ALEXANDER WILSON. 19 



The father of this remarkable person was Alex- 

 ander Wilson, a weaver in the town of Paisley, and 

 bore the character of being a shrewd, upright, and 

 sensible man. His eldest son, Alexander, better 

 known as " Wilson the American Ornithologist" 

 was born in that town on the 6th July, 1766. We 

 have little account of Wilson's childhood ; but as it 

 appears that his parents had determined to set him 

 apart for the sacred office at so early an age as his 

 tenth year, we may infer that he had evinced some 

 mental precocity. That such was their purpose is 

 manifest from a poem, descriptive of himself, under 

 the title of " The Solitary Tutor," written by Wil- 

 son after he had settled in America, and in which 

 this passage occurs : 



" His parents saw, with partial, fond delight, 

 Unfolding genius crown their fostering care, 



And talk'd with tears of that enrapturing sight, 

 When, clad in sable gown, with solemn air, 



The walls of God's own house should echo back his pray V 



In pursuance of this intention, he was placed under 

 the charge of Mr. Barlas, then a student of divinity ; 

 but his kind and affectionate mother having died 

 soon afterwards, and his father having ere long en- 

 tered into a second marriage., and found himself 

 unable to defray the expenses of a liberal education 

 for his son, the youth was, at the age of thirteen, 

 bound apprentice for three years, as a weaver in 

 Paisley, to William Duncan, who had married his 

 eldest sister. 



