28 



John James Audubon, 



and the encomiums of my friend prevented 

 me from subscribing. Mr. Wilson asked 

 me if I had many drawings of birds. I 

 rose, took down a large portfolio, laid it on 

 the table, and showed him — as I would 

 show you, kind reader, or any other person 

 fond of such subjects — the whole of the 

 contents, with the same patience with which 

 he had shown me his own engravings. His 

 surprise appeared great, as he told me he 

 never had the most distant idea that any 

 other individual than himself had been en- 

 gaged in forming such a collection. He 

 asked me if it was my intention to publish, 

 and when I answered in the negative his 

 surprise seemed to increase. And, truly, 

 such was not my intention; for, until long 

 after, when I met the Prince of Musignano 

 in Philadelphia, I had not the least idea of 

 presenting the fruits of my labors to the 

 world. Mr. Wilson now examined my 

 drawings with care, asked if I should have 

 any objections to lending him a few during 

 his stay, to which I replied that I had none. 

 He then bade me good morning, not, how- 

 ever, until I had made an arrangement to 

 explore the woods in the vicinity along 

 with him, and had promised to procure for 

 him some birds of which I had drawings in 

 my collection, but which he had never seen. 

 It happened that he lodged in the same 

 house with us, but his retired habits, I 

 thought, exhibited either a strong feeling 

 of discontent or a decided melancholy. 

 The Scotch airs which he played sweetly 

 on his flute made me melancholy too, and 

 I felt for him. I presented him to my 

 wife and friends, and seeing that he was all 

 enthusiasm, exerted myself as much as was 

 in my power to procure for him the speci- 

 mens which he wanted. We hunted to- 

 gether and obtained birds which he had 

 never before seen; but, reader, I did not 

 subscribe to his work, for, even at that time, 

 my collection was greater than his. Think- 

 ing that perhaps he might be pleased to 

 publish the results of ray researches, I 



offered them to him, merely on condition 

 that what I had drawn, or might afterward 

 draw and send to him, should be mentioned 

 in his work as coming from my pencil. I 

 at the same time offered to open a corres- 

 pondence with him, which I thought might 

 prove beneficial to us both. He made no 

 reply to either proposal, and before many 

 days had elapsed left Louisville, on his way 

 to New Orleans, little knowing how much 

 his talents were appreciated in our little 

 town, at least by myself and my friends. 



" Some time elapsed, duringwhich I never 

 heard of him, or his work. At length, 

 having occasion to go to Philadelphia, I, 

 immediately after my arrival there, inquired 

 for him and paid him a visit. He was then 

 drawing a white-headed eagle. He re- 

 ceived me with civility, and took me to the 

 exhibition rooms of Rembrandt Peale, the 

 artist who had then portrayed Napoleon 

 crossing the Alps. Mr. Wilson spoke not 

 of birds or drawings. Feeling, as I was 

 forced to do, that my company was not 

 agreeable, I parted from him; and after 

 that I never saw him again, but judge of 

 my astonishment some time after, when on 

 reading the thirty-ninth page of the ninth 

 volume of 'American Ornithology,' I found 

 in it the following paragraph: 



"'March 23d, 1810. I bade adieu to 

 Louisville, to which place I had four letters 

 of recommendation, and was taught to ex- 

 pect much of everything there; but neither 

 received one act of civility from those to 

 whom I was recommended, one subscriber, 

 nor one new bird; though I delivered all 

 my letters, ransacked the woods repeatedly, 

 and visited all the characters likely to sub- 

 scribe. Science or literature has not one 

 friend in this place.' " 



Wilson was a man of extremely nervous 

 and sensitive temperament, and it can 

 hardly be doubted that he was jealous of 

 the work which he saw was being done by 

 Audubon and looked upon him as a pos- 

 sible rival. 



