---
title: "To Mr. Sibbald"
author: "Robert Burns"
recipient: "Mr. Sibbald"
letter_number: 54
roman: "LIV"
place: "Lawn Market"
source: "Project Gutenberg #18500 — The Complete Works of Robert Burns (ed. Allan Cunningham)"
editor: "Allan Cunningham"
source_url: "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18500/pg18500.txt"
canonical_url: "https://robert-burns.com/letters/054-to-sibbald/"
---

# To Mr. Sibbald

## Editor's note
This letter first appeared in that very valuable work, Nicholl's Illustrations of Literature.

— Allan Cunningham

## Letter
SIR,

So little am I acquainted with the words and manners of the more public and polished walks of life, that I often feel myself much embarrassed how to express the feelings of my heart, particularly gratitude:—

"Rude am I in my speech, And little therefore shall I grace my cause In speaking for myself—"

The warmth with which you have befriended an obscure man and a young author in the last three magazines—I can only say, Sir, I feel the weight of the obligation, I wish I could express my sense of it. In the mean time accept of the conscious acknowledgment from,

Sir,

Your obliged servant,

R. B.

---

Source: [Project Gutenberg #18500 — The Complete Works of Robert Burns (ed. Allan Cunningham)](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18500/pg18500.txt), edited by Allan Cunningham  
Canonical HTML: https://robert-burns.com/letters/054-to-sibbald/