LITE OF WILSON. x '| 



undutiful conduct of his, or harsh treatment of hers, I know 

 not; but it may be asserted with truth, that she continued an 

 object of his aversion through life; which was manifest from 

 the circumstance that, in the many letters which he wrote from 

 America to his father, he seldom, if ever, mentioned her name. 

 She is still living, and must, doubtless, feel not a little rejoiced 

 that her predictions with respect to the " lazy weaver" as 

 Sandy was termed at home, who, instead of minding his busi- 

 ness, mispent his time in making verses, were never verified. 

 But, in justice to her character, we must state, that, if she was 

 an unkind step-mother, she nevertheless proved herself to be 

 a faithful and affectionate wife; and supported, by her industry, 

 her husband when he became, by age and infirmities, incapa- 

 ble of labour. 



At an early period of his life Wilson evinced a strong desire 

 ibr learning; and this was encouraged by a spirit of emulation 

 which prevailed among his youthful acquaintance, who, like 

 himself, happily devoted many of their vacant hours to literary 

 pursuits. He had free access to a collection of magazines and 

 essays, which, by some good luck, his father had become pos- 

 sessed of; and these, as he himself often asserted, " were the 

 first books that gave him a fondness for reading and reflection." 

 This remarkable instance of the beneficial tendency of periodi- 

 cal publications we record with pleasure; and it may be ad- 

 duced as an argument in favour of affording patronage, in our 

 young country, to a species of literature so well adapted to the 

 leisure of a commercial people; and which, since the days of 

 Addison, has had so powerful an influence on the taste and 

 morals of the British nation. 



Caledonia is fruitful of versemen: every village has its poets; 

 and so prevalent is the habit of jingling rhymes, that a scholar- 

 is considered as possessing no taste, if he do not attune the 

 Scottish lyre to those themes, which the amor patrise, the na- 

 tional pride of a Scotsman, has identified with his very ex- 

 istence. 



Thnt poetry would attract the regard of Wilson was to be ex- 



