GLASGOW COLLEGE. 27 



tress me; but still I would have the happiness to think that the 

 neglect even of the virtuous cannot extinguish the sparks of sensi- 

 bility, or diminish the luxury arising from refined emotions. That 

 luxury, sir, I have enjoyed ; that luxury your poems have afforded 

 me, and for this reason I now address you. Accept my thanks for 

 the raptures you have occasioned me, and however much you may 

 be inclined to despise me, know at least that these thanks are sincere 

 and fervent. To you, sir, mankind are indebted for a species of 

 poetry which will continue to afford pleasure while respect is paid 

 to virtuous feelings, and while sensibility continues to pour forth 

 tears of rapture. The flimsy ornaments of language, used to con- 

 ceal meanness of thought and want of feeling, may captivate for a 

 short time the ignorant and the unwary, but true taste will discover 

 the imposture and expose the authors of it to merited contempt. 

 The real feelings of human nature, expressed in simple and forcible 

 language, will, on the contrary, please those only who are capable 

 of entertaining them, and in proportion to the attention which we 

 pay to the faithful delineation of such feelings, will be the enjoy- 

 ment derived from them. That poetry, therefore, which is the lan- 

 guage of nature, is certain of immortality, provided circumstances 

 do not occur to pervert the feelings of humanity, and occasion a 

 complete revolution in the government of the mind. 



"That your poetry is the language of nature, in my opinion, 

 admits of no doubt. Both the thoughts and expressions may be 

 tried by that standard. You have seized upon those feelings that 

 most deeply interest the heart, and that also come within the sphere 

 of common observation. You do not write merely for the pleasure 

 of philosophers and men of improved taste, but for all who think — 

 for all who feel. If we have ever known the happiness arising from 

 parental or fraternal love ; if we have ever known that delightful 

 sympathy of souls connecting persons of different sex ; if we have 

 ever dropped a tear at the death of friends, or grieved for the mis- 

 fortunes of others ; if, in short, we have ever felt the more amiable 

 emotions of human nature — it is impossible to read your poems with- 

 out being greatly interested and frequently in raptures ; your sen- 

 timents, feelings, and thoughts are therefore exactly such as ought 

 to constitute the subject of poetry, and cannot fail of exciting interest 

 in every heart. But, sir, your merit does not solely consist in delin- 

 eating the real features of the human mind under those different 



