R. B.
* * * * *
CCXLIV.
TO MRS. DUNLOP.
[Burns was ordered, he says, to mind his duties in the Excise, and to
hold his tongue about politics--the latter part of the injunction was
hard to obey, for at that time politics were in every mouth.]
_Dumfries, 31st December, 1792._
DEAR MADAM,
A hurry of business, thrown in heaps by my absence, has until now
prevented my returning my grateful acknowledgments to the good family
of Dunlop, and you in particular, for that hospitable kindness which
rendered the four days I spent under that genial roof, four of the
pleasantest I ever enjoyed.--Alas, my dearest friend! 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.
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