xl LIFE OF 



plan appears now to have been matured for commencing this under- 

 taking, and Wilson went on with great zeal, improving his talents 

 as a draughtsman, and adding to a rapidly increasing collection of 

 birds. The following letter will best show the zeal with which he 

 pursued this study, and the intimate terms of friendship which ' 

 existed between him and Mr Bartram, who was now suffering 

 under severe affliction : — 



" To Mr William Bartram. 



" Kingsessing, March 31, 1804. 



" I take the first few moments I have had since receiving your 

 letter, to thank you for your obliging attention to my little attempts 

 at drawing, and for the very affectionate expressions of esteem 

 with which you honour me. But sorry I am, indeed, that afflic- 

 tions so severe as those you mention should fall where so much 

 worth and sensibility reside, while the profligate, the unthinking, 

 and unfeeling, so frequently pass through life strangers to sickness, 

 adversity, or suffering. But God visits those with distress whose 

 enjoyments he wishes to render more exquisite. The storms of 

 affliction do not last for ever ; and sweet is the serene air and warm 

 sunshine after a day of darkness and tempest. Our friend has, 

 indeed, passed away in the bloom of youth and expectation ; but 

 nothing has happened but what almost every day's experience 

 teaches us to expect. How many millions of beautiful flowers 

 have flourished and faded under your eye ! and how often has the 

 whole profusion of blossoms, the hopes of a whole year, been 

 blasted by an untimely frost ! He has gone only a little before us 

 — we must soon follow ; but while the feelings of nature cannot be 

 repressed, it is our duty to bow with humble resignation to the 

 decisions of the Father of all, rather receiving with gratitude the 

 blessings He is pleased to bestow, than repining at the loss of those 

 He thinks proper to take from us. But allow me, my dear friend, 

 to withdraw your thoughts from so melancholy a subject, since the 

 best way to avoid the force of any overpowering passion is to turn 

 its direction in another way. 



" That lovely season is now approaching, when the garden, 

 woods, and fields will again display their foliage and flowers. 

 Every day we may expect strangers, flocking from the south to fill 



