Burke strategically begins his letter with humility, displaying clearly to the audience—and Charles-Jean Depont, the addressee of the letter—that he neither thinks too highly nor too lowly of his own advice or perspective. Beginning this way is a particularly effective means of establishing credibility, or ethos:
I will not give you reason to imagine that I think my sentiments of such value as to wish myself
to be solicited about them. They are of too little consequence to be very anxiously either communicated or withheld. It was from attention to you, and to you only, that I hesitated at the time, when you first desired to receive them.
In this excerpt, Burke characterizes himself as a humble and therefore trustworthy man, assuring his audience that he only provided Dupont with this advice when solicited. Burke fancies himself a reluctant contributor to this discourse; at least, he would have his readership believe this. Hesitation to engage makes a man appear prudent and not so self-important, which helps to establish some form of credibility: after all, the audience's perception of the author often goes just as far as accolades, titles, or education. For this reason, many such persuasive texts or "true, factual accounts" begin with a note of humility.
