i6o 



A/exande?' Wilson. 



ferior to what I shall produce, though as 

 close copies of the originals as I could 

 make. One or two of these I cannot find 

 either in your " Nomenclature " or the 

 seven volumes of Edwards. Any hint for 

 promoting my plan or enabling me to exe- 

 cute better I will receive from you with 

 much pleasure. Criticise these, my dear 

 friend, without fear of offending me. This 

 will instruct, but not discourage me. To 

 your advice and encouraging encomiums I 

 am indebted for these few specimens, and 

 for all that will follow. They may yet tell 

 posterity that I teas honored tvith your friend- 

 ship, and that to your inspiration they owe 

 their existence.'' 



Expressions such as that given above in 

 italics indicate that in spite of his enthu- 

 siasm and no mean measure of self-reliance, 

 there was in Wilson a tendency to so 

 modest an appreciation of his own abilities, 

 that at this decisive stage of his career he 

 would hardly have ventured on the struggle 

 for the consummation of his dreams unless 

 encouraged by those in whose judgment he 

 had implicit confidence. 



But now a circumstance arose which pre- 

 vented him from putting his design in im- 

 mediate execution, and which, perhaps, as 

 suggested by his biographer, favored his 

 success indirectly by hindering him from 

 commencing on his own inadequate re- 

 sources. 



Mr. Jefferson, the then President of the 

 United States, had it in contemplation to 

 dispatch an expedition to explore the coun- 

 try of the Mississippi, and Wilson sought to 

 be appointed as a naturalist to the party. 

 He applied to Mr. Bartram, who cheerfully 

 wrote to the President, recommending his 

 friend, and Wilson forwarded the letter 

 with a communication from himself, in 

 which he set forth that he had been several 

 years engaged in collecting materials and 

 furnishing drawings with the design of pub- 

 lishing a new ornithology of the United 

 States of America, and having collected 



and drawn a great many birds hitherto un- 

 described, he was very anxious for such an 

 opportunity as the proposed expedition 

 afforded, of adding to his stock of knowl- 

 edge, and collecting fresh materials for his 

 contemplated work. 



Wilson had been previously introduced 

 to Jefferson, for whom he felt a species of 

 hero worship, which had been intensified 

 by the receipt of a very cordial and appre- 

 ciative letter from him in acknowledgment 

 of the drawings of two birds which Wilson 

 had secured on his trip to Niagara, and 

 forwarded to the President after his return. 



This letter would lead it to be inferred 

 that Mr. Jefferson himself was a careful 

 student of ornithology; and Wilson with 

 his sanguine temperament must have built 

 high hopes on the success of his application, 

 but no attention was ever paid to it, and 

 neither Wilson nor Bartram ever obtained a 

 clue to the. President's neglect, which sur- 

 prised them greatly. 



But he builds foolishly who builds on 

 past courteous communications from kings 

 or presidents. The probabilities are that 

 the courteous and appreciative letter in ac- 

 knowledgment of Wilson's drawings was 

 written by a secretary or some one of the 

 staff supposed to know something about 

 natural history, and that Wilson's applica- 

 tion revived no recollection whatever in 

 the President's mind. 



But an opportunity, perhaps still more 

 favorable to Wilson's designs, was on its 

 way to him. Mr. Samuel F. Bradford, book- 

 seller in Philadelphia, was about to publish 

 an improved edition of Rees' New Cyclo- 

 pedia. Wilson was introduced to him as 

 one qualified to superintend the work, and 

 was engaged at a liberal salary as assistant 

 editor. 



The agreement is dated April 20, 1806, 

 and two days later he wrote as follows to 

 Mr. Bartram expressing diffidence in his 

 ability for the superintendence of such 

 varied subjects: 



