and protestations of peace and friendship were passing between the two
Governments. Any subject of the king might at this time have written a
friendly letter or forwarded a token of goodwill to the French
Government, without being suspected of disloyalty. But by the time the
carronades had reached Dover the complexion of things had changed; and
yet even in those critical times Burns's action, though it may have
hindered promotion, does not appear to have been interpreted as 'a most
absurd and presumptuous breach of decorum.' That interpretation was left
for biographers made wise with the passions of war; and yet they have
not said in so many words, what they darkly insinuate, that the poet was
not a loyal British subject. His love of country is too surely
established. That, later, he thought the Ministry engaging in an unjust
and unrighteous war, may be frankly admitted. He was not alone in his
opinion; nor was he the only poet carried away with a wild enthusiasm of
Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Societies were then springing up all
over the country calling for redress of grievances and for greater
political freedom. Such societies were regarded by the Government of the
day as seditious, and their agitations as dangerous to the peace of the
country; and Burns, though he did not become a member of the Society of
the Friends of the People, was at one with them in their desire for
reform. It was known also that he 'gat the _Gazeteer_,' and that was
enough to mark him out as a disaffected person. No doubt he also talked
imprudently; for it was not the nature of this man to keep his
sentiments hidden in his heart, and to talk the language of expediency.
What he thought in private he advocated publicly in season and out of
season; and it was quite in the natural course of things that
information regarding his political opinions should be lodged against
him with the Board of Excise. His political conduct was made the subject
of official inquiry, and it would appear that for a time he was in
danger of dismissal from the service. This is a somewhat painful episode
in his life; and we find him in a letter to Mr. Graham of Fintry
repudiating the slanderous charges, yet confessing that the tender ties
of wife and children 'unnerve courage and wither resolution.' Mr.
Findlater, his superior, was of opinion that only a very mild reprimand
was administered, and the poet warned to be more prudent in his speech.
But what appeared mild