Letter from Robert Burns to Robert Graham, 31 December, 1792
Sir,
I have been surprised, confounded & distracted by Mr
Mitchel, the Collector, telling me just now that he has
received an order from your Hon’ble Board to inquire into
my political conduct, & blaming me as a person disaffected
to Government. - Sir, you are a Husband- & a
father - you know what you would feel, to see the much
loved wife of your bosom, & your helpless, prattling
little ones turned adrift into the world, degraded &
disgraced from a situation in which they had been
respectable & respected, & left without almost without
the necessary support of a miserable existence - alas,
Sir! must I think that such, soon, will be my lot?
And from the damned, dark insinuations of hellish,
groundless Envy too! - I believe, Sir, I may aver
it, & in the sight of Omnipotence, that I would
not tell a deliberate Falsehood, no, not though even
worse horrors, if worse can be, than those I have
mentioned, hung over my head & I say, that
the
To the British Constitution, on Revolution principles, next
after my God, I am most devoutly attached! -
You, Sir, have been much & generously my Friend -
Heaven knows how warmly I have felt the obligation, &
how gratefully I have thanked you. - Fortune, Sir,
has made you powerful, & me impotent; has given
you patronage, & me dependence. - I would not for
my single self call on your Humanity; were such
my insular unconnected situation, I would despise the
tear that now swells in my eye - I could brave Mis-
fortune, I could face Ruin: for at the worst "Leath's
"thousand doors stand open;" but Good God! the
tender concerns that I have mentioned, the claims
& ties that I, at this moment, see & feel around me,
how they unnerve Courage, & wither Resolution!
To your patronage, as a man of some genius, you
have allowed me a claim; & your esteem, as an
honest Man I know is my due: to these, Sir,
permit me to appeal: & by these may I adjure
you to save me from that misery which threatening
to
I will say it, I have not deserved. -
Pardon this confused scrawl. - Indeed I know not
well what I have written .-
I have the honour to be,
Sir, your deeply indebted
& ever grateful humble serv.t
Robt Burns
![](https://ciim-data.nts.org.uk/media/iiif/3/pf%2F2%2F1%2F40%2F809%2FNTSBRNp06112.ptif/full/!640,640/0/default.jpg)
Key details
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/01/65
- Alt. number
- 3.6097
- Date
- 31 December 1792
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Recipient
- Graham, Robert
- Archive number
- NTS/02/25/BRN/01/65
- Alt. number
- 3.6097
- Date
- 31 December 1792
- On display
- No
- Creator
- Burns, Robert (Author)
- Recipient
- Graham, Robert
Description
Letter from Robert Burns to Robert Graham, dated, Ellisland, 31 December, 1792.
In this panicked letter to Robert Graham, Burns reveals that he has been suspected of being disloyal to the government for whom he works and is to be investigated by Mr. John Mitchell, his Excise Supervisor. He appeals to Graham's humanity and pleads for his assistance in refuting the charges.
In page two Burns continues his denial of wrongdoing, claiming that the accusations were made by a villain and are pure lies. He moves on to appeal in abject tones to Graham's friendship, leaning on the obligation he feels for his patronage and appealing to his humanity. He claims that while if he had been single and without the responsibility of a family, he could face the prospect on his own but his family ties force him to appeal to the good offices of his patron to save him from this undeserved plight.
The last page concludes Burns's appeal for Graham's support and apologises for his 'confused scrawl', suggesting that he has not even checked the content before sending it off. It is known that a draft of this letter had existed so Burns may have been leaning on his poetic licence to infer that he 'knew not well' what he had written.
Archive information
Place of creation
Themes
Hierarchy
-
Letters from and to Robert Burns
(
a sub-fonds is a subdivision in the archival material)
- Letter from Robert Burns to Robert Graham, 31 December, 1792