended a dinner to
celebrate the birth day of the lineal descendant of the unfortunate Charles Edward ; and was the laureate for the occasion . Being a man famous in his own country , a lot that falls to but very feAv of the sons of genius , he was much sought after , and , in consequence , his farm , not at the best of times very productive , was much neglected ; his social habits overthrew the unsteady fabric of his resolutions , and before long he began to view his farm with dislike and despondence , if not with disgust .
Unfortunately , he had for seA eral years looked to an office in the Excise as a certain means of livelihood , should his other expectations fail , and by the interest of Mr . Graham of Fin try , was appointed to be exciseman , or , as it was vulgarly termed , ganger , of the district in which he lived ; he then appears to have abandoned his farm to his
servants , to look after the duties of his appointment . Mounted on horseback , bis time was spent in pursuing the defaulters to the revenue among the hills and valleys of Nithsdalc ; about the last occupation suited to the taste of a high-minded poet . The consequences may be easily imagined . Notwithstanding the uniform prudence and good management of Mrs . Burns , and though his rent was moderate , after
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
friends , and sent his chest on its way to Greenock , he had written the last song he ever expected to write ill Caledonia —•
" The gloomy night is gathering fast , "when a letter from Dr . Blacklock to a mutual friend overthrew all our poet ' s schemes , by opening up new prospects of ambition . Dr . Blacklock ' s opinion was , that our bard would meet with sufficient encouragement in Edinburgh to warrant his undertaking a second edition . The Doctor was right in his suggestion , and Bums , who had posted off to Edinburgh , on this hint , without a single letter of introduction or a personal acquaintance in that city , burst forth from
comparative obscurity as the poet of a nation ; and , to the credit of the modern Athenians , was placed at once on that pinnacle of fame which neither time , nor space , can entirely destroy . This just and fortunate result , was mainly owing to a paper entitled " An Account of Robert Burns , the Ayrshire Ploughman ,, with extracts from his Poems , " which appeared in " The Lounger . " That paper having an extensive circulation in Scotland and England , our bard was thus
introduced to a large circle of admirers ; and this was increased by extracts being copied into many of the London and first-class provincial papers ; so that his fame may be said to have flown over the country as if by magic . The Edinburgh edition of his poems was so successful , that Burns
found himself , on his return home , master oi about six hundred pounds , and determining to settle into steady habits , he took a farm at Ellisland , for himself , and found that he was unimpaired for manual labour , notwithstanding the different kind of life he had led in Edinburgh and his country tours . Burns again returned to Edinburgh in 1787 , and , on the last day of the year , attended a dinner to
celebrate the birth day of the lineal descendant of the unfortunate Charles Edward ; and was the laureate for the occasion . Being a man famous in his own country , a lot that falls to but very feAv of the sons of genius , he was much sought after , and , in consequence , his farm , not at the best of times very productive , was much neglected ; his social habits overthrew the unsteady fabric of his resolutions , and before long he began to view his farm with dislike and despondence , if not with disgust .
Unfortunately , he had for seA eral years looked to an office in the Excise as a certain means of livelihood , should his other expectations fail , and by the interest of Mr . Graham of Fin try , was appointed to be exciseman , or , as it was vulgarly termed , ganger , of the district in which he lived ; he then appears to have abandoned his farm to his
servants , to look after the duties of his appointment . Mounted on horseback , bis time was spent in pursuing the defaulters to the revenue among the hills and valleys of Nithsdalc ; about the last occupation suited to the taste of a high-minded poet . The consequences may be easily imagined . Notwithstanding the uniform prudence and good management of Mrs . Burns , and though his rent was moderate , after