MEMOIR OF GEORGE WILSON. 



CHAPTER I. 



HOME AND FAMILY INFLUENCES. 



" They grew in beauty side by side ; 

 They filled one home with glee." 



IN the year 1812, on the 2d of June, a new household 

 was formed in the city of Edinburgh. The small group of 

 friends assembled at the wedding little thought that any 

 beyond themselves would look back on that day with in- 

 terest. So it ever is : we take part in what seems an every- 

 day occurrence, and find afterwards, that, like the prophets 

 of old, we have been by word and act heralding wondrous 

 things, sowing seed that shall never cease to grow and pro 

 pagate itself; uttering words whose echoes shall resound 

 throughout the eternal ages. 



The bride, Janet Aitken, the youngest of a large family, 

 was a native of Greenock, where her father lived and carried 

 on business as land-surveyor. So fragile was Janet as a child, 



B 





