AUDUBON 55 



his wife, from whom he was now absent, had any faith in 

 him or his genius. He never became indifferent, as most 

 of us do, to the coldness of those who had in earlier days 

 sought him, not for what he was, but for what he had. 

 Chivalrous, generous, and courteous to his heart's core, he 

 could not believe others less so, till painful experiences 

 taught him; then he was grieved, hurt, but never imbit- 

 tered ; and more marvellous yet, with his faith in his 

 fellows as strong as ever, again and again he subjected 

 himself to the same treatment. This was not stupidity, 

 nor dulness of perception ; it was that always, even to the 

 end, Audubon kept the freshness of childhood; he was one 

 of those who had " the secret of youth; " he was " old in 

 years only, his heart was young. The earth was fair; 

 plants still bloomed, and birds still sang for him." ^ It has 

 been hard for me to keep from copying much from this 

 journal, but I have felt it too sacred. Some would see in 

 it the very heart of the man who wrote it, but to others — 

 and the greater number — it would be, as I have decided 

 to leave it, a sealed book. 



Early in March, 1824, Audubon left Shippingport for 

 Philadelphia, Victor remaining in the counting-house of 

 Mr. Berthoud. He had some money, with which he de- 

 cided to take lessons in painting either from Rembrandt 

 Peale or Thomas Sully. He much preferred the latter 

 both as artist and friend, and he remained in Philadelphia 

 from April until August of the same year. This visit was 

 marked by his introduction to Charles Lucien Bonaparte ^ 



1 (With slight alterations) from " Bird Life," by F. M. Chapman, 1897, 



P- 13- 



^ Prince of Musignano, and subsequently a distinguished ornithologist. 

 In March, 1824, Bonaparte was just publishing his " Observations on the 

 Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology,'' which ran through the " Journal of 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences," of Philadelphia, from April 5, 1824, to 

 Aug. 25, 1825, in five parts. This was preliminary to Bonaparte's "Ameri- 

 can Ornithology," which appeared in four quarto vols., 1825-33, to his 

 " Synopsis," of 1828, and to his " Comparative List," of 1838. — E. C. 



