220 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



at the age of forty-seven he was called to lay down his 

 pen and brush forever; that he produced in this brief 

 space a work of great originality and .charm, which did 

 inestimable service in promoting the cause of natural 

 history in both America and England, and which is likely 

 to be read and prized for centuries to come, the achieve- 

 ment of this man is little short of marvelous. Knowing 

 also the disabilities under which he labored, we are more 

 than ready to temper our judgment with sympathy, and 

 to overlook any faults which his character may have 

 displayed. These indeed, we believe, were for the most 

 part of a very trifling nature; those who knew Wilson 

 best have all testified to his kindness of heart, his liber- 

 ality, and his high sense of honor. 



We must now return to the meeting of our two pio- 

 neers, which has been the bone of so much acrimonious 

 contention. On his long journey to the Middle West 

 and South, Wilson reached Louisville on a Saturday 

 evening, the seventh of March, 1810, and put up at the 

 tavern of the "Indian Queen," where, as it happened, 

 Audubon was then living with his family ; after spending 

 five days in and about the town, he again set out on foot 

 for Frankfort, on the morning of Friday, the twenty- 

 third. Audubon has given the following account in the 

 "Episode" of "Louisville in Kentucky": 13 



One fair morning, I was surprised by the sudden entrance 

 into our counting-room [at Louisville] of Mr. Alexander Wil- 

 son, the celebrated author of the "American Ornithology," of 

 whose existence I had never until that moment been apprised. 

 This happened in March, 1810. How well do I remember him, 

 as he then walked up to me! His long, rather hooked nose, 

 the keenness of his eyes, and his prominent cheek-bones, stamped 

 his countenance with a peculiar character. His dress, too, was 



13 Ornithological Biography (Bibl. No. 2), vol. i, p. 437. 



