$filename = public_path().'/file/external/header.txt';
    $handle = fopen($filename, "r");
    $header = fread($handle, filesize($filename));
    fclose($handle);

<div class="form-group">
    <label class="col-sm-12 control-label">Description</label>
    <div class="col-sm-12">
        <textarea name="description" class="form-control" rows="5" placeholder="Desciption">
            {{$description}}
        </textarea>
    </div>
</div>