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"But a wife and children, bind me to struggle with the stream, till some sudden squall shall overset the silly vessel, or in the listless return of years, its own craziness reduce it to a wreck. Farewell now, to those giddy follies, those varnished vices, which, though half-sanctified by the bewitching levity of wit and humour, are at best but thriftless idling with the precious current of existence; nay, often poisoning the whole, that like the plains of Jericho, the water is naught and the grounds barren, and nothing short of a supernaturally gifted Elisha can ever after heal the evils.

66

Wedlock, the circumstance that buckles me hardest to care, if virtue and religion were to be any thing with me but names, was what in a few seasons I must have resolved on; in my present situation it was absolutely necessary. Humanity, generosity, honest pride of character, justice to my own happiness for after life, so far as it could depend (which it surely will a great deal) on internal peace; all these joined their warmest suffrages, their most powerful solicitations, with a rooted attachment, to urge the step I have taken. Nor have I any reason on her part to repent it.— I can fancy how, but have never seen where, I could have made a better choice. Come then, let

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me act up to my favourite motto, that glorious

passage in Young—

"On reason build, resolve,

"That column of true majesty in man!"

Under the impulse of these reflections, Burns immediately engaged in rebuilding the dwellinghouse on his farm, which, in the state he found it, was inadequate to the accommodation of his family. On this occasion, he himself resumed at times the occupation of a labourer, and found neither his strength nor his skill impaired.Pleased with surveying the grounds he was about to cultivate, and with the rearing of a building that should give shelter to his wife and children, and, as he fondly hoped, to his own grey hairs, sentiments of independence buoyed up his mind, pictures of domestic content and peace rose on his imagination; and a few days passed away, as he himself informs us, the most tranquil, if not the happiest, which he had ever experienced.*

It

* Animated sentiments of any kind, almost always gave rise in our poet to some production of his muse. His sentiments on this occasion were in part expressed

It is to be lamented that at this critical period of his life, our poet was without the society of his wife and children. A great change had taken place in his situation; his old habits were broken; and the new circumstances in which he was placed, were calculated to give a new direction to his

thoughts

by the following vigorous and characteristic, though not very delicate, verses; they are an imitation of an old ballad.

I hae a wife o' my ain,
I'll partake wi' nae-body;
I'll tak cuckold frae nane,
I'll gie cuckold to nae-body.

I hae a penny to spend,
There-thanks to nae-body;

I hae naething to lend,
I'll borrow frae nae-body.

I am nae-body's lord,

I'll be slave to nae-body;

I hae a gude braid sword,

I'll tak dunts frae nae-body.

I'll be merry and free,

I'll be sad for nae-body;

If nae-body carefor me,
I'll care for nae-body.

thoughts and conduct.* But his application to the cares and labours of his farm was interrupted by several visits to his family in Ayrshire; and as the distance was too great for a single day's journey, he generally spent a night at an inn on the road. On such occasions he sometimes fell into company, and forgot the resolutions he had formed. In a little while temptation assailed him nearer home.

His fame naturally drew upon him the attention of his neighbours, and he soon formed a general acquaintance in the district in which he lived. The public voice had now pronounced on the subject of his talents; the reception he had met with in Edinburgh had given him the currency which fashion bestows; he had surmounted the prejudices arising from his humble birth; and he was received at the table of the gentlemen of Nithsdale, with welcome, with kindness, and even with respect. Their social parties too often seduced him from his rustic labours, and his rustic fare, overthrew the unsteady fabric of his resolutions, and inflamed those propensities which temperance might have weakened, and prudence ultimately suppressed.

*Mrs. Burns was about to be confined in childbed, and the house at Ellisland was rebuilding.

suppressed*. It was not long, therefore, before Burns began to view his farm with dislike and despondence, if not with disgust.

Unfortunately he had for several years looked to an office in the excise as a certain means of livelihood, should his other expectations fail. As has already been mentioned, he had been recommended to the board of excise, and had received the instruction necessary for such a situation. He now applied to be employed; and, by the interest of Mr. Graham of Fintry, was appointed exciseman, or, as it is vulgarly called, gauger, of the district in which he lived. His

farm

*The poem of The Whistle (vol. 111, p. 369) celebrates a Bacchanalian contest among three gentlemen of Nithsdale, where Burns appears as umpire. Mr. Riddell died before our bard, and some elegiac verses to his memory will be found in vol. iv. p. 370. From him, and from all the members of his family, Burns received not kindness only, but friendship; and the society he met in general at Friar's Carse, was calculated to improve his habits as well as his manners. Mr. Ferguson, of Craigdarroch, so well known for his eloquence and social talents, died soon after our poet. Sir Robert Laurie, the third person in the drama, survives, and has since been engaged in contests of a bloodier nature. Long may he live to fight the battles of his country! (1799.)

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