AinjuBON A^•D Tmsoy. 117 



the world to ease its conscience of present injustice and 

 neglect of geniui, by an internal reservation, that it will pile 

 up posthnmous honors mountain high. 



Xc'W it is surely to be apprehended that this genius, though 

 " of 50 airy and Light a quality," has yet something to seek 

 '■of the earth, earihy," in common with the rest of men — 

 and that, therefore, the recognizing, -nith its own proper eyes, 

 the jii-;t claims of an original mind, by the country to which 

 it has added lustre, cannot be to it a matter of indifference. 

 Audubon has nothing of gloiy to ask of us. But this his 

 memory demands, that we, his countrymen, should guard his 

 honors from even the shadow of infringement. We drove him 

 to the embrace of a foreign land for patronage— but there, 

 amidst all the pomp of courts and the intoxication of sudden 

 success, he was stiU proudly the American Woodsman ; no- 

 thing could damp that noble pride, and through every page 

 he has written, we can still see it looking out with the same 

 calm, abiding affection. We should not, then, be the last to 

 vindicate such valorous faith. The man of his age, the illus- 

 trious Frenchman, has led the way in defining his supremacy, 

 and yet the American mind, since Professor Wilson pro- 

 nounced his autocratic fiat, that they " were equals," has 

 been timid to say in plain words — Xj ! our Audubon is regally 

 the head and front of Illustrative Science; the dictum of 

 Christopher to the contrary notwithstanding, he is in this 

 the Ornithologist of the world, and the favorite WUson must 

 be content to stand below him. 



But hear this same cannie Scot, Christopher Xorth, dis- 

 course of Audubon en dishabille, with the straight-jacket of 

 nationality thrown aside, and verily in his dressing gown and 

 slippers, when it is man to man that speaks as the heart 

 moveth, not Scot to Scot ! Thus, in the Xoctes he discourseth, 

 sotto voce. 



We were sitting on© night, lately, all alone by ourselves, 

 almost unconsciously eyeing the members, fire without flame, 



