11 PKEFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 



was a man of genius, with a fountain of humanity in his 

 great heart ; a man eccentric in some things, but mean, 

 wicked, or tricky, in none. His home affections were deep- 

 rooted, and all who knew him loved him dearly. From the 

 wild mirth, which he delighted to throw into the immortal 

 " Noctes," the world who did not personally know him, fancied 

 that Wilson was as reckless, humorsome, and jovial, as he 

 represented their heroes to be. Mrs. Gordon's plain record 

 shows that these very remarkable dialogues were written with 

 prolonged toil, in a rapid manner, and upon no stronger in- 

 spiration than a chicken for dinner, and tea or cold water 

 as the beverage to follow ! 



This biography may be called the key to Blackwood's Mag- 

 azine, and particularly to the " Noctes." The mere list of 

 Wilson's contributions, from 1826 to 1852, occupies six pages 

 in the Appendix ; and in the nine years before 1826, at least 

 two hundred other articles were written by him. Rarely has 

 any author exhibited such abounding industry, and, even 

 when most careless, so little that is common-place or feeble. 



The glimpses of Wilson's contemporaries, afforded by Mrs. 

 Gordon, show us Lockhart and De Quincey, Jeffrey and Scott, 

 Hartley Coleridge and " Delta ;" and, above all, that singular 

 " wild boar of the forest," James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, 

 the redoubtable hero of the " Noctes," and William Black- 

 wood, the astute publisher. 



Mrs. Gordon truly writes (p. 426) : " There is no literary 

 man of our land more highly prized, or better appreciated 

 in America than Professor Wilson. In that country his name 

 is respected, and his writings are well known. It is doubtful 

 if in England he has so large a circle of admirers." 



The great popularity of my own edition of the " Noctes 

 Ambrosiana3," attests the accuracy of the above statement. 

 The best personal and critical estimates of Wilson were written 

 in this country ; the first vigorously dashed off immediately 

 after the announcement of his death in " The Citizen," by 

 John Savage ; and the other, a thoughtful and analytic esti- 

 mate of his character, by Henry T. Tuckerman, which is to 

 be found in his " Characteristics of Literature," second series. 



It. Shelton Mackenzie. 



Philadelphia, April 4, 1863. 



