LIFE OF WILSON 



xliii 



nation has there ever arisen one more eminently qualified for a 

 naturalist than the subject of these memoirs. He was not only an 

 enthusiastic admirer of the works of creation, but he was consist- 

 ent in research ; and permitted no dangers or fatigues to abate his 

 ardor or relax his exertions. He inured himself to hardships by 

 frequent and laborious exercise ; and was never more happy than 

 when employed in some enterprise which promised from its diffi- 

 culties the novelties of discovery. Whatever was obtained with 

 eascj to him appeared to be attended, comparatively speaking, 

 with small interest: the acquisitions of labor alone seemed wor- 

 thy of his ambition. He was no closet philosopher — exchanging 

 the frock of activity for the night-gown and slippers. He was in- 

 debted for his ideas, not to books, which err, but to Nature which 

 is infallible ; and the inestimable transcript of her works, which 

 he has bequeathed us, possesses a charm which affects us the 

 more the better acquainted we become with the delightful original. 

 His inquisitive habits procured him from others a vast heteroge- 

 neous mass of information ; but he had the happy talent of select- 

 ing from this rubbish whatever was valuable. His perseverance 

 was uncommon ; and when engaged in pursuit of a particular ob- 

 ject he would never relinquish it, while there was a chance of suc- 

 cess. His powers of observation were very acute, and he seldom 

 erred in judgment when favored with a fair opportunity of inves^ 

 tigation. 



That the industry of Mr. Wilson was great his work will for 

 ever testify. And our astonishment is excited that so much should 

 have been performed in so short a time. When we take into con- 

 sideration the state of our country, as respects the cultivation of 

 science ; and that in the walk of Ornithology particularly, no one, 

 deserving the title of a Naturalist^ had yet presumed to tread; when 

 we view the labors of foreigners, who have interested themselves 

 in our natural productions, and find how totally incompetent they 

 were, through a deficiency of correct information, to instruct ; and 



