vi EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



composed than the diary, but fuller of those associations on 

 which Audubon rests his fame. 



In a letter recently received from Mrs. Audubon, and written 

 after looking over a few of the first sheets, I am called to 

 account for some remarks of my own. It is the excellent lady's 

 belief that because I am "a Scotchman," I underrate her 

 husband and overrate Wilson. I am credited with an " inimical 

 feeling towards Mr. Audubon, whose sentiments of gratitude and 

 his expressions of them are beautiful towards all his friends ;" 

 and while quite agreeing in that opinion, I cannot help retaining 

 my doubt whether the publication of these " expressions " would 

 gratify the public. Then, again, I have called Audubon vain, 

 and perhaps a little selfish, and I can perfectly understand how 

 hard these words may seem to the gentle heart of a loving wife. 

 Yet they are nevertheless true, and are quite consistent with 

 the fact that I admire Audubon hugely, think him a grand and 

 large-hearted man, and have the greatest possible desire to see 

 him understood by the public. 



But in order to get him understood one must put aside all 

 domestic partiality. Call Audubon vain, call him in some 

 things selfish, call him flighty, and inconsequential in his 

 worldly conduct, — all these qualities are palpable in every page 

 of the diary. He was handsome, and ne knew it; he was 

 elegant, and he prided himself upon it. He was generous in 

 most things, but he did not love his rivals. He prattled about 

 himself like an infant, gloried in his long hair, admired the fine 

 curve of his nose, thought " blood " a great thing, and reverenced 

 the great. Well, happy is the man who has no greater errors 

 than these. 



Audubon was a man of genius, with the courage of a lion and 

 the simplicity of a child. One scarcely knows which to admire 

 most — the mighty determination which enabled him to carry 



