SKETCH 



OP 



THE AUTHOR'S LIFE. 



ALEXANDER WILSON was born in the town of Paisley, in 

 the west of Scotland, on the sixth day of July, 1766. His fa- 

 ther, who was also named Alexander, followed the distilling 

 business ; an humble occupation, which neither allowed him 

 much time for the improvement of his mind, nor yielded him 

 much more than the necessaries of life. He was illiterate and 

 poor; and died on the 5th June, 1816, at the age of eighty- 

 eight. His mother was a native of Jura, one of the Hebrides 

 or Western Islands of Scotland. She is said to have been a 

 woman of delicate health, but of good understanding; and pas- 

 sionately fond of Scotch music, a taste for which she early in- 

 culcated on her son; who, in his riper years, cultivated it as 

 one of the principal amusements of his life. She died when 

 Alexander was about ten years old, leaving him, and two sis- 

 ters, to mourn their irreparable loss; a loss which her affec- 

 tionate son never ceased to deplore, as it deprived him of his 

 best friend; one who had fostered his infant mind; and who 

 had looked forward, with fond expectation, to that day, 



" When, clad in sable gown, with solemn air, 

 " The walls of God's own house should echo back his prayer:" 



for it appears to have been her wish that he should be edu- 

 cated for the ministry. 



At a school in Paisley, Wilson was taught the common ru- 

 diments of learning. But what proficiency he made, whether 



he was distinguished from his schoolmates or not, my memo- 

 VOL. i. B 



