TO MR. JAMES HAMILTON.
[James Hamilton, grocer, in Glasgow, interested himself early in the fortunes of the poet.]
Ellisland, 26th May, 1789.
Dear Sir,
I send you by John Glover, carrier, the account for Mr. Turnbull, as I suppose you know his address.
I would fain offer, my dear Sir, a word of sympathy with your misfortunes; but it is a tender string, and I know not how to touch it. It is easy to flourish a set of high-flown sentiments on the subjects that would give great satisfaction to—a breast quite at ease; but as one observes, who was very seldom mistaken in the theory of life, “The heart knoweth its own sorrows, and a stranger intermeddleth not therewith.”
Among some distressful emergencies that I have experienced in life, I ever laid this down as my foundation of comfort—That he who has lived the life of an honest man, has by no means lived in vain!
With every wish for your welfare and future success,
I am, my dear Sir,
Sincerely yours,
R. B.