6o AIvEXANDER WILSON : POET-NATURAUST 



him in very truth, had not yet dawned upon him, but 

 it was near at hand. 



The result of the "new stringing" of Wilson's 

 harp was soon apparent when "The Invitation," a 

 verse letter addressed to Charles Orr, appeared in 

 the Literary Magazine and American Register of 

 July, 1804. The magazine, published in Philadel- 

 phia, was edited by the talented novelist, Charles 

 Brockden Brown, and the editor hailed the poet in 

 his notes "To Correspondents" in these words : "The 

 author of the poetical epistle published in the pres- 

 ent number is thanked for his communication. Any 

 coin from the same mint will always be deemed gen- 

 uine and current with us." A mild encouragement, 

 which, however, led later to the publication of vari- 

 ous other poems, among the best of which were 

 "The Rural Walk" and "The Solitary Tutor." Wil- 

 son, in the time that he had been silent, had gained 

 considerable mastery of his measures, and the poems 

 of this period are the finest that he ever wrote, ex- 

 cepting always the earlier "Watty and Meg" and 

 the later "Blue-bird" and "Fish-hawk," or "Os- 

 prey." 



Meanwhile, things had not gone so well among 

 Wilson's relatives, either in America or in Scotland, 

 in spite of the unselfish assistance which he was ever 

 rendering them whenever he was able to do so. His 

 father's affairs and those of his brothers-in-law were 

 far from bright, while he was ever writing full- 

 hearted, encouraging letters to keep up the spirits 

 of his struggling nephews in Ovid. The elder Wil- 

 liam Duncan had come to America, where he soon 

 began drinking excessively, and only increased, in- 



