A MEETING OF RIVALS 215 
clude from his fugitive letters or from his drawings, as 
this critic has done, that Wilson was possessed of genius 
only, and “had nothing else, not even talent and ability.” 
Wilson certainly had a talent for writing and cultivated 
it with marked success; even his verse was not all of a 
“despicable mediocrity.” In the art of drawing, how- 
ever, his natural gifts were of a very modest sort, and 
what he achieved was the result of the most painstaking 
effort. Of course he was not a finished scholar, as grad- 
uates from the school of adversity seldom are, but he 
had a passion for knowledge and the determination to 
excel. His genius was not fully displayed until a pow- 
erful motive, the ambition to make known the birds of 
his adopted land, had possessed his spirit and taxed his 
powers to their utmost capacity. 
Shortly after he had settled at Gray’s Ferry, Wil- 
son’s susceptible nature was touched by another ro- 
mance, which was again unfortunate for the poet and 
dreamer, but was probably the making of the ornitholo- 
gist. Bartram’s Botanic Gardens, on the outskirts of 
Philadelphia, had long been famous for their large and 
choice collection of native plants, gathered by the inde- 
fatigable zeal of their worthy founder, John Bartram, 
Quaker philosopher, traveler, botanist, agriculturalist 
and nurseryman; but the fairest flower in the whole col- 
lection at that time is said to have been Miss Anne 
Bartram, daughter of John the younger, niece of Wil- 
liam, who then superintended the “Kingsess Gardens,” 
granddaughter of the founder, and heiress to the estate. 
To this Quaker maid Wilson addressed a number of his 
poems, and he interested her in the drawing of birds; 
on March 29, 1804, he wrote to her uncle: “I send a 
small scroll of drawing papers for Miss Nancy. She 
will oblige me by accepting it.” This little incident 
