ke 
278 Burns, Miss Lawson’s Recollections. 
and you see he knew something of engraving as he copied his own 
work in stipple which was fashionable in that day. He certainly 
took a good profile, as the one he made of father proves.” 
“Wilson was very particular on the subject of the linen he wore, 
and the white cravat and ruffles were as important to him as a 
fine ladies’ dress is to her. J am certain of all I say on this matter, 
not from my own memory but from the discussions I have con- 
stantly heard all my youth on the habits and manners of a man 
whose work has rendered him famous. My father received 
numberless visitors from all parts of the world, and particularly 
Scotland; who desired to learn everything concerning him. He 
might have been a little careless, but nothing eccentric; his dress 
was that of other gentlemen of the period. Wilson was almost a 
pure type of the bilious temperament, which you are aware is one 
best fitted for constant exertion, either mental or physical. He 
could bear great fatigue without flinching. His height was five 
feet and eleven inches. When preparing for one of his expeditions 
he was in the habit of taking a walk every morning, increasing the 
distance daily and when he could make twenty miles without 
much fatigue, he started on his journey.” 
“Some twaddle speaks of his bony hands knotted and hardened 
by labor, struggling to paint birds! In the first place Wilson never 
painted birds, he drew them in water colors, and more frequently 
in outline, either with pencil or pen, and my father finished them 
from the birds themselves. I have heard my mother speak of his 
hands as being small and delicate, and there was nothing in his 
occupation to particularly injure his hands; as I mentioned before, 
he wrote beautifully and played charmingly on the flute.”’ 
“T think I mentioned the drawing of Wilson’s school house my 
sister Helen had made when quite a young girl, many years before 
Mr. Weaver’s; it has the old trees around it and is very picturesque. 
Mr. Eastwick who purchased Bartram’s garden, saw it and pro- 
nounced it excellent and indeed historical.’ 
“The tomb which covers the remains of Wilson was erected by 
the lady he was to have married, Miss Sarah Miller, sister of the 
Hon. Daniel Miller, Member of Congress from the upper section 
of the City. The Swedes’ church now occupies an obscure portion 
of Philadelphia, but at that time it was open to the Delaware and 
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