dxii LIFE OF WILSON. 



an enthusiastic admirer of the works of creation, but he was 

 consistent in research; and permitted no dangers or fatigues to 

 abate his ardour, or relax his exertions. He inured himself to 

 hardships by frequent and laborious exercise; and was never 

 more happy than when employed in some enterprise, which 

 promised from its difficulties the novelties of discovery. What- 

 ever was obtained with ease, to him appeared to be attended, 

 comparatively speaking, with small interest: the acquisitions 

 of labour alone seemed worthy of his ambition. He was no 

 closet philosopher exchanging the frock of activity for the 

 night-gown and slippers. He was indebted for his ideas, not 

 to books, which err, but to Nature which is infallible; and the 

 inestimable transcript of her works, which he has bequeathed 

 to us, possesses a charm which affects us the more, the better 

 acquainted we become with the delightful original. His in- 

 quisitive habits procured him from others a vast heterogeneous 

 mass of information; but he had the happy talent of selecting 

 from this rubbish whatever was valuable. His perseverance 

 was uncommon; and when engaged in pursuit of a particular 

 object, he would never relinquish it, while there was a chance 

 of success. His powers of observation were very acute, and 

 he seldom erred in judgment, when favoured with a fair op- 

 portunity of investigation. 



Credulity has been aptly termed " the vice of naturalists;" 

 but it may be said, to the honour of our author, that it would 

 be difficult to find one less infected with this vice than himself. 

 His mind, strongly imbued with common sense, and familiar 

 with the general laws of nature, could not be imposed upon by 

 appearances; and marvellous narratives, in that science which 

 he had so much at heart, were the objects of his decided dis- 

 approbation. The ridicule and scorn with which he treated 

 the hypothesis of the annual torpidity of swallows are well 

 known; and he regarded with equal contempt those tales of the 

 fascinating faculty attributed to serpents, which are yet but too 

 well adapted to the taste of the multitude to be effectively dis- 

 credited. 



