re to his brother that portion of
public estimation, of which he appears to have been unjustly deprived.
Nay, when we recall to mind the black things which have been written of
this great man, and the frightful ones that have been insinuated against
him; and, as far as the public knew, till lately, without complaint,
remonstrance, or disavowal, from his nearest relatives; I am not sure
that it would not be best, at this day, explicitly to declare to what
degree Robert Burns had given way to pernicious habits, and, as nearly
as may be, to fix the point to which his moral character had been
degraded. It is a disgraceful feature of the times that this measure
should be necessary; most painful to think that a _brother_ should have
such an office to perform. But, if Gilbert Burns be conscious that the
subject will bear to be so treated, he has no choice; the duty has been
imposed upon him by the errors into which the former biographer has
fallen, in respect to the very principles upon which his work ought to
have been conducted.

I well remember the acute sorrow with which, by my own fire-side, I
first perused Dr. Currie's Narrative, and some of the letters,
particularly of those composed in the latter part of the poet's life. If
my pity for Burns was extreme, this pity did not preclude a strong
indignation, of which he was not the object. If, said I, it were in the
power of a biographer to relate the truth, the _whole_ truth, and
nothing _but_ the truth, the friends and surviving kindred of the
deceased, for the sake of general benefit to mankind, might endure that
such heart-rending communication should be made to the world. But in no
case is this possible; and, in the present, the opportunities of
directly acquiring other than superficial knowledge have been most
scanty; for the writer has barely seen the person who is the subject of
his tale; nor did his avocations allow him to take the pains necessary
for ascertaining what portion of the information conveyed to him was
authentic. So much for facts and actions; and to what purpose relate
them even were they true, if the narrative cannot be heard without
extreme pain; unless they are placed in such a light, and brought
forward in such order, that they shall explain their own laws, and leave
the reader in as little uncertainty as the mysteries of our nature will
allow, respecting the spirit from which they derived their existence,
and which governed the agent? But hear on